Easy Lasagna Soup (Stovetop and Crockpot Methods)

This dish has all the flavor of lasagna without all the work! Sweet Italian sausage, gooey mozzarella cheese, stewed tomatoes and aromatic spices give this hearty lasagna soup an irresistible flavor that will please the whole family.

Every time I see a photo of this soup I want to rush into the kitchen and make it. That's because it tastes as incredible as it looks!

Our Old World Authentic Italian Lasagna has been a favorite family recipe for generations, and though it's worth the effort, it is time consuming and labor intensive to make. In the 1970's, home cooks looked for ways to make healthy and delicious dinners faster, often turning traditional plated meals into soups and stews. This is one of those -- a quick lasagna recipe!

Why You Should Make This Recipe

There are several reasons you're going to want to make this one-pot lasagna soup recipe:

• It's a hearty one-pot meal made with simple ingredients
• Can be cooked on the stovetop or in a crockpot
• Easy to fix and forget
• Keeps in the refrigerator and makes delicious leftovers
• Freezes easily and can be quickly heated for fast weeknight meals
• Its family-pleasing flavor is loved by both kids and adults
• An easy and delicious dish to serve when having company
• Makes a great potluck meal when transported in a crockpot

Lasagna Soup Ingredients

This dish is made in three separate, easy steps, each consisting of their own ingredients. What is lasagna soup made of? The same ingredients you use to make lasagna!

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

I prefer using organic ingredients whenever possible, to limit the amount of chemicals we're consuming. The items in this recipe should be readily available in your local grocery store in both organic and non-organic versions.

Step 1 Notes

Sweet Italian Sausage - I highly recommend using sweet Italian sausage for this recipe, as the sweetness provides an irresistible flavor among the tart tomatoes. However, lasagna soup can also be made with mild or hot Italian sausage, and even ground beef. Each variation has it's own distinct flavor profile.

Yellow Onion -- A yellow onion is going to add the most flavor to this soup. While you won't harm the soup using another variety of onion such as sweet or red, it really needs the strong flavor that a yellow onion provides during cooking.

Step 2 Notes

Chicken Broth -- The Italian sausage provides a salty base to the soup, so stick with low sodium chicken broth for this recipe.

Step 3 Notes

Lasagna Noodles -- These absorb a lot of liquid, so after sitting in the broth for a while the soup tends to turn into more of a stew consistency. It can always be thinned out by adding a little additional low sodium chicken broth or water until it reaches your desired consistency.

Chopped Fresh Spinach -- I recommend removing the fibrous stems before chopping the spinach, as they get tough during cooking. Here's a great 30-second video showing you how to do it. If you use baby spinach, you may not need to remove the stems (see video.)

Mozzarella Cheese -- Stay away from the fresh, moist balls of mozzarella in the deli department as they don't have the right consistency for this recipe. I strongly recommend buying a small brick of low moisture, part-skim mozzarella which you'll find in the refrigerated cheese section of your grocery store. It will give you that irresistible gooey, stringy cheese that makes this the best lasagna soup recipe there is! Pre-shredded, bagged mozzarella has a waxy coating on it that causes it to clump in soup, so stick with cubing your own.

Shredded Parmesan -- I strongly recommend buying a wedge of Parmesan, Parmesan-reggiano or Romano cheese and shredding it fresh. You can use a shredded or grated packaged Parmesan cheese for the topping, but they have a waxy coating added to prevent them from clumping in the bag or container. Using a box grater literally takes seconds to produce plenty of fresh Parmesan with no additives.

Recommended Cooking Equipment

The following items will be needed for your recipe:

• Large non-stick skillet for browning sausage and cooking vegetables
• 6 quart pot (or crockpot, if you are using the crockpot cooking method)
• Sharp knife and cutting board for chopping spinach, fresh basil and cubing mozzarella
• Food processor or immersion blender for breaking up the stewed tomatoes
• Optional but helpful: vegetable dicer for dicing onion and carrots
• Box grater for grating Parmesan cheese

How to Cook Lasagna Soup

If you're looking for an easy lasagna soup recipe, look no further! Simply follow the 3 steps below:

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Serving

Cooking & Serving Tips

• Cook the sausage in a skillet just until the pink disappears. It will continue to cook and tenderize as it simmers in the pot, so browning it more than that is not necessary.
• Use a vegetable dicer to quickly dice your onion and carrots. I dice the onions a bit larger than the carrots as the onions break down during cooking.
• You may want to cook the noodles separately if you think you're going to have leftovers. When noodles sit in the pot overnight and get reheated, they can turn mushy. If you prefer al dente noodles, cook them in a separate pot before serving. You can ladle out a cup or two of soup to boil them in so they absorb the flavor, then return it to the pot.
• Cook the noodles for a minimum of 20 minutes or at least twice as long as the lasagna package directions call for, so they're not tough when you eat them. Remember, when making pan lasagna the noodles are first boiled, then cooked longer in the oven to soften!
• Do not add the cheeses to the cooking pot, keep them separate and serve them in the serving bowls. Otherwise the soup will get too thick and gooey, and it will not reheat well.
• Thin the soup with chicken broth or water if the consistency is thicker than you like, particularly after refrigerating.

Crockpot Lasagna Soup Instructions

It's easy to make lasagna soup in a slow cooker. Simply follow the instructions in steps 1 and 2, adding the ingredients to a crockpot. Cover the crockpot and cook on low 4-5 hours. Add noodles and spinach 20 minutes before serving. That's all there is to it -- easy crockpot lasagna soup!

Storage Instructions

Refrigerator: Store in an airtight covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat on stovetop for serving.

Freezer: Store without cheeses added in an airtight freezer container for up to 3 months. You can store individual servings in tightly sealed freezer bags for quick busy weeknight meals. If you're going to make this dish ahead for freezing, I recommend not adding the noodles and spinach, and cooking them separately when you are ready to eat. Otherwise your noodles may be much softer than you like.

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