Lasgana Soup is an easy and delicious way to get all the flavor and comfort of lasagna in much less time and with much less effort. The soup reminds me of a super sloppy piece of lasaga with sauce ladled on top, which is my favorite kind. All your lasagna layers are there; meat sauce, cheese and thick sheets of pasta. This recipe does not include any ricotta, though I’ve seen other recipes have it. You could easily add some to each bowl for those that love it.
I fought the lasagna soup phenomenon for years. I even created an alternative recipe using ravioli because I didn’t think the pasta shape of lasagna made any sense in a soup. Then I saw the trend shift from using full sheets of lasagna to broken up pieces, which made everything right in my world. I got this recipe just right after several attempts. First attempt I used all sweet Italian sausage. No one liked the flavor. It was too fennel-forward and was a distraction. Lean ground beef was more mellow and kid-friendly. If you love Italian sausage, feel free to substitute wtih that or do a 50/50 mix.
A big shortcut is using jarred marinara sauce rather than canned tomatoes. We love Rao’s marinara for this recipe. You don’t have to fight the aciditiy of the tomatoes because that’s already been worked out in the jar, so cooking time is drastically reduced. The flavor is by far the best of any jarred sauce I’ve tried. I know it’s pricey, but because this recipe has so few ingredients, it’s important to use high quality stuff. Same goes for the chicken stock. My favorite brand is Kitchen Basics.
While nothing can replace traditional lasagna or my bolognese and bechemel lasagna, this lasagna soup is clutch for getting those flavors and textures on the table in record time.
Lasagna Soup
Ingredients
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp concentrated tomato paste
- 4 c chicken stock
- 24 oz Marinara sauce Rao's
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning heaping
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 12 lasagna noodles broken into pieces
- 1/3 c parmesan cheese
- 4 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
- burratta cheese
- fresh basil
Instructions
- Cook diced onion just under medium heat in olive oil for 10 minutes.
- Add minced garlic and cook 2 minutes more before adding the ground beef. Cook the pink out of themeat and strain the fat. Season with a good pinch of salt and cook for 15 mintues until the meat is caramelized. Turn heat down if the meat is browning too quickly.
- Add tomato paste, stir and cook 1 minute.
- Add jarred marinara sauce, chicken stock, all the seasoning and tablespoon of sugar, stir and bring to a boil.
- Break 12 lasagna noodles into pieces and add to the pot once the soup is boiling. Stir and turn heat down so the soup is simmering. Simmer for 15 minutes. Stir often.
- Add parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Stir until melted.
- Ladle into bowls. Top with a room temperature ball of burrata cheese and fresh chopped basil.