One Pot Lasagna Soup: An Incredible Ultimate Recipe for Family Nights
Are you ready to transform weeknight dinner with a meal that delivers all the comfort of classic lasagna without the hassle of layering and long baking times? Say hello to One Pot Lasagna Soup, the genius culinary shortcut that takes your favorite Italian bake and reimagines it as a deeply satisfying, creamy bowl of goodness.
Forget messy assembly; this is all about rich, herby tomato sauce, tender noodles, savory meat, and a perfect swirl of melty ricotta and mozzarella. This dish is so effortlessly delicious, you’ll want to bookmark this meal idea for later (save this pin for recipe).
It’s the ultimate cozy dinner, ready in under 45 minutes, proving that maximum flavor doesn’t require maximum effort. It’s the perfect way to warm up, combining the heartiness of pasta with the ease of a quick soup, making cleanup a breeze!
One Pot Lasagna Soup: An Incredible Ultimate Recipe for Family Nights
Description
Imagine all the rich, layered flavors of a classic baked lasagna condensed into a single, satisfying bowl of soup—that's the magic of One-Pot Lasagna Soup. This simplified take on the Italian favorite eliminates the tedious layering and baking time, delivering maximum comfort with minimal cleanup.
The foundation is a robust, simmering tomato broth, deeply flavored with Italian sausage or ground beef, garlic, herbs like basil and oregano, and a splash of wine or beef stock for depth.
Broken lasagna noodles cook directly in this savory liquid, softening as they absorb the complex flavors.
The finishing touch is the characteristic creamy component: dollops of ricotta cheese swirled into the hot soup, often alongside grated mozzarella and Parmesan, which melt slightly to create decadent, cheesy pockets.
It's a quick-prep weeknight marvel that serves up all the cozy, savory essence of a slow-cooked meal in under an hour.
Ingredients
For the cheese topping:
Instructions
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Brown the Meat and Sauté Aromatics
Warm the 1 tablespoon of olive oil inside a large Dutch oven or soup pot over medium-high heat. Introduce the ground Italian sausage (or beef). Break the meat apart with a spoon and cook it thoroughly until it is completely browned and no pink color remains. Tip the pot to discard any rendered fat. Lower the heat setting to medium. Put the diced yellow onion into the pot and cook for 5 minutes until the pieces become yielding. Now, incorporate the minced garlic, stirring it into the meat and onion mixture for about 60 seconds until a strong fragrance is noticeable.
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Build the Rich Tomato Broth
Add the crushed tomatoes directly to the pot. Blend in the 1/12 cup of tomato paste and the 4 cups of beef or chicken broth. Mix well to merge all the components and scrape up any caramelized fragments adhered to the bottom surface of the pot. Introduce the dried basil, dried oregano, and red pepper flakes. Bring the mixture up to a simmer. -
Cook the Lasagna Noodles
Once the soup is simmering steadily, gently add the broken lasagna noodle pieces. Ensure the pasta is fully submerged in the hot liquid. Continue to simmer the soup, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes, or according to the pasta's package directions. Agitate the mixture often during the cook time to keep the noodles from clinging to the base of the pot or fusing together.
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Prepare the Creamy Topping
While the pasta finishes cooking, prepare the traditional "lasagna" topping. In a small, separate bowl, combine the 8 ounces of ricotta cheese and the 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese. You may also stir in a pinch of salt or a tablespoon of fresh parsley if desired. Mix these cheeses until they form a smooth, uniform blend. -
Serve and Finish
Once the pasta is fork-tender, remove the pot from the heat. Scoop the steaming, robust soup into individual dishes. Place a substantial spoonful of the ricotta-Parmesan mixture right into the middle of the soup in each bowl. Serve immediately, allowing the rich cheese to slowly melt into the hot tomato broth.
Nutrition Facts
Servings 6
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 450kcal
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 22g34%
- Saturated Fat 9g45%
- Cholesterol 70mg24%
- Sodium 800mg34%
- Protein 30g60%
- Calcium 200 mg
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
Note
Mastering the One-Pot Lasagna Soup
The One-Pot Lasagna Soup is a modern marvel of comfort food, collapsing the complex layering and long bake time of traditional lasagna into a single, straightforward pot. This dish delivers the same rich, meaty, tomato-based flavor and creamy cheese finish but is ready in under an hour, making it an ideal weeknight meal. Mastering this dish is all about managing texture and layering flavor, as the absence of baking requires careful technique.
Essential Tips for a Velvety Texture and Rich Flavor
Achieving the perfect consistency—a rich, velvety liquid that still holds the pasta's shape—requires intentional steps beyond simply combining the ingredients.
- Develop the Meat Base: Don't just brown the meat; build flavor. After searing the ground beef (or Italian sausage) and draining the fat, sauté the aromatics (onion and garlic) directly in the same pot until fragrant. Next, caramelize the tomato paste for 1-2 minutes before adding the liquids. This simple step deepens the savory, umami flavor, providing a foundation that canned tomatoes alone cannot match.
- Use Quality Crushed Tomatoes: Invest in high-quality, fire-roasted or San Marzano-style crushed tomatoes. Since there’s no long bake time to mellow out acidity, the quality of the canned tomato is paramount.
- Control the Pasta: The pasta type and timing are critical. Instead of large sheets, use broken lasagna noodles (broken into large, rough pieces). Add the pasta only towards the end of the cooking process (about 10-15 minutes before serving). Cooking the pasta directly in the broth contributes starch, naturally thickening the soup, but adding it too early will result in bloated, mushy noodles and an overly thick, gluey soup base.
- Embrace the Dairy Swirl: The classic rich finish comes from the cheese. While the ricotta mixture is traditionally served on top, whisking a small amount of heavy cream or stirring in a handful of mozzarella/parmesan into the soup itself just before serving provides a subtle, permanent creaminess to the broth.
Serving Tricks and Plating
Presentation and texture are key to making this soup feel less like a weeknight toss-together and more like a main course.
- The Ricotta Cloud: The defining characteristic is the creamy, seasoned cheese dollop. Serve the soup piping hot, and instruct diners to immediately place a spoonful of the ricotta mixture on top. The heat from the soup will slowly melt and swirl the ricotta into the broth, mimicking the creamy layers of a baked lasagna.
- Textural Garnish: Finish each bowl with fresh, vibrant elements. A generous sprinkle of freshly chopped basil or oregano adds an essential aromatic lift, while a light grating of fresh Parmesan cheese adds a salty bite.
- Perfect Pairings: Serve the soup alongside garlic knots or a thick slice of toasted artisan bread for dipping.
Creative Variations
The beauty of a one-pot dish is its adaptability; swapping the core protein or adding vegetables is effortless.
- Spicy Italian Sausage: Substitute the ground beef with spicy Italian sausage. Searing the sausage first and using its rendered fat to cook the aromatics adds a richer, spicier depth that changes the soup's profile entirely.
- Creamy Tuscan: For a dairy-forward variation, reduce the tomato volume and increase the liquid with more broth. Stir in a cup of frozen spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and a cup of heavy cream at the very end.
- Vegetarian Heartiness: Replace the meat with a mix of brown or portobello mushrooms and small, finely diced carrots and zucchini. Sauté the vegetables until they release their liquid, then proceed with the tomato paste and broth. Add a can of drained cannellini beans along with the liquid for extra protein and texture.
- Pesto Finish: Instead of a traditional Parmesan garnish, stir a spoonful of fresh basil pesto into each bowl right before serving. The vibrant oil, pine nuts, and basil add a complex, herbaceous layer.
Storage and Reheating
Lasagna soup stores well, but the key challenge is the pasta, which continues to absorb liquid as it sits.
- Optimal Storage: If you anticipate leftovers, the best approach is to cook the pasta separately (boil the noodles and reserve them).
- If Pasta is Already Mixed: If the pasta is already mixed into the leftovers, the soup will be very thick upon reheating. You may lose some of the pasta's shape, but the flavor will remain excellent.
Conclusion
The One-Pot Lasagna Soup is the ideal intersection of sophisticated flavor and casual simplicity. Its success hinges on flavor-building at the initial searing stage, careful timing of the broken pasta addition, and the final textural flourish of the herbed ricotta cheese. By adopting the double-searing technique and learning to manage the pasta separately for storage, you can deliver a dish that is both perfectly comforting and entirely practical for any day of the week.
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