The Most Amazing Lasagna Soup

This Lasagna Soup is one of my all time favorites! You get all the flavors of a delicious hearty lasagna in a comforting soup form! It’s loaded with beef, tomatoes and Italian herbs and the melty cheese just takes it over the top.

On a chilly day this is one of my favorite ways to warm up. It’s such a cozy soup and it has such an incredibly flavor.

You get an herbed tomato based broth that’s filled with hearty bits of ground beef, and it’s finished off with a generous mound of cheese that melts perfectly into the steaming hot soup.

This simple recipe may look a little daunting due to the long list of ingredients but a lot of it is pantry staples you likely already have so don’t miss out on this recipe thinking it’s too much.

It’s actually easy to make and perfect for weeknights. Try it soon, it’s likely to become a chilly night staple!

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, then more to thin as desired
• 1 (14.5 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 large yellow onion, diced (1 3/4 cups)
• 5 garlic cloves, to taste, minced*
• 1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
• 2 1/2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 3/4 tsp dried basil**
• 3/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
• 8 lasagna noodles, broken into bite size pieces (6.5 oz)***
• 1 1/4 cups (5 oz) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup (2 oz) finely shredded parmesan cheese
• 8 oz ricotta cheese
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish

Instructions:

1. Heat one tablespoon olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Once hot, crumble beef into pot, season with salt and pepper to taste and cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Drain fat from beef and set beef aside.
2. Heat remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil in pot, add chopped yellow onion and saute until it begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add in garlic and saute 30 seconds longer.
3. Add in chicken broth, diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, rosemary, fennel seeds, thyme, sugar, browned ground beef and season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Bring just to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover and simmer 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare lasagna noodles according to directions listed on package.
6. In a mixing bowl, using a fork, stir together mozzarella, parmesan and ricotta.
7. Stir cooked pasta into soup along with parsley, then thin soup with a little more broth if desired****.
8. Ladle soup into bowls, dollop with a large scoop of the cheese mixture and sprinkle with chopped parsley (cheese will melt well once stirred into soup).

NOTES:

• *If you don't love garlic you can reduce to 2 or 3 cloves.
• **If you don't have all the dried herbs listed then 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning can be use instead.
• ***Another great option that's faster is to use campanelle pasta or bowtie pasta.
• ****If you plan on left overs I like to add pasta to individual servings. If you plan on serving it all right away you can just simmer the noodles in with the soup for about 12 minutes (add 1 cup extra broth to make up for what they absorb).
• If you'd like to add another veggie it's also good with a diced carrot added along with the onion.
• Recipe originally listed 1 tsp sugar and 1/2 tsp crushed fennel seeds be added along with the other herbs, I've omitted this as I feel they aren't a must so we can cut down on ingredients.