Easy Lasagna Soup

Hearty and beefy and topped with fresh mozzarella cheese, this Easy Lasagna Soup is a perfect meal for a chilly wintery night supper. Easy to prepare in about thirty minutes, and packed with familiar homestyle baked lasagna flavours. Kick it up a notch with a good sprinkling of chili flakes to add extra warmth and heat!

Easy Lasagna Soup reminds me of the type of soup my mom used to make. She had a go-to turkey soup recipe that she would make quite often, and she would always add diced tomatoes and some type of pasta shape to it. I grew up eating soups that were quite thick and hearty, not the type where you have to fish around in the bowl of broth to find a vegetable or two.

Nope, soup recipes in our home were much like this Easy Lasagna Soup. Remember the commercials for Campbell’s Chunky? The slogan was “soup so thick you can eat it with a fork!” That was my mom’s soup. Speaking of Campbell’s this Alphabet Vegetable Soup is very thick! Some of my other thicker-style soups are this Vegetarian Split Pea Soup, this Hamburger Soup, and this Chunky Vegetable and Spinach Soup. You can’t go wrong with either one of those!

My Easy Lasagna Soup combines cooked and seasoned ground beef with Rotel-style tomatoes, tomato sauce, frozen spinach and perfectly cooked pasta. I like to use Rotel tomatoes to give the soup a little bit of spice. I will add a pinch or two of dried red chili flakes for the same reason. Both of those are optional though. You can use regular canned diced tomatoes if you don’t care much for the spiciness of Rotel.

When all is said and done, plate up a big bowl of the soup and top it with some fresh mozzarella. If you take the mozzarella out of the fridge when you start to prepare the soup, it will warm up to room temperature. The heat from the soup will then be able to gently melt the fresh mozzarella. It really can’t get any better than a thick, hearty, beefy lasagna soup with mozzarella cheese melted right into it! What are you waiting for? Let’s make soup!

INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO PREPARE THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Ground Beef – You will need one pound, but make sure you get lean ground beef. Otherwise, your soup will be greasy. Of course, you can drain it, but you can never get rid of all of the grease.
• Olive Oil – I like to use olive oil to help the onions sweat. If you use lean beef, you won’t notice the extra bit of added oil.
• Onion – I use yellow, white, and sweet onions interchangeably.  Either of them will do just fine.
• Garlic – Fresh cloves of garlic add flavour and depth to the soup. Plus, ground beef loves garlic!
• Tomato Paste – Use for flavour and colour, stews are synonymous with tomato paste.
• Salt & Ground Black Pepper
• Italian Seasoning – I use this blend quite often in soups, stews, and pasta recipes. Make your own blend and store it in your pantry. I have a great recipe here!
• Dried Red Chili Flakes – Optional.
• Rotel Tomatoes – The mild diced tomatoes and green chilies are my go-to. It has just the right amount of spice for us. You can use original or hot; it’s your choice.
• Canned Diced Tomatoes – You will need roughly two cups, including the juice. Store-bought is fine, but I used my homemade canned tomatoes.
• Tomato Sauce – Sometimes referred to as tomato passata.
• Pasta – I’m using these short lasagna-style pasta shapes, but you can use ditalini, orecchiette, orzo, or any other small pasta you like.
• Frozen Spinach – Thawed and squeezed dry.
• Mozzarella – Use fresh mozzarella to top the soup just before serving. Optional.
• Fresh Parsley – Chopped, for garnish.

CANNED DICED TOMATOES

Ever try canning your own tomatoes at home? I prepare a huge batch at the end of every summer so that I can have freshly canned tomatoes all winter long. They’re best used in dishes that require chunks of cooked tomato. Think of dishes such as pot roast, or foods that require longer cooking times, such as soup, stew, or chili.

Having these tomatoes on hand eliminates the need to buy canned tomatoes at the store. All you need is three ingredients and a little patience. Besides, canning can be a family event. Get everyone involved and make it a fun day. The reward is enjoying the fruits of your labour in the winter months when local tomatoes are not available.

You can find diced tomatoes in the canned vegetable section of most local grocery stores. But, the taste of homemade is much better. When you make your own, you can control the sodium. You also eliminate the use of chemicals and preservatives found in the store-bought variety. And, I find that most of the diced tomatoes you buy at the store leave some of the skin on the tomatoes. I don’t know about you, but I do not care for cooked tomato skins.

The skin doesn’t break down very well at all. If you get a fair-sized piece of it, you’re left with this weird, chewy bit that’s hard to swallow. Take the time to prepare tomatoes this summer and you’ll save yourself time and energy when preparing meals later!

MY RULES FOR CANNED STORE-BOUGHT TOMATOES

Listen, I’m not totally blind to the fact that everyone leads a different life. I know that not everyone is comfortable with, or has the desire to can their own tomatoes. And, I know that some of you will buy canned tomatoes from your local grocery store. Before you do, please read this section so that you can get the best results from store-bought canned tomatoes. I apologize if you’ve read this on my blog before, but it’s worth repeating.

First, if you need tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes, buy them in a glass jar. You can see what you’re buying. The colour should be bright and vivid; the sauce/tomatoes should look fresh and cohesive. If there are seeds or pieces of tomato skin, move on to another brand.

Second, if you need chopped or diced tomatoes, always buy whole tomatoes. When produce companies can the tomatoes, the best tomatoes are packed in cans marked “whole.” The blemished, not-so-perfect tomatoes, are crushed, chopped, or pureed and sold as such. I would rather buy canned whole tomatoes (they’re always the same price!) and spend the extra two minutes chopping them myself so that I know I’m getting really good and really ripe tomatoes.

PASTA SHAPES

Any pasta will do well in this recipe. But, for maximum flavour, you want to use pasta that will hold onto that delicious sauce. Kinds of pasta like spaghetti, linguine, pappardelle, etc., are all great pasta options. But, they have one thing in common. The surfaces of those kinds of pasta are flat. A flat pasta means that the sauce can run off more easily. You want to use pasta that the sauce will stick to.

Look closely at pasta like rigatoni, fusilli, or penne. They all have a ridged surface. Not only do the ridges get filled with the pasta sauce, but they also hang onto things like the bits of garlic, the grated parmesan, and just about anything else in your sauce. I’m using mafalda corta, because they are shaped like lasagna noodles. You can use any short pasta shape. You can even break regular, longer lasagna noodles into one-inch pieces!

OTTAWA VALLEY MEATS

Easy Lasagna Soup was prepared with 100% grass-fed Black Angus lean ground beef. Sounds pretty fancy, doesn’t it? It’s not really. What it means is that the beef is sourced from a cow known as the Black Angus. The beef develops with more marbling than other types of beef. Marbling is the fat that you see running through steaks. It improves flavour, makes the beef more tender, and keeps it moist while cooking, especially when frying or searing.

Just one pound of beef will make enough for four pretty hefty servings. I source ground beef from Ottawa Valley Meats. The beef is completely antibiotic and hormone-free. And, of course, for me, it’s local! You should always buy your food as local as you possibly can. If for no other reason, it just tastes better! And, because it’s so lean, you won’t need to drain the grease!

If you are in Ontario, be sure to check out Ottawa Valley Meats. I absolutely love the quality of the beef, as well as the chicken and the seafood too! The prices are very competitive and they deliver right to your door! It’s a great way to stock up, especially with the upcoming colder months when everyone seems to cook heartier meals!

HOW TO MAKE EASY LASAGNA SOUP

In a large Dutch oven, over medium heat, add the olive oil, ground beef, and chopped onions.  Stirring often, cook until the beef is fully browned. Next, add the garlic and stir into the beef and onion mixture.  Cook for one minute.

Add the tomato paste, salt, ground black pepper, dried red pepper flakes, Rotel tomatoes, diced tomatoes with juice, and tomato sauce.  Stir well to combine and bring the mixture to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer, cover with a heavy lid and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

In the meantime, cook the pasta in salted water until just cooked.  Do not overcook, it because it will be added to the soup later.  Drain the pasta and set it aside.

Once the soup is done simmering, add the spinach and stir to combine.  Next, add the cooked and drained pasta.  Stir into the soup.  Turn off the heat. Serve the soup and garnish with fresh mozzarella, chopped parsley, and dried red chili flakes, if desired. 

LEFTOVERS AND/OR FREEZING

This recipe does make about six hearty servings, which might be too much or too little, depending on the size of your family. The recipe can easily be halved or even doubled. Just be sure to use a really big soup pot if you’re doubling this recipe! Once everyone has had their fill, you might have some leftovers. If so, you can transfer the cooled soup to a food-safe container and store it in the fridge. It will keep for at least 3-4 days. Otherwise, you can freeze it and it will last for 3 months.

If you do refrigerate or freeze the leftovers, you may need to add a bit of water to the soup when reheating. Start with just a few tablespoons of water at a time to avoid turning the soup into a broth! Of course, if you add more water, you will need to re-season as well.

Once the pasta is stirred into the soup, it will continue to absorb the moisture from the soup, which means the pasta will swell and become thick and soft. If you know you’re going to have leftovers, you can avoid this by portioning out the cooked pasta into serving bowls and ladling the soup over top. Each person can stir the sauce into the pasta. You can freeze the leftover, pasta-free soup and reheat it accordingly. This is also a great way to prepare the soup ahead of time. Just re-heat it and boil some pasta for a very quick and easy weeknight dinner!