I was in the mood for lasagna this week, but it’s already in the 80’s here in New Orleans, so I decided to make a garden vegetable lasagna soup instead. Lasagna soup is great because you get all the fantastic flavors of lasagna without it being quite so heavy. To lighten things up even further, I made a vegetarian version chock full of vegetables, like tomato, onion, carrot, zucchini, and spinach.
Vegetable Soup vs. Lasagna Soup
So what makes this a Garden Vegetable Lasagna Soup and not just a tomato based vegetable soup? It’s not just the broken up lasagna noodles, it’s also the dollop of three cheese ricotta blend that hides in the bottom of each bowl. This melty cache of cheese mimics the creamy filling of classic lasagna and really brings everything together.
Garden Vegetable Lasagna Soup… with Meat
Want to do a meat lasagna soup? No problem. Just brown up 1/2 lb. Italian sausage in the pot before adding the onion and garlic in the first step below. Because Italian sausage is already packed full of delicious Italian seasonings, you can also cut the amount of Italian herb blend listed below in half.
Other Vegetable Options
Not a fan of the vegetables I used? There are a few other vegetables that I think would also go well in this soup, like sliced mushrooms, summer squash, or broccoli florets. Use any combo that fits your taste buds, just try to keep the number of vegetables used to 3-4 so the lasagna flavor doesn’t get over shadowed.
Inspired by A Farm Girl Dabbles.
Garden Vegetable Lasagna Soup
Servings 6 1.5 cups eachIngredients
SOUP
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.40)
- 4 cloves garlic ($0.32)
- 2 carrots ($0.24)
- 1 zucchini (1/2 lb.) ($0.77)
- 15 oz can diced tomatoes ($0.65)
- 15 oz can tomato sauce ($0.70)
- 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning blend ($0.30)
- 4 cups vegetable broth* ($0.52)
- 8 oz lasagna noodles ($0.95)
- 1/4 lb frozen spinach ($0.40)
THREE CHEESE RICOTTA BLEND
- 15 oz ricotta ($2.99)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella, divided ($1.00)
- 1/4 cup Parmesan (grated or shredded) ($0.48)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.01)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.03)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add both to a large soup pot along with the olive oil. Sauté over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent (about 3-5 minutes).
- While the onions and garlic are sautéing, peel and slice the carrots. Slice the zucchini and then cut the slices into quarter rounds. Add the carrots and zucchini to the pot and sauté for about 2 minutes more, or just until the zucchini begin to soften.
- Add the diced tomatoes (with juices), tomato sauce, Italian seasoning blend, and vegetable broth to the soup pot. Stir to combine. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring the pot to a boil.
- While waiting for the pot to boil, break the lasagna noodles into 1-inch pieces. Once the soup is boiling, add the broken lasagna noodles and continue to boil for 10-12 minutes, or until the noodles are tender.
- While the pasta is boiling in the soup, combine the ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, Parmesan, salt, and freshly cracked pepper in a bowl (save the other half of the mozzarella for topping the soup bowls). Stir until the cheeses and seasonings are well combined.
- Once the pasta is tender, add the frozen spinach and stir until the spinach is thawed and mixed well into the soup.
- To serve, place a dollop of the cheese blend in each bowl, then ladle the hot soup over top. Add a pinch of the remaining shredded mozzarella on top.
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Notes
Nutrition
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How to Make Lasagna Soup – Step by Step Photos
Dice one yellow onion and mince four cloves of garlic. Sauté both in a large soup pot with 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat until the onions are soft and transparent.
While the onion and garlic are sautéing, peel and slice two carrots. Slice one zucchini (about 1/2 lb.) and then cut the slices into quarter rounds. Add the carrots and zucchini to the pot and sauté for just a couple minutes more, or until the zucchini begin to soften. They’ll cook further while the soup is boiling.
Add one 15oz. can of diced tomatoes (with juices), one 15oz. can of tomato sauce, and 1 Tbsp of Italian seasoning blend. For more flavor, you can use fire roasted diced tomatoes or diced tomatoes with onion, garlic, and basil seasoning already in the can.
I’m usually not that into pre-mixed spice blends, but for something like Italian seasoning blend that is just SO versatile, it’s easier to buy one bottle of this for $2.79 than to buy each of the six spices and measure each one out every time. I use this for pasta, pizza, and many, many other things.
Add four cups of vegetable broth and stir everything to combine. Place a lid on the pot, turn the heat up to medium-high, and let it come to a boil.
While waiting for the soup to boil, break 1/2 lb. of lasagna noodles into 1-inch pieces. The pieces will get larger when they’re cooked, so you want them slightly smaller than you’d think.
Once the soup is boiling, add the broken lasagna noodles and let them boil for 10-12 minutes, or until they’re tender. Stir occasionally while boiling to prevent the pasta from sticking. If your soup becomes too thick from the pasta, just add some water or more vegetable broth.
Finally, add 1/4 lb. (4oz.) frozen spinach to the soup and stir until it’s thawed and well mixed in. When buying the frozen spinach, look for the type that says “cut spinach” rather than “chopped spinach”. Chopped spinach will be in teeny tiny pieces and won’t be quite as pretty as the cut spinach. This spinach comes loose in a bag, so I just estimated 1/4 of the 1 lb. bag.
The frozen spinach probably won’t bring the temp of the soup down too much, but if it does, just let it warm back up for a second.
Meanwhile, make the delicious three cheese ricotta blend. Stir together one 15oz. container ricotta with 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (save the other 1/2 cup mozz for topping the soup), and 1/4 cup shredded or grated Parmesan. Also add 1/8 tsp salt and some freshly cracked pepper. Stir them all together.
To serve the Garden Vegetable Lasagna Soup, start with a dollop of the three cheese ricotta blend. There should be about 2 cups of the cheese blend, so you can use up to 1/3 cup in each bowl. That seems like a lot to me, so I stick to around 1/4 cup.
Ladle the soup over top, add a pinch of the remaining shredded mozzarella on top, and then go, “Oooooh-Ahhhh!” I added a little chopped parsley for color and photographic styling, but it’s not necessary. This Garden Vegetable Lasagna Soup is amaze-balls all on its own!
I could not wait to try this mouthwatering soup. The pictures look simply fantastic. I will try it this weekend adding some more veggies to it. I found some amazing soup recipes at http://www.simplynativefoods.com
Hey Beth, things are super tight for my family right now. I thought we had enough olive oil to get us through the week, but we used the last of it tonight. Is it ok to substitute vegetable oil or will the taste of things be really off (in this and any other recipe)?
Yep! That will work just fine. :)
So I made this subbing half a package of bowtie/farfalle for the lasagna, because I had it on hand from the salmon pasta salad…and once it was done boiling, almost all the liquid was gone. I ended up having to add another 4 cups vegetable broth total and it’s STILL pretty thick – tastes every bit as good, though! Just a heads up for anyone thinking to sub the type of pasta used, I’d recommend cooking it separately and then adding it at the end with the spinach, or after. That’s the only reason I can think of that it might have cooked down so much.
I can’t seem to get my head around cheese in a ball in a soup?
Think French Onion Suop, no bread and at the bottom. It’s a stringy, gooey surprise.
We used to put chunks of cheese in the bottom of a bowl of tomato soup and it would be a nice melty treat!
Long-time reader. This was excellent and I’ll probably make it often… thanks so much!
Is there any substitute for parmesan? I think that type of cheese is inherently not vegetarian. Could I use a different cheese or is it essential to the texture? This recipe looks great, I can’t wait to make it!
This website lists brands of Parmesan or Parmesan type cheeses that are vegetarian: http://cheese.joyousliving.com/CheeseListType.aspx
I think this recipe is absolutely brilliant!!! I have half a container of ricotta leftover from last weekend, so this is perfect
Doh! I forgot about that. You’re right. True Parmesan must use rennet from cow stomachs, so it’t not vegetarian. As someone else mentioned, though, there are brands that basically make the same cheese but with a non-animal enzyme. :)
You’re right, parmigiana reggiano legally has to be made with animal rennet. There are domestic parmesan-style cheeses that are vegetarian though- I think Belgiosso makes one that is sold whole and Trader Joes has a grated one..
i want to try this out tomorrow! but i might have a hard time with the noodles…all we have is no-boil gluten free lasagna noodles and i don’t know how they would hold up. do you think that putting them in near the end of the recipe would work? or should i try another kind of pasta? apparently they don’t sell lasagna noodles GF anywhere but walmart around here and i really, really hate going to walmart.
Hmm, honestly I’ve never cooked with that type of noodle so I’m not sure how they’ll do or what modifications might be necessary. :(
This looks delicious! It’s very similar to my usual soup but with an added cheese bomb. Genius! Might add a little ground turkey to thicken it up though. :)
This is GENIUS! I’ve always found lasagna to be tedious to make but ultimately, compactly delicious! I can’t wait to give this a go!
Looks yummy, but I’m wondering about freezing the soup. I usually cook for 3 and our schedule next month could sure use some freezer meals! I’m thinking the soup part could be frozen either in batches or individual portions. The cheese mixture could be frozen in individual clumps like tomato paste. The noodles and veggies might get a bit mushy, but it should work.
I think that would work. :)
I was trying to think how to freeze this soup, thank you!
Making my favourite dish into a soup sounds too good to be true. And affordable, yay!
Ditto Viv! True story. Gave my Sister-in-Law a bunch of mags with Lasagna soup in them but I was too cheap to buy them myself. Then I was super disappointed that I couldn’t make it. Excited that I have this recipe on hand!!!
I am absolutely going to be making this this week! That looks so amazing! And I have a fridge full of zucchini, kale, and carrots.
Do you think you will try this in the Instant Pot? Looks delicious:)
It cooks so quickly on the stove top that I think it might actually take longer in the Instant Pot (with the building heat/pressure and then release), so I probably won’t. :)
Thanks:)
My mouth is watering right now!! :-)
This looks amazing. I’m going to have to try it for next week (this week’s budget is already spent!) Great photographs!