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.
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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
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Check out more of our Vegetable Soup Recipes!
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 made this as written the first time, and it was DELICIOUS, but nearly all the broth was sucked up by the noodles. I’ve made it many times since and now I usually add a pound of Italian sausage and I always double the broth, leaving everything else the same. Even with doubling the broth, there is very little liquid left – especially with the leftovers. It really does taste just like deconstructed lasagna and it’s my absolute favorite soup! SO SO GOOD.
This soup is amazing. I’ve made it a few times, exactly as written and it always comes out great!
Thanks for sharing!
Amazing! I added @ 1/2 lb. ground Italian sausage and mushrooms (because I had them) and penne pasta (made from red lentils)…Mmm Mmm good!!!
I had only no-boil noodles that were flat- next time I’ll use the traditional ones with the pretty edges and use half the amount bc as others have indicated, they soaked up all the broth. Still delicious, and we are calling it lasagna in a bowl! I like the suggestions of sausage and mushrooms if I have them, but this version is delish!
Way to use what you had on hand though Annie!
Delicious – thanks! I subbed mushrooms for carrots and served with your garlic bread. Would definitely make again!
Oh great swaps Abby!
Delicious and simple to make!
Thank you Maria!
My boyfriend called it “possibly my new favorite meal”. It was a hit! I made it as written, except none of the stores near us sell ricotta so I made a parmesan bechamel sauce instead. Yum.
We’ll take that! Hooray!
I’ve used many Budget Bytes recipes over the years and they’re all great. I really like this one because I like a lot of vegetables in my soup but I also want something that makes it more appealing to eat – in this case, it’s the three cheese blend in the soup. The ricotta really helps this soup out by melting throughout the soup and giving it a uniform creamy consistency. It’s the first time I’ve used ricotta in soup and I was thoroughly impressed. I didn’t have any frozen spinach so I added a lot of frozen green beans instead. I also halved the cheese in the soup and there was still plenty of cheese to make it taste great. I’ll definitely make this again.
FYI – I count calories – I ended up eating huge portions of this soup, and by halving the cheese portions and subbing green beans for spinach, I calculated this soup has about 500 calories in it per portion, three portions per recipe. 500 calories might sound like a lot, but it’s very filling – I had it as a breakfast/lunch combo and it kept me full until dinner.
This was perfect for a cold, rainy week! I love that it’s a healthier and much easier way to get my lasagna fix. Next time I might swap the carrots out for mushrooms or something I’d be more likely to put in an actual lasagna
Made this tonight for dinner- kids loved it. Used cottage cheese instead of ricotta and it was great.
I have made this several times…ALWAYS a hit!!! The only thing I omit is the cheese portion since we don’t do dairy and I only imagine it is that much more delicious with the cheese! To instant pot lovers….I sautéed onions, added garlic, pressed cancel then added everything else and put on manuel for 15 mins, a little overkill but it was done and delicious!!
So. Good! I made this while my husband was at work so he didn’t know anything about the wonderous ball o’ cheese. When I gave it to him I just kept watching until he discovered said cheese. Thanks for allowing me to surprise my husband with cheese, haha!
PS- subbed mushrooms and broccoli.. nailed it.
Thank you, Beth!
My family loved this & even ate the veggies! Thanks!
We enjoyed this; however, next time I’ll use half the noodles as they soaked up a majority of the broth. I had to add almost double.
Beth,
This was delicious! It reminds me very much of minestrone. It was great as is, but in the future I’ll also include kidney beans (my fav!) and just use whatever pasta I have on hand.
Thank you!!