Learn how to make this comforting lasagna soup with ground Italian sausage and fresh tomatoes. A hearty recipe perfect for cozy nights.
A Fresh Take on Lasagna Soup
Back in the fall of 2022, my family and I were camping at a beautiful campground in West Virginia. This kind of cozy weather calls for soup, soup, and more soup. My wife had seen people sharing recipes on social media for lasagna soup. The idea is simple: take all the components of lasagna, noodles, ground meat, cheese, tomato sauce, and herbs, and use them to make a soup with the same comforting flavor.
Here is the campground where we first made the soup:
We fell in love with this easy-to-make dish. It's a lot easier than trying to bake a full lasagna in a camper! Over the last couple of years, we've made this soup a few more times.
What I was really looking forward to, though, was trying it with garden-fresh tomatoes and herbs. So when my tomatoes ripened this year, I jumped at the opportunity. The results were amazing. While most recipes call for tomato paste or jarred/canned tomato sauce, I'm going to show you how to make it with fresh tomatoes.
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Ingredients
Here is what you will need to make the soup:
- Fresh tomatoes - While you could use any tomatoes, it's best to use meaty, paste style tomatoes over beefsteak style. Paste tomatoes like Romas have less water content so there is less water to have to boil off to get a thickened soup.
- Lasagna noodles - I just grab the standard lasagna noodles from the store, not the oven ready. In the past I have gotten these mini lasagna noodles from Winco Foods stores that are perfect for soup.
- Italian sausage - I pick out ground sausage from the store. You will need about a pound. You can use any type of ground sausage including spicy options if you like.
- Chicken stock or broth - Look for low sodium options so that you can better control how much salt is in your soup.
- Mozzarella cheese - Use any type you want. It goes on the soup when serving.
- Whole Milk Ricotta cheese - I prefer the full fat Ricotta cheese for the most creamy flavor. You can buy a smaller container for this recipe, which are usually around 15 ounces.
- Fresh oregano & basil - Oregano grows really well in my garden and comes back year after year so it's a great option to plant. Basil only lasts for a year so you have to re-plant each year. If you don't have fresh, you can use dried.
- Salt
You could also add fresh garlic or onions or their powdered form. A handful of spinach could be added at the end. You just need to wilt it for a minute and it will be good to go. I love adding spinach at the last moment to soups. But for me I like to keep the ingredient list short and let the fresh tomatoes and herbs really shine through.
Adding some bread to the meal is a nice addition. We use the bread at the end to sop up the last bit of soup in the bowl.
Top Tips
I slice the tomatoes in half or into quarters and place them in a pot with just a tiny amount of water at the bottom so the tomatoes don't start burning before they release liquid. Once the tomatoes have completely broken down, I remove the pot from the heat, let it cool for several minutes before I bust out the immersion blender. This makes it easy to blend up the tomatoes, so it's smooth.
I have also done this before with a food mill and that works even better. Food mills aren't as easy to clean and you have to dirty another bowl to collect the tomatoes instead of just doing it in the pot itself. The immersion blender will save you on dishes, which is why I often use it for this. Make sure to immediately rinse out and clean the blade. It's really easy to clean out when you do it right away and a big pain in the butt if you let food dry out and harden on it.
Don't be afraid to brown the sausage well for maximum flavor. Keep your heat around medium so you don't burn it.
Easy Lasagna Soup with Italian Sausage and Fresh Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 3 lbs fresh tomatoes
- 8 oz lasagna noodles
- 1 lb ground Italian sausage
- 1 quart chicken stock or broth
- 4 oz mozzarella cheese shredded
- 15 oz Whole Milk Ricotta cheese
- 2 tbsp fresh oregano chopped
- ¼ cup fresh basil chopped
- salt to taste
Instructions
How to make the tomato base
- Slice the tomatoes into halves or quarters and place them into a tall pot.
- Add a tiny amount of water to the bottom of the pot. Salt to taste. Bring the tomatoes to a boil.
- Cook the tomatoes until they have broken down. It should take around 15 minutes.
- Remove the pot from the heat. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add in the chopped fresh herbs. Use an immersion blender to blend up the tomatoes until smooth. Add in the chicken stock and keep warm while you prepare the rest of the soup.
How to cook the sausage
- Add the sausage to a pan and cook it over medium heat until the sausage is brown and crispy. Break it up with a spatula as it cooks. It should take around 8 to 10 minutes.
- Add the sausage to the soup.
How to cook the lasagna
- Bring a tall pot of salted water to a boil.
- Add in the lasagna. If it is not fully submerged at first, don't worry, it will soften enough fast for you to push it down underneath the water with a pair of tongs.
- Cook the lasagna noodles until al dente and drain.
- When the noodles are cool enough to handle, use some kitchen shears to cut the noodles into pieces and add to the soup.
How to serve the soup
- Taste the finished soup and add salt to taste.
- Ladle the soup into the bowls. Add in a scoop of ricotta cheese and top off with the mozzarella.
Corrie
Thank you for the lovely story! I love learning the real origin story of recipes. This recipe sounds delicious, and I can't wait to try it.
Eric Samuelson
Thank you so much Corrie!!!! I am glad you like that, I will be sure to include more of those kinds of stories.