Lasagna Soup (Crockpot)
Lasagna is a Sunday project. Lasagna SOUP is a "dump everything in the crockpot and watch Netflix" situation. Same flavours, fraction of the effort, and somehow the compliments are disproportionate to the amount of work involved. People act like you've been cooking all day. You haven't. The crockpot has. But you accept the praise because you've earned it in other ways.
Ingredients
For the Crockpot (Morning)
- 1 pound ground beef 450g; or half beef, half Italian sausage
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 can crushed tomatoes 28oz / 800g
- 1 can diced tomatoes 14oz / 400g
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups beef or chicken broth 1L
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Salt and pepper
For the End (Last 30 Minutes)
- 8 lasagna noodles, broken into pieces don't bother being neat. Snap them roughly.
- 1 cup ricotta cheese 250g
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella 100g
- ½ cup grated parmesan 45g
- Fresh basil
Method
Brown the Meat (10 Minutes, Morning)
- In a large skillet, cook the ground beef over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned — about 6-7 minutes. Add the onion and garlic in the last 2 minutes. Drain excess fat if there's a lot. Transfer to the crockpot.
Load the Crockpot
- Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, broth, Italian seasoning, sugar, salt, and pepper to the crockpot. Stir to combine. Set on LOW for 6-8 hours or HIGH for 3-4 hours. Walk away. That's it for the next several hours.
Add the Pasta (Last 30 Minutes)
- About 30 minutes before serving, break the lasagna noodles into rough pieces and stir them into the soup. They don't need to be neat — mismatched sizes are part of the charm. Cover and cook on HIGH for 20-30 minutes until the pasta is al dente. Taste a noodle to check. Nobody likes mushy pasta — stop as soon as they're tender but still have a slight bite.
Finish with Cheese
- Turn off the crockpot. Stir in the parmesan. Ladle into bowls. Top each bowl with a big dollop of ricotta and a handful of shredded mozzarella. The heat of the soup will slightly melt the mozzarella into stretchy strings. Tear fresh basil over the top. Hand everyone a piece of bread and watch it disappear.
Notes
Store without the pasta if possible — the noodles absorb liquid overnight and get mushy. If you have leftovers with pasta already in, add a splash of broth when reheating. The soup keeps for 4-5 days in the fridge and freezes well for up to 3 months (again, without pasta). This makes great meal prep — freeze portions without pasta and cook fresh noodles when you reheat.