Every Monday morning at 9:00 a.m. for the past few months, Spencer and I have had a standing date 45 minutes away. We drop the older boys off at kindergarten and first grade before heading south to Charlottesville — often sitting in traffic and just barely making it to town in time. As I clench the steering wheel and question my sanity for voluntarily committing to such a rushed morning routine, my mind wanders to the rest of the day and my seemingly never-ending To Do List. Can’t dinner in the form of a cozy lasagna, a roasted chicken, or a homemade pizza just magically appear in my kitchen and take one responsibility off of my proverbial “plate”?
But you know what? When we get to our destination — a Parks & Rec class that combines art and gymnastics for an hour long session — and I see Spencer filled with so much joy, it makes the extra effort to spend our morning out of the house SO worth it!
This is Spencer’s favorite day of the week (and it might just be mine, too). He gets to play with his friend Jonathan while I get to catch up with Jonathan’s mom, Kristin. It’s a win-win…and that’s saying a lot for a Monday morning!
By the time we get home for lunch, it’s a scramble to get us fed, the laundry and other chores done, my work finished, and the older boys picked up by 3. Again, it makes getting dinner on the table a challenge that I honestly just don’t have the energy to deal with!
Lucky for you (and me!), I have found quite a few solutions for these out-of-the-house busy days. Whether I’m facing a morning in town for class with Jonathan, a marathon day of errands, or piles or work to tackle, it’s always nice to know that I can dump some ingredients into my Crock Pot in the morning and focus my attention elsewhere for the rest of the day.
With recipes like this Lasagna Soup, I can take a family-favorite comfort food dish and turn it into an easier and healthier dinner that everyone loves. Best of all, it’s ready and waiting for us when we need a hot supper together at the end of the day!
Healthy Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup
Prep
Cook
Total
Yield 8 (1.5 cup servings)
Ingredients
- 1 lb. extra lean ground beef, cooked and drained
- 24 oz jar of marinara sauce
- 4 cups beef broth
- 1 cup water
- 3 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can petite-diced tomatoes, NOT drained
- 7 “No Boil” lasagna noodles (6 ounces), broken into bite-sized pieces
- Shredded mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, for topping
Instructions
- Combine first 7 ingredients in a slow cooker (beef through tomatoes).
- Cover, and cook on “low” for about 8 hours.
- When there are about 30 minutes remaining in the cooking time, add lasagna noodle pieces to the pot. Stir, cover, and continue to cook for the remaining 30 minutes (or until pasta is tender).
- Garnish with cheese and serve.
Sounds like you and Spencer have a wonderful time at his class, especially for a Monday! This lasagna soup looks SO good, Blair. I’ve made something sorta similar years ago, but I like this version much better. Sounds perfect for the snow we’re supposed to get this weekend!
Wow — I can’t believe that you’re expecting snow already Gayle! I’m not ready for that yet! 🙂
Sounds wonderful. Might think about making this tomorrow! It’s quite cold here in NC.
Awesome! I hope that you get to try it, Linda! 🙂
This looks so comforting and delicious! We love lasagna so I bet we’d love this too!
Yes, you would love this Kristy! 🙂
HI Blair,
THIS IS HEAVEN. I love lasagna. I love soups. But lasagna soup??? Are you kidding me. This is the ultimate thing! Thank you for posting this!
Thank you, James! It’s a keeper!
The looks like something my picky sweetie would enjoy. My family loves lasagna, but does not do peppers. One onion I can slip in. Any suggestions on other add ins? Thank you.
Hi, Lynn! Yes — this is definitely a favorite with all of my boys (big and small). 🙂
You can easily leave out the peppers and either not replace them with anything, or if you want to add another vegetable, I’d go with something mild like sliced zucchini or yellow summer squash (your little one probably wouldn’t even taste it if you dice it really small)! Are there other veggies that he/she likes? Just about anything goes…sliced carrots? Extra diced tomatoes? Any of those options would be fine! Enjoy!
Thank you, I was thinking of maybe ”hiding” some carrots. I was concerned over the flavor.
Also thinking of small amounts os ricotta on top of the serving bowls!
The carrots would be a great addition, Lynn! My only tip would be to make sure that you dice the carrots small enough so that they cook through and are soft by the time the rest of the soup is done. A crunchy bite of carrot might not agree with a picky little one! 🙂
I made this today and it was soooo good! I found your site by Googling “low fat soup ground beef” and poof your recipe popped. I plan to check out your other recipes too as I like tasty, quick, easy, and low point. Thank you and Merry Christmas!
Hey, Lori! I’m so glad that you found my site! Welcome! And hooray for yummy soup — especially at this time of year. My husband and my kids love this particular soup, so I’m glad that you enjoyed it as well. Have a great holiday!
What about adding ricotta cheese to it ? And if you can add it,when would. It be added ?
Hi, Kathy! I would worry that the ricotta wouldn’t smoothly melt and incorporate into the soup, so I wouldn’t stir it in. Instead, if you want to add the ricotta, I would put a dollop on top (kind of like topping chili with a dollop of sour cream). Enjoy!
This sounds superb! We love the taste of lasagna but I don’t like the noodles unless they’re ‘overcooked’. Breaking them into smaller pieces and cooking them in the soup sounds like they would have the texture I like.
However, neither of us like marinara sauce or commercial spaghetti sauce. I usually make my own but would like suggestions from anyone that has the same situation: what to substitute for the marinara sauce. Other than that, I like how yours sounds. I, too, would add some ricotta cheese on top, and I would also OFFER some cream cheese or even cottage cheese for anyone who wants to try it. When I make lasagna, I combine the cream and cottage cheeses and cook it in the lasagna and it makes a delicious addition. But in soup, I would add it to my own dish after cooking.
That sounds perfect! Enjoy, Dale!
Many years ago before the days of good jarred sauce, I use to make a plain one with a can of puree, large can of sauce, and one or two small cans of paste. Basic spices of basil, cilantro. Oregano, garlic salt and sugar. All to your personel taste. I would do some more fine tuning now by maybe starting with sauting up some finely chopped onion, garlic.
If you pre-cook the meat and then put it in as the recipe says, does the meat get overcooked once it is then in the crock pot for 7 – 8 hours? Can you put the mat in the crock pot raw, or is that not recommended?
Hi! The meat doesn’t get overcooked — it’s kind of like slow simmering a pasta meat sauce or a chili — it just slowly flavors the soup. You could probably put it in raw and then break it up with a spoon as it cooks, but you would definitely want to use a very lean meat so that you don’t have the fat making the broth greasy. 🙂 Hope that helps!
This sounds delicious! Do you think it would freeze well? I’m wondering if I should half the recipe since I’m only making it for two people. Also, what size is your crockpot? Thanks for the info. Excited to have found your crock pot meals!
Hi, Katie! I use a 6-quart slow cooker. And yes…this freezes well! We’ve enjoyed it that way many times. 🙂
Can I use fresh lasgna noodles instead of no boil?
Hi, Jillian! Sure, I think those would work fine. I’d just keep an eye on the soup because the cooking time will probably be different for the fresh noodles. Fresh pasta typically cooks a lot faster than dry pasta, and you don’t want to over-cook the noodles and have them turn out mushy. Hope that helps! 🙂
I went to the store and TOTALLY forgot the lasagna noodles! ARGH. Can I substitute with any pasta? This is probably a stupid question as I bet you can but had to ask!
Hah! I’ve totally done that too. You can definitely substitute with any other type of pasta. The only catch is that the cooking time might be different, depending on the type/shape of pasta that you use. If it’s a pasta shape that requires a longer cooking time, then it will also require more time in the slow cooker. Just keep your eye on it and you’ll know it’s done when the pasta is tender. Enjoy!
Hi! Can you cook this on high for half the time and get similar results?
Hi, Moriah! Yes, you can! 🙂
I completely forgot to cook the ground beef and just added it! Aside from the fat in it, will it still cook and be ok to eat?
Yes! I think it should be fine. You will probably need to break it up with a spoon as it cooks so that it’s not just one big lump of meat. 🙂 Otherwise, it should work okay!
I made this for dinner last night and it turned out beautifully! I thought the three bell peppers was going to be a lot, but they’re very mellow and you don’t notice them. I use chicken broth instead of beef, because it’s what I have in the house, but it was still great! Thanks for the delicious recipe!
Awesome!! So glad that you enjoyed it, Chelsea! Thanks for letting me know. 🙂
This recipe looks so delicious. I’ve never really tried making a lasagna soup. Actually, I never knew that I can make soup out of lasagna recipe. Thanks for sharing this wonderful idea with us. By the way, can I add milk for this recipe? Like for example, half cup of milk and half cup of water? Is it possible?
Hey, Julia! Thank you! I hope that you try it — this soup is one of our favorites!
I haven’t tried the milk, so I don’t know what would happen. I would just worry about it curdling or doing something funky if it gets too hot? Not sure, so if you try it please report back and let me know!