Thick Lasagna Soup puts Italian sausage, lean ground beef, vegetables, and broken lasagna noodles into a slow cooker and comes out tasting like a bowl of lasagna — without the layering, the béchamel, or the hour of active cooking. The soup is genuinely thick, not brothy, because the ratio of tomato sauce to stock keeps it substantial. If you own a slow cooker and can brown ground meat, you can make this.
Why this recipe works
Two things drive this recipe. First, browning the ground beef and Italian sausage before they go into the slow cooker matters more than it might seem — it removes excess fat that would otherwise make the soup greasy, and it gives the meat a slightly firmer texture so it doesn’t turn to mush over eight hours. Drain the fat after browning; don’t skip that step. Second, the noodles go in only during the last 30 minutes. Lasagna sheets are thick and starchy, and if they cook for the full eight hours they’ll absorb most of the liquid and turn the soup into paste. Adding them late keeps them tender but intact, and they release just enough starch to thicken the broth without wrecking the texture.
About the ingredients
- Italian sausage (US) vs. pork sausage with fennel seeds: Outside the US, look for fresh pork sausage seasoned with fennel. If you can’t find it, use plain ground pork and add ½ teaspoon of fennel seeds — that’s the flavour doing the work.
- Tomato sauce / ketchup note: The recipe uses 680 ml of what Australians and Brits call tomato sauce (passata-style). In the US this is plain tomato sauce, not ketchup. Use a smooth, unsweetened tomato purée.
- Cottage cheese: It goes in the bowl at serving, not into the pot. It melts slightly into the hot soup and acts like a lighter stand-in for ricotta. Full-fat cottage cheese gives a creamier result than low-fat.
- Vegetable stock: Chicken stock works fine here and adds a bit more body. The vegetable stock keeps the base from getting too heavy given the two meats already in the pot.
Keeping and reheating
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. The noodles will continue absorbing liquid as the soup sits, so by day two it will be noticeably thicker — add a splash of water or stock when reheating on the stovetop over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally. For freezing, the soup freezes well for up to 3 months, but the noodles get soft after thawing. If you plan to freeze a batch, hold the noodles out entirely and cook fresh ones when you reheat. Reheat frozen soup in a saucepan from thawed, or defrost overnight in the fridge first. Make sure it reaches a full simmer before serving — the ground pork in the sausage means you want it piping hot all the way through, not just warm on top.
If something goes sideways
- Soup is too thin: This usually means the slow cooker lid wasn’t sealed well, letting steam escape unevenly, or the tomato sauce was more watery than expected. Remove the lid for the last 20 minutes on high to reduce it, or stir in a tablespoon of tomato paste.
- Noodles are still hard after 30 minutes: Slow cooker temperatures vary by brand. If the noodles aren’t tender, replace the lid and give them another 15–20 minutes. Make sure the liquid is actually simmering, not just sitting warm.
- Meat is clumping in large chunks: Ground meat needs to be broken apart while browning — use a wooden spoon or spatula to crumble it into small pieces as it cooks. Large clumps don’t break down in the slow cooker.
- Soup tastes flat or bland: Taste before serving and add salt in small increments. The sodium level in canned tomatoes and stock varies a lot by brand, so seasoning at the end is more reliable than seasoning at the start.
- Cheese topping sinks and disappears: Add the mozzarella right before you eat, not while the bowl is still very hot — skip the garnish step of putting cheese on early, not worth the extra dish of prep when it just melts into nothing before it reaches the table.
Thick Lasagna Soup (Slow Cooker)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 24 oz tomato sauce - passata — not ketchup, 680ml
- 28 oz canned diced tomatoes - 794g
1 medium green pepper (green capsicum) - diced
9 oz button mushrooms - cut in quarters
2 medium yellow onion - diced
1 lb Italian sausage - pork sausage with fennel seeds, casings removed, 450g
½ lb ground beef (minced beef) - lean ; 225g
2 teaspoons garlic - minced ; about 4 cloves
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 cups vegetable stock - vegetable broth or vegetable bouillon
1 cup water - 240ml
1 medium carrot - diced small, about 80g- 6 sheets lasagna noodles - broken into roughly 2-inch / 5cm pieces
½ cup cottage cheese - 120g
½ cup cheddar cheese - shredded, 55g
½ cup mozzarella cheese - shredded, 55g
1 pinch salt - to taste
1 pinch ground black pepper - to taste
Instructions
- Brown the Italian sausage and ground beef in a large skillet over medium-high heat (about 400°F / 200°C), breaking it into small pieces, until no pink remains (about 8-10 minutes). Drain the fat thoroughly using a colander.1 lb Italian sausage, ½ lb ground beef (minced beef), 1 pinch salt
- Dice the onions, green bell pepper, and carrot. Quarter the mushrooms.2 medium yellow onion, 1 medium green pepper (green capsicum), 1 medium carrot, 9 oz button mushrooms
- Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, water, vegetable stock, dried basil, dried thyme, and minced garlic to a 6-quart (5.7L) slow cooker. Stir to combine.24 oz tomato sauce, 28 oz canned diced tomatoes, 1 cup water, 4 cups vegetable stock, 2 teaspoons dried basil, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 2 teaspoons garlic
- Add the browned and drained meat, diced onions, green bell pepper, and carrot. Stir well.1 lb Italian sausage, ½ lb ground beef (minced beef), 2 medium yellow onion, 1 medium green pepper (green capsicum), 1 medium carrot
- Cover and cook on Low for 7 hours 30 minutes.
- During the last 30 minutes of cooking, add the quartered mushrooms and broken lasagna noodles to the slow cooker. Stir gently, cover, and continue cooking until the noodles are tender (about 25-30 minutes).9 oz button mushrooms, 6 sheets lasagna noodles
- To serve, season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Place 1 tablespoon of cottage cheese and ½ tablespoon of shredded cheddar in the bottom of each bowl. Ladle the hot soup over the cheese. Top each bowl with 1 tablespoon of shredded mozzarella and allow it to melt for 30 seconds before serving.1 pinch salt, ½ cup cottage cheese, ½ cup cheddar cheese, ½ cup mozzarella cheese
Notes
Nutrition
Your questions, answered
Do I have to brown the meat first, or can I just put it in raw?
You need to brown it first. Raw ground meat added directly to a slow cooker releases a lot of fat into the soup and tends to clump into grey, unappealing lumps. Browning takes about 8–10 minutes on the stovetop and makes a real difference to both flavour and texture.
How do I know when the ground beef and sausage are fully cooked?
Ground beef and pork should reach an internal temperature of 160°F (71°C) — no pink should remain in the centre of any piece. When browning in a pan, cook until the meat is completely grey-brown throughout before draining and adding it to the slow cooker.
Can I use regular lasagna noodles or do they need to be no-boil?
Regular dried lasagna noodles work fine — just break them into rough pieces and add them to the hot soup for the last 30 minutes. No-boil noodles will also work but tend to get softer faster, so check them at 20 minutes.
Can I make this on the stovetop instead of a slow cooker?
Yes. After browning and draining the meat, combine everything except the mushrooms and noodles in a large pot and simmer on low for 45 minutes. Add the mushrooms for the last 15 minutes and the broken noodles for the last 12–15 minutes, until tender.
If you liked this one
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