This healthy lasagna soup has all the cozy Italian flavors of lasagna in a big, warm bowl, with no noodles in the pot. There’s nothing like sitting down to a bowl of hearty soup on a cold day! It’s protein-packed, SO easy to track, and one of my favorites to have on hand all winter.
If you love lasagna but want it lighter, my skillet zucchini lasagna is another easy one to try.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: (No Noodle) Easy Lasagna Soup
- Ready In: 40 minutes
- Serves: 8
- Calories: 280 cal
- Protein: 32.3g
- Fat: 6.5g
- Carbs: 18.8g
- Why You'll Love It: There’s nothing like sitting down to a big bowl of warm, hearty soup on a cold day! This No Noodle Easy Lasagna Soup has that comfort food feel while also being protein-packed and great for tracking macros.
Can Lasagna Soup Be Healthy?
YES! This one uses 96% lean ground beef and gets its creaminess from blended cauliflower and cottage cheese instead of piles of ricotta and mozzarella. Without noodles, one big 484g bowl has 280 calories and 32.3g protein.
How Do You Make Lasagna Soup Creamy but Healthy?
Steamed cauliflower, low fat cottage cheese, and Parmesan get blended with a little broth from the pot until smooth, then stirred into the soup. It makes the whole pot creamy. If you’re a cottage cheese fan like me, my cottage cheese meatballs are another favorite.
Should You Cook the Noodles in Lasagna Soup?
If you want noodles, keep them separate! That may sound funny, but I have two good reasons. First, noodles kept out of the soup won’t soak up all the broth and get mushy over time. Second, you can choose if and how much pasta goes in each bowl.
If I want to keep carbs lower, I skip the noodles and add extra roasted veggies to bulk mine up. Broccoli, mushrooms, butternut, or delicata squash… I’ll use whatever I’ve got!
Is Lasagna Soup Gluten-Free or Dairy-Free?
This recipe isn’t gluten-free or dairy-free as written, but with a few tweaks it can be! Skip the noodles or use gluten-free pasta. There’s quite a bit of cheese in this soup, so here are some of my favorite dairy-free products.
Important Ingredients and Substitutions
- 96% lean ground beef: 2 pounds. It keeps the fat low and the protein high.
- Crushed fennel seeds: 1 tablespoon. I love that the fennel gives sausage vibes to the lean ground beef!
- Low fat cottage cheese and Parmesan: blended with the cauliflower to make the creamy base.
- Cauliflower florets: 12 oz, steamed. I love the fresh steamable bags I can just throw in the microwave.
- White cooking wine: it goes in with the tomato paste for a couple of minutes.
- Whole or crushed canned tomatoes: one 28 oz can. If you use whole peeled tomatoes, smash them in the pot with your meat masher.
Before You Start Cooking
- Grab a large Dutch oven. Any big heavy-bottomed pot works. This makes 8 big servings.
- Plan on about 40 minutes. That’s 10 minutes of prep and 30 minutes of cooking.
- Have your blender ready. The steamed cauliflower, cottage cheese, and Parmesan get blended with a little broth from the pot.
- Cook noodles in a separate pot. If you’re using lasagna noodles, break them into a pot of boiling salted water and cook until al dente. Drain and toss with a spritz of olive oil so they don’t stick together.
- Tracking macros? Search “Lillie Eats and Tells No Noodle Lasagna Soup” in MyFitnessPal, or “Lillie Eats and Tells Lasagna Soup with noodles” if you’re adding pasta. Pasta about doubles in weight when it’s cooked, so 56g of dry pasta is about 112g cooked. Here’s how to create a recipe in MyFitnessPal. If you want a plan for the whole week, my macro-friendly meal plans send you a new menu and categorized grocery list every Thursday, with the macros already done.
How to Make Healthy Lasagna Soup
- Cook the veggies. Heat a large Dutch oven over high heat with a spritz of oil. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring often, for 5 to 10 minutes, until fragrant and tender. Add the garlic and dried herbs and cook 1 more minute.
- Brown the beef. Scoot the veggies to one side and add the ground beef. Break it up as you brown it and season with salt, fennel seeds, and crushed red pepper flakes. When it’s cooked through, stir it into the veggies.
- Add tomato paste and wine. Stir them in and cook for 2 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes (smash whole tomatoes), stir in the chicken broth, and reduce the heat to a simmer.
- Make the creamy sauce. Steam the cauliflower. Blend it with the cottage cheese, Parmesan, and a little broth from the pot until smooth and creamy, then stir it into the soup.
- Serve. Add cooked noodles to your bowl (if using) and top with hot soup. For a little more decadence, add grated mozzarella and let it get nice and melty. I love a scoop of ricotta or cottage cheese in mine.
What to Serve with Lasagna Soup
I love a bowl of soup with a big piece of crusty bread. A side salad is great too. Here are some of my favorite salads to serve with soup: wild rice and kale salad (Cubby’s copycat), simple arugula salad, strawberry summer salad, grinder salad, and super green salad.
How to Freeze Lasagna Soup
This is one of my macro-friendly freezer meals, and it’s so nice to have on hand when it’s cold out.
- Just like in the fridge, keep the noodles separate! Freeze only the soup so the noodles don’t get mushy, then cook them fresh when you’re ready to eat.
- Portion into containers and label with the date and grams (one serving is 484g).
- Thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat on the stove over medium heat, stirring well.
- Add a splash of broth if it’s thickened up.
- Keeps up to 3 months.
Looking for more macro-friendly soups? Try my Italian pasta soup, macro-friendly beef and kale soup, chicken minestrone soup, skinny tomato butternut soup, easy beef and veggie soup, creamy chicken pot pie soup, veggie chicken soup with butternut squash, lemony chicken soup, or Instant Pot creamy tomato chicken soup.
Lasagna Soup Calories and Macros
One 484g serving of this healthy lasagna soup has 280 calories, 32.3g protein, 6.5g fat, and 18.8g carbs, with 3.2g fiber. With a 56g (dry) serving of pasta added, the whole BIG bowl is 480 calories, 39g protein, 7.5g fat, and 60g carbs. The full nutrition is in the recipe card below.
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(No Noodle) Easy Lasagna Soup
Ingredients
- 10 oz frozen or fresh onion, diced (284g)
- 2¼ cups carrots, diced small (280g)
- 1½ cup celery, diced (200g)
- 8 frozen garlic cubes, or minced cloves
- 2 Tbsp dried basil
- 2 Tbsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp dried thyme
- 2 pounds 96% lean ground beef (4 fat per serving; 896g)
- 1½ Tbsp kosher salt
- 1 Tbsp crushed fennel seeds
- ½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
- ⅓ cup tomato paste (80g)
- ½ cup white cooking wine (120g)
- 28 oz can whole or crushed tomatoes (784g)
- 6 cups chicken broth (1387g)
- 12 oz cauliflower florets, steamed (336g)
- 1 cup low fat cottage cheese (230g)
- ½ cup parmesan cheese (56g)
Instructions
- Heat a large dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot over high heat with a spritz of oil. Add onions, carrots and celery, and cook, stirring often, for 5-10 minutes or until fragrant and tender. Add garlic, and dried herbs, and cook for one more minute.
- Scoot the veggies to one side and add the ground beef. Use a meat masher or wooden spoon to break up the beef as you brown it. Season with salt, fennel seeds and crushed red pepper flakes. (I love that the fennel gives sausage vibes to the lean ground beef!) When the meat is cooked through, combine it with the veggies.
- Stir tomato paste and white wine into the dish, cooking for two minutes. Then add the canned tomatoes. If using whole peeled canned tomatoes, give them a good smash with your meat masher. Stir in your chicken broth and reduce heat to a simmer.
- Steam cauliflower florets according to package directions. I love to buy the fresh steamable bags that I can just throw in the microwave for ease! Add the steamed cauliflower, cottage cheese, parmesan, and about ½ cup of the broth spooned out of the pot (just to help it blend) to a blender. Process until smooth and creamy. Stir the creamy sauce into the soup.
- I suggest serving this with lasagna noodles, but I like to keep the noodles separate for two reasons: 1. So they don’t soak up too much broth and get mushy over time. 2. This way you can choose if and how much pasta you want. If you count macros, make sure and track the noodles separately.
- If serving with lasagna noodles, break lasagna noodles over a pot of boiling salted water and drop them in. Cook according to package directions until al dente. Drain and set aside. (Toss with a spritz of olive oil so they don't stick together.)
- Add lasagna noodles (if using) to your bowl and top with hot soup. If you’d like a little more decadence, add some grated mozzarella to the top and let it get nice and melty. I love a scoop of ricotta or cottage cheese in mine. If I want to keep carbs lower, I love to skip the noodles and add in some extra roasted veggies to bulk mine up! Broccoli, mushrooms, butternut or delicata squash… I’ll use whatever I’ve got! Enjoy.
Notes
Tried this recipe?
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Such a great soup!
My error – but I think the heat of the broth and cauliflower curdled the cottage cheese – just a warning for others!
Such a comforting meal while still staying balanced 🙂
This recipe was INSANE. Added the optional lasagna noodles which I highly recommend! Could not believe how decadent this tasted for the macros.
Hi! So excited to make this. I’m hoping to use one pound of ground beef instead of two.. would you adjust the seasoning amounts at all or keep them the same? Thank you!
Yum!! Whole family loved it! Cooked meat separately for vegetarian hubby and added that in individually.