This Crockpot Lasagna Soup distills everything you love about classic lasagna—savory meat sauce, tender noodles, and a creamy, cheesy finish—into a low-effort, slow-cooked bowl. You’ll brown the meat and bloom the tomato paste briefly for depth, then let the slow cooker handle the long, even simmer that develops a rich broth without babysitting. Pasta cooks right in the pot at the end, using the soup’s starch to thicken naturally, and a warm ricotta–Parmesan dollop finishes each serving for that unmistakable lasagna richness.
Ingredients & Measurements
- Yield: 6 servings (about 1½ cups each soup + ricotta topper)
- Meat & Aromatics
- 450 g (1 lb) Italian sausage, casings removed or 85/15 ground beef (see notes for turkey)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil (use only if your meat is very lean)
- 1 small yellow onion, finely diced (150 g)
- 4 garlic cloves, very finely minced (1½ Tbsp)
- Tomato Base & Broth
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 800 g (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
- 400 g (14 oz) tomato sauce or passata
- 1.1 L (4½ cups) low-sodium beef or chicken broth, at room temperature
- 1½ tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp fine sea salt (plus more to taste)
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1½ tsp sugar (balances acidity; adjust to taste)
- 1 bay leaf
- Pasta & Dairy Finish
- 225 g (8 oz) dry lasagna noodles, broken into 3–4 cm pieces (or mafalda corta)
- 120 ml (½ cup) heavy cream or 120 ml evaporated milk (lighter)
- 80 g (¾ cup) shredded low-moisture mozzarella (for stirring in)
- Ricotta Topper (per bowl)
- 250 g (1 cup) whole-milk ricotta
- 30 g (¼ cup) finely grated Parmesan
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
- Pinch salt and pepper
- Optional Add-Ins
- 2 packed cups baby spinach (about 85 g), added at the end
- ½ tsp soy sauce or Worcestershire (umami boost; won’t taste “soy”)
- Extra mozzarella or Parmesan for serving
- Olive oil for finishing
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Brown the meat for fond (6–8 minutes). Heat a large skillet over medium-high for 1 minute. Add sausage (or beef) and cook, breaking into small bits, until well browned with crisp edges, 6–8 minutes. Drain off excess fat, leaving about 1 Tbsp in the pan if needed.
- Bloom aromatics and paste (2 minutes). Add diced onion and cook over medium until translucent, 2–3 minutes. Stir in garlic; cook 30 seconds until fragrant. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, 60–90 seconds until brick red and caramelized.
- Load the slow cooker (hands-off stage). Transfer skillet contents to a 6–7 L slow cooker. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, broth, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes (if using), sugar, bay leaf, and optional soy/Worcestershire. Stir well to combine.
- Slow cook to develop body.
- LOW: 6–7 hours, or
- HIGH: 3–4 hours.
The soup should be simmering gently around the edges and smell savory-sweet; flavors will be integrated and the broth lightly thickened.
- Add pasta at the right time (12–18 minutes). Turn the slow cooker to HIGH. Stir in broken lasagna noodles, making sure they’re submerged. Cook 12–18 minutes on HIGH, stirring twice to prevent clumping, until al dente. (No-boil sheets cook slightly faster—start checks at 10–12 minutes.)
- Finish silky and cheesy (2–3 minutes). Remove and discard the bay leaf. Stir in heavy cream (or evaporated milk) and ¾ cup mozzarella until melted and the soup turns glossy, 1–2 minutes. If adding spinach, fold it in now and cook 1 minute until wilted. Taste; add salt in pinches until flavors pop.
- Make the ricotta topper (1 minute). In a small bowl, mix ricotta, Parmesan, parsley, and a pinch of salt and pepper until smooth. Keep at room temperature so it warms quickly on the soup.
- Serve hot with the dollop. Ladle soup into warm bowls. Add 2 Tbsp ricotta mixture to each, swirl lightly, sprinkle extra cheese and parsley, and finish with a tiny drizzle of olive oil if desired.
- Hold & store safely. Switch the slow cooker to WARM for up to 30 minutes (pasta will continue to soften slightly). Cool leftovers quickly, refrigerate airtight up to 3 days, or freeze (without pasta) up to 2 months. Reheat gently; add a splash of broth or water to loosen as needed.
Cooking Notes
- Why brown first: Maillard browning and caramelized tomato paste build depth you can’t get from raw-simmered meat. It takes 8–10 minutes and pays off big in flavor.
- Pasta timing discipline: Add noodles only near the end. Cooking them for hours creates mush and overly thick soup. Keep the crock on HIGH once noodles are in, and stir twice for even cooking.
- Cream choice: Heavy cream is most stable. Evaporated milk is lighter and heat-stable; avoid half-and-half at a boil (may split). Add dairy after noodles to prevent curdling.
- Consistency control: If soup is thicker than you like after noodles, add ½–1 cup hot broth to loosen. If too thin, let it sit 5 minutes after stirring in the cheese; starch will continue to thicken.
- Turkey version: Use 450 g ground turkey + 1 Tbsp olive oil. Boost savoriness with ½ tsp soy sauce in Step 3.
- Gluten-free path: Use sturdy GF lasagna noodles; start checks 2 minutes earlier and stir gently—GF pasta is more fragile.
- Vegetable boosts: Sauté 1 cup diced zucchini or mushrooms with the onion for extra body. Spinach is best added in the final minute for color.
- Salt discipline: Broth and cheese vary in sodium. Season in stages; re-taste after melting mozzarella and before serving.
- Make-ahead strategy: Slow-cook the base through Step 4. Cool and chill up to 48 hours. Reheat in the slow cooker on LOW until hot, then add noodles and finish as written for just-cooked texture.
- Ricotta texture: Keep the dollop thick so it sits and melts in ribbons. If you prefer a creamier bowl, whisk ¼ cup of the hot soup into the ricotta mix before dolloping to warm and loosen it.
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
- Serving size: ~1½ cups soup + 2 Tbsp ricotta topper
- Approximate calories: 460 kcal
- Total fat: 24 g
- Saturated fat: 11 g
- Carbohydrates: 39 g
- Dietary fiber: 4 g
- Total sugars: 9 g
- Protein: 24 g
- Sodium: 980 mg (varies with broth/cheese)
Conclusion
This Crockpot Lasagna Soup delivers layered lasagna flavor with slow-cooked ease: browned meat and bloomed paste for a robust base, a long hands-off simmer for depth, noodles cooked to al dente right in the crock, and a warm ricotta–Parmesan topper for creamy ribbons in every spoonful. Follow the timing cues and end-stage dairy addition for a soup that stays glossy, balanced, and unmistakably lasagna—without the sheet pans or the bake.
