If you are craving comfort food without putting in all the time and effort of making lasagna, you need to try lasagna soup! This easy soup recipe checks all the boxes. It has tender, curly lasagna noodles and zesty tomato sauce. In place of traditional ricotta cheese, we have crumbled tofu, nutritional yeast and greens. This plant-based version will fulfill all your cravings and more with good for you ingredients and flavor galore.
What is Lasagna Soup?
Lasagna soup has taken the internet by storm these last couple of years. It's basically a quicker and easier version of a classic lasagna. Rather than being a baked casserole with noodles, sauce and cheese, it comes in soup form. Made with lasagna noodles that are torn into bite sized pieces in a hearty tomato based broth with all the regular lasagna ingredients, it has everything you love about this classic comfort food dish. But this recipe is minus the tons of effort and time consuming aspect of traditional laz.
Why you'll love this Vegan Lasagna Soup
- Totally plant-based and dairy free
- Higher in protein thanks to firm high protein crumbled tofu
- Herby and zesty tomato sauce
- Super cozy and comforting
- Hearty and Filling
- Lower in calories and fat than regular lasagna
- Easy to make, comes together quickly
- Easy to customize, add or subtract ingredients at will
Leftovers Tip:
When reheating lasagna soup for next day consumption, you will notice that it is much drier than the first day. That is because the noodles are soaking up all the moisture in the sauce! You have two choices for reheating. First choice is add some water and reheat on the stovetop to make it soupy again. Or, alternately just scoop a serving onto a plate and microwave it until hot and it will be more of a lazy lasagna situation.
Cozy Vegan Lasagna Soup Ingredients
The ingredients for this easy soup recipe are quite basic. Many of them you probably have in your pantry already!
- Lasagna Noodles- These curly edged noodles have the best texture
- Crushed Tomatoes- I like a little texture in my tomato product
- Garlic, Onion and Green Pepper- A savory trio that every pasta sauce needs
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil: To saute like a pro
- Salt, Sugar and Italian Seasoning- Salt makes the flavors pop, sugar cuts the acid and Italian seasoning makes it zesty
- High Protein Firm Tofu- Crumbled tofu mimics ricotta with its soft texture and mild flavor
- Nutritional Yeast-Gives it that cheesy flavor
- Kale-Greens bump up the nutrition and the texture
Time Saving tip: Buy a store-bought jar of pasta sauce and you can omit the sauce ingredients: garlic, onion, pepper, Italian Seasoning, sugar and crushed tomatoes. Rather than making the sauce from scratch just dump in the jar and add water!
How to Make Vegan Lasagna Soup
This recipe is quite easy really. Even a beginner cook can follow these steps to make a fabulous dinner.
- First, saute the onions, garlic and bell peppers in olive oil until fragrant and browning.
- Next add the crushed tomatoes, water, tofu and spices and bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes to make a thin and brothy tomato sauce.
- Now add in the noodles and nutritional yeast and cook until they are tender.
- Finish with the greens, adding at the end to preserve some of the color.
- Garnish and serve.
Tips for Making the Best Lasagna Soup
- Use organic tomatoes, they just taste better!
- Get herby by adding fresh herbs at the end instead like basil, oregano or fresh parsley
- Add more protein and fiber with white beans
- Experiment with veggies: eggplant, broccoli rabe, and spinach are great with tomato sauce and garlic flavors
- Make it cheesier, just add some vegan or dairy cheese at the end like mozzarella or parmesan
- Sub in some plant-based ground beef for the tofu or add it in to make it extra satisfying.
- Make it extra creamy and decadent by adding a can of unsweetened coconut milk at the end.
FAQs
While this does make good leftovers, I do prefer this recipe when it is freshly made. Pasta does have a bad habit of swelling or absorbing the liquid when refrigerated overnight.
If you really want to save time by cooking ahead, for the best dish I recommend making the broth/sauce/soup part and saving the noodles to cook fresh and add when serving instead.
Of course if you don't mind the leftover pasta being a bit drier, and having to add some water to make it soupy again, you can do as you wish.
If you peep the macros on this recipe you will notice that the sodium is quite high. If you are on a medically mandated low sodium diet, be sure to select tomatoes labelled low sodium or no salt added tomatoes.
Sure, you can leave out the tofu. But the tofu is there to replace ricotta cheese's lumpy texture and mild, creamy flavor. If you leave out the tofu, I recommend serving each bowl with a dollop of vegan ricotta or dairy ricotta on top to get that lasagna vibe.
Yes! Absolutely spinach is a great alternative to kale in this recipe. But since spinach is very delicate, you should add it and then turn off the heat. It will wilt in seconds upon entering the hot liquid.
Other Delicious and Cozy Soup Recipes
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Cozy Vegan Lasagna Soup with Tofu and Greens
Ingredients
- 1 pound lasagna noodles broken in to bite sized pieces
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ onion red or yellow chopped
- ½ green pepper or red chopped
- 24- oz can crushed tomato
- 16 oz firm tofu high protein, crumbled
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 cups kale or spinach stemmed and chopped
- 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp turbinado sugar
- 8 cups water
Instructions
- To a large soup pot over medium heat add the extra virgin olive oil. When hot, add the onion, garlic and bell pepper and cook for 5 minutes until browning and fragrant
- Add crushed tomatoes, tofu, Italian seasoning, salt and water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes
- Next add the broken lasagna noodles, sugar and nutritional yeast. Cook until noodles are soft, about 10 minutes. Then add the greens and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Garnish with crushed red pepper and nutritional yeast.
- Tip: Add a little extra water when reheating the next day as some of the broth will absorb.