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The Viral Lasagna Soup With A Few Healthy Twists
Lasagna Soup has taken social media by storm for good reason – it’s cozy, hearty, and delicious like its comfort food counterpart, but way easier to make than traditional lasagna! I wanted to take a shot at making a low-carb, high-protein version that was a little leaner than the original but still packed the same flavor, so I created this version using zucchini, brown rice pasta, and lean ground turkey meat. It’s absolutely delicious!
My Version Of Lasagna Soup
Lasagna Soup originally uses ground beef (like lasagna), but I wanted to give it a try with lean ground turkey meat and you honestly can’t tell the difference between the substitute and the regular version with all of the other flavors going on! I prefer ground turkey meat because it’s lighter but still packs the protein into whatever you’re using it for.
Another substitution opportunity that I decided to take with this recipe is the noodles. Traditional lasagna soup uses regular lasagna noodles, but I opted for half brown rice noodle and half zucchini noodles. The brown rice pasta has more protein than regular pasta and is gluten-free, while the zucchini noodles add extra nutrients to the soup but decrease the carb load. If you want to add even more nutritional value to your lasagna soup, you can also make additions like fresh spinach or kale towards the end of the cooking process – you can never have enough greens in my opinion!
Pro tip: If you’re just not a zucchini person, use all brown rice pasta instead! OR, if you’d prefer to make this entire soup low-carb, just use zucchini for the pasta instead.
Lasagna Soup Cheese Topping – A Healthier Version That’s Still Delicious
One of the best parts of lasagna soup is the ricotta cheese mixture that is served over the top of it, I will fully acknowledge and back this up (it’s really good!). That being said, I have a one sided relationship with cheese where I love it but it doesn’t love me back, so I wanted to try to lighten up the topping on my own soup. When I created this recipe, I made a bowl with the regular ricotta mixture and a recipe with a lower-dairy cheese mixture combining seasonings, goat cheese, and a little aged parmesan. I absolutely loved it, so if you’re like me and want to opt for a lower-lactose cheese mixture, I’ve included both topping recipes below in the recipe card. *
Note: this is substitute still contains lactose, just a decreased amount.
Why I Created This Anti-Inflammatory Recipe
I am very intentional with my ingredients, I like to develop recipes that are both delicious and that will work for me by offering extra nutritional benefits to my body.
Earlier this year, I discovered that my body produces antibodies that attack my thyroid. My doctor highly recommended that I stick to an anti-inflammatory diet because of the correlation between thyroid function and inflammation. I create most recipes, including this lasagna soup, with anti-inflammatory properties in mind. I’ve noticed that eating as clean as possible has made me feel better, heal faster, and help with my overall cognitive function. I am by no means a doctor or registered dietician, but I did want to share my personal “why” for creating recipes like this one because eating this way really has positively impacted my health, and I figured maybe it could help others, too.
Ingredients:
- Garlic-infused olive oil (can also just use regular olive oil)
- Sweet onion
- Garlic (optional, use if you aren’t using the garlic infused oil)
- Lean ground turkey meat
- Italian seasoning
- Salt
- Pepper
- Tomato paste
- Marinara sauce
- Chicken stock (check out my homemade chicken stock recipe here!)
- Brown rice lasagna noodles
- Zucchini (cut into long, wide noodles)
- Parmesan
- Ricotta
- Goat Cheese (optional for lower-lactose version of the cheese topping)
How to Make High Protein, Low Carb Lasagna Soup
Cook Your Onions: Start by adding your olive oil to your pot over medium heat, then add in your diced onions and cook for a few minutes until they become translucent. If you’re using regular olive oil instead of a garlic-infused oil, add your finely diced garlic in with the onions after 2 minutes to cook it down as well.
Cook Your Turkey Meat: Once your aromatics are cooked, add in your ground turkey, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and brown your meat, occasionally stirring until it’s cooked all the way through.
Brown Your Tomato Paste: Make a little hole in the turkey meat at the bottom of the pan and add your tomato paste in so that it touched the hot pan. You’ll want to stir it for 1-2 minuted with the turkey until its browned as well.
Add Your Liquids: Next, stir in your marinara sauce and chicken stock. Bring this to a boil and then reduce your soup to a simmer and let that go for about 10 minutes. Taste your soup and add in additional salt/pepper as needed. If you’d like to add additional veggies like spinach or kale, throw them in during the last two minutes of cook time so they soften and incorporate.
Make Your Ricotta Mixture: While your soup is simmering, make your ricotta cheese topping in a separate small bowl. Combine ricotta, grated parmesan, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. If you’d prefer my low-lactose version, combine your goat cheese, parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl instead.
Plate and Serve: Ladle your lasagne soup into bowls and top it off with your cheese mixture and a little more grated parmesan. Enjoy!
Tools:
- Dutch oven or large pot (here is my favorite Pumpkin Shaped Dutch Oven)
Full Recipe:
Print
High Protein & Low Carb Lasagna Soup
- Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the Soup:
- 1/2 sweet onion (diced)
- 2 tbsp garlic-infused olive oil (*can sub regular if you don’t have garlic infused)
- *3 garlic cloves (finely diced – only add in if you are NOT using garlic-infused olive oil)
- 1 package lean ground turkey meat
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups marinara
- 4 1/2 cups chicken stock
- 1 c brown rice lasagne noodles
- 1 medium zucchini (cut long and thin to mimic lasagna noodles)
For the Ricotta Mixture:
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 c grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper (to taste)
For My Lower-Lactose Goat Cheese Topping:
- 1/4 c (about 1/2 log) of goat cheese
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cook Your Onions: Start by adding your olive oil to your pot over medium heat, then add in your diced onions and cook for a few minutes until they become translucent. If you’re using regular olive oil instead of a garlic-infused oil, add your finely diced garlic in with the onions after 2 minutes to cook it down as well.
- Cook Your Turkey Meat: Once your aromatics are cooked, add in your ground turkey, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper and brown your meat, occasionally stirring until it’s cooked all the way through.
- Brown Your Tomato Paste: Make a little hole in the turkey meat at the bottom of the pan and add your tomato paste in so that it touched the hot pan. You’ll want to stir it for 1-2 minuted with the turkey until its browned as well.
- Add Your Liquids: Next, stir in your marinara sauce and chicken stock. Bring this to a boil and then reduce your soup to a simmer and let that go for about 10 minutes. Taste your soup and add in additional salt/pepper as needed. If you’d like to add additional veggies like spinach or kale, throw them in during the last two minutes of cook time so they soften and incorporate.
- Make Your Ricotta Mixture: While your soup is simmering, make your ricotta cheese topping in a separate small bowl. Combine ricotta, grated parmesan, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. If you’d prefer my low-lactose version, combine your goat cheese, parmesan, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper in a separate bowl instead.
- Plate and Serve: Ladle your lasagne soup into bowls and top it off with your cheese mixture and a little more grated parmesan. Enjoy!
For more recipes like this one, follow me on social media at @dinneratallis!