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The Viral One Pot Lasagna Soup With A Few Special Twists
One Pot 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 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!
A Lighter 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 is still a source of protein.
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. I noticed that the brown rice pasta has more protein than regular pasta and is gluten-free, while the zucchini noodles add some green to the soup. If you want to add even more veggies 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 without rice noodles, just use zucchini for the pasta instead.
Vegetarian Lasagna Soup
If you want to make your lasagna soup completely vegetarian, you can substitute the ground turkey with a plant based meat, tofu, beans, or even just leave it out altogether. You can also use vegatable broth instead of chicken broth The aromatics like onions and garlic combined with browned tomato paste make this soup so flavorful that you won’t miss the meat, so if you prefer a vegetarian lasagna soup, go for it!
Making Vegan Lasagna Soup
If you would prefer to make a vegan lasagna soup, then you can make the same substitutions of plant-based protein and vegetable broth as above. You will also want to skip the cheese mixture that goes on top, and opt for a vegan cheese or just skip the garnish altogether. Either way, it will be delicious!
Topping This Lasagna Off With Delicious Spiced Goat Cheese Mixture
If you don’t want to opt for a vegan lasagna soup, then this cheese mixture is a delicious way to top your soup off.
One of the best parts of this one pot 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 (Willig), 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 One Pot Lasagna Soup Recipe
In 2024, 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 Lighter One Pot Lasagna Soup, with the intention of making something delicious that is going to serve my needs and leave me feeling my absolute best. 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.
Lasagna Soup 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 (sub plant-based protein if making vegetarian lasagna soup, or vegan lasagna soup)
- Italian seasoning
- Salt
- Pepper
- Tomato paste
- Marinara sauce
- Chicken stock (check out my homemade chicken stock recipe here!) (sub vegetable stock if making vegetarian lasagna soup, or vegan lasagna soup)
- Brown rice lasagna noodles
- Zucchini (cut into long, wide noodles)
- Parmesan (sub vegan parmesan for vegan lasagna soup)
- Ricotta (sub vegan ricotta for vegan lasagna soup)
- Goat Cheese (optional for lower-lactose version of the cheese topping) (sub vegan cheese for vegan lasagna soup)
How to Make Lighter Lasagna Soup With Ground Turkey, Zucchini, and Rice Noodles
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 One Pot Lasagna Soup Recipe:
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One Pot Lasagna Soup With Ground Turkey, Zucchini, and Rice Noodles (Gluten Free!)
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
This hearty One Pot Lasagna Soup is viral for a reason! This version is made lighter with ground turkey, zucchini, and rice noodles. It can easily be made into a vegetarian lasagna soup, or vegan lasagna soup.
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 (sub plant-based protein if making vegetarian lasagna soup, or vegan lasagna soup)
- 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 (sub vegan ricotta for vegan lasagna soup)
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/2 c grated parmesan cheese (sub vegan parmesan for vegan lasagna soup)
- 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 (sub vegan cheese for vegan lasagna soup)
- 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!
- Prep Time: 10
- Cook Time: 25
For more recipes like this one, follow me on social media at @dinneratallis!
Resources:
Willig, Henri. “Lactose Intolerance and Goat Cheese: How So?” Henri Willig, 12 Oct. 2023, henriwillig.com/en/blog/lactose-intolerance-and-goat-cheese-what-about-it/. Accessed 28 Jan. 2025.