Do you love lasagna, but dread the layering of noodles, meat, cheese, repeat…and repeat? What if I told you that by making this Slow Cooker Lasagna Soup recipe you won’t have to layer anything and you don’t dirty as many dishes? I get you.
Calling this recipe easy is an understatement for this delicious twist on a classic Italian meal. Watch this video and see how easy this recipe is to make!
Wait a minute. Soup? Yes. Soup. I know the weather is getting warmer in much of the country but a good slow cooker meal never goes out of style, at least not this one!
This recipe is in the same year-round category as the Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup, the Mexican Bean and Veggie Soup, the All Meat and Veggie Chili, and my Chicken and Veggie Chili. They are my go-to recipes whenever I need a hearty meal that will please my whole family.
In the summertime, this recipe is the perfect solution to preventing my kitchen from heating up the house while I bake a pan of lasagna for over an hour. No to mention, the recipe is one of those you set and forget about until it’s time to serve. This soup tastes just like Lasagna without all the prep fuss.
My kids get very excited when I make this soup. It’s a spin on their already favorite Skillet Lasagna Recipe. What’s great about this recipe is that you can use gluten-free pasta and add it in the last 30 minutes until it’s done. And just last week I tried this recipe with grain-free pasta made with almond flour (I found it in the refrigerated section of Whole Foods). It was amazing!
And with those simple tweaks, it’s also a Whole30 compliant dish! Simple swaps are how I keep my kids eating their favorite recipes, even when we eliminate processed foods and sugars as a family.
This recipe, like so many others on this website, is perfect for times where my 4-year-old is trying to help cook. He can just fill the ingredients in the slow cooker and then it’s ready at meal time. Because of my friends, having a hearty meal like this one ready prevents him from getting “hangry” (totally an accurate term to describe him if you follow me on Snapchat) in the evenings.
I hope you try this slow cooker version of the classic Lasagna and it becomes a favorite in your family as well.
What recipes do you like to make in the slow cooker?
Lasagna Soup in the Slow Cooker
Just like traditional lasagna, but with none of the work! This lasagna soup combines all the Italian flavors we love, with the ease of a crockpot recipe!
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Ingredients
- 1 pound (455 g) ground beef
- 1 28 ounce can (800 g) diced tomatoes
- 6 ounce can (90 g) tomato paste
- 3 cups (705 ml) beef broth
- 2 cups (470 ml) water, divided
- 4–5 cloves (12 g-15 g) garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons (4g) Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup (80 g) chopped onion
- 1 cup (235 ml) water
- 2 cups (186 g) uncooked shell pasta
- 1/4 teaspoon (0.5 g) black ground pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) salt
- 1 cup (110 g) shredded mozzarella (for topping)
Instructions
- In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, brown your beef. Once cooked, transfer inside the slow cooker bowl.
- To the cooked beef, add diced tomatoes, tomato paste, broth or stock, 1 cup water, garlic, Italian seasoning, onion, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 7-8 hours or on HIGH for 4-5 hours.
- In the final 30 minutes, add in 1 cup of water and pasta. Stir to combine. Put l the d back on and continue cooking for 30 minutes.
- Serve and top with shredded cheese.
- For school lunch: Preheat a thermos container and fill with warm soup.
It’s delish! How do you cook it on the stove? I mean time. And maybe some other changes?
In the stove you just cook your meat, add the tomato sauce and everything else except pasta. Simmer for 20 minutes. Then add pasta and cook according to package directions.
I saw this exact same recipe on family fresh meals. I’ve been using it for years. Who’s recipe is this?
Hi Nicole, Corey shared the recipe years ago on MOMables.com (which I own) and I included it in our menus. I’ve modified this recipe (I don’t use V8 juice) and she was credited in one of my cookbooks for sharing the recipe. I also own all my photography and have written it up differently, thus a slightly different recipe. She remains a great friend of mine. The internet is filled with “similar” recipes and many of us have been using our own versions for years. I’m quite sure what you’ve been using for years is great as well.
Hi – I found this same recipe in your lunches cookbook (which I love), however it didn’t say anything about browning the beef first. Am I supposed to? Thanks!
Hi Rebecca! you can brown the beef or not brown it. The version in the cookbook is designed for ultra convenience. I personally like to brown the beef because I like to use the flavor of the drippings into the sauce, but both ways will work. Browning can also cut down on cooking time. I hope this helps! 🙂
The soup is delicious. I added cayenne pepper to give it a kick. When I added the shells they soaked up a lot of the soup and they expanded triple their size LOL I think next time I will cook them separately and add them to the soup when I eat it to avoid the noodles getting soggy. Great soup though!
★★★★
This was fantastic. I found “Gigli” pasta at Trader Joe’s (was on the “new” shelf just last week) and they are like little lasagna noodles — perfect!
I slow cooked everything in my Instant Pot on “slow cook” mode (including a combo of red/orange/yellow peppers to equal one pepper that I sauteed with the onion and garlic), then when we got home I stirred in the water and pasta, and put on top: a block of frozen, cooked ground beef I already had, 1/2 of a sliced zucchini, and some chopped kale and mushrooms and pressure cooked for 4 minutes with a quick release at the end. Since we were in a hurry to eat and I forgot how much water I added earlier (and it needed a little more liquid), I threw in some ice cubes to cool it down a bit. Definitely a hit with the family!
Hi – I’m a little confused: the recipe calls for 2 cups water,divided; then says to add 1 cup water with pasta. So is it 3 cups total, or one cup and another one cup later?
It’s a total of 2 cups of water. 1 cup with the broth and the final cup with the pasta. Enjoy!