Lasagna Soup in a Lasagna Bowl
A classic lasagna soup recipe served in a bowl made from crispy lasagna noodles and cheese! It’s a dream come true! A bowl made from pasta! Lasagna soup can be so tasty and decadent, and these bowls crank up the indulgence factor to the next level!
The inspiration for this recipe
To be honest I have wanted to make a twist on lasagna soup for years. Sometimes it’s hard for me to think of an idea for 5 years and then one day it is just staring me in the face. I have no idea why it suddenly came to me, but I am so glad it did. Putting the lasagna soup in a lasagna bowl is just so obvious and yet it eluded me for this long.
Make the lasagna soup
I do a real simple lasagna soup when I make it because it was always an easy weeknight healthy-ish meal for me growing up. The dish has evolved lately and most recipes are a little more decadent. You can use your favorite, or the simple one I have written out below.
Ground beef, peppers and onions, and tomato paste and garlic to start. Then canned tomatoes, broth, spinach, and cream.
Make the lasagna bowls
I would say the most important part of this recipe is finding the bowls you plan to use as a mold for the lasagna bowls. I went back and forth on several bowls including a Korean stone bowl, but settled on this little crock here. The verticality it added to my lasagna bowl was perfect. Start by greasing the bowl, then adding parchment. Then a layer of lasagna, cheese, and more lasagna.
Add some pressure with foil and pie weights (dry black beans in this case). After you add the foil you can add more cheese to the sides so it won’t just fall into the bottom with the other cheese. I also used the foil to protect the lasagna edges from getting too brown and eventually burning.
Baking the lasagna soup bowls
After they cook most of the way, take the foil out of the center, then flip and remove the parchment. You will probably need to use a knife to make sure nothing is sticking to the edges of the baking dish. Cook an additional 10 to 15 minutes to crisp up on all the sides.
Fill the lasagna bowl with the lasagna soup
Get the bowl onto a plate. You want a deep large plate for this for when things will inevitably get messy.
Add about half the lasagna soup to the lasagna bowl. Then add some noodles. These are the cut up noodle scraps from making the bowls. Then add ricotta and mozzarella, and finish filling the bowl with the rest of the soup.
Serving the lasagna soup bowls
I topped mine with a little more cheese before digging in. Sooooo good! I was ripping and dipping!
The noodles on the very bottom of the bowl are definitely layered quite thick, so you may leave a little at the end of eating the soup. Besides a little bit of the bottom, I devoured every bite on this plate!
Twists on this recipe
You could make this with your favorite lasagna soup recipe for sure. Mine is pretty basic. If you have a link to your personal favorite, let me know in the comments! These are a few that I saw recently that had me drooling! Vodka lasagna soup from Ashley Breann (@imashleybreannn) or this version of lasagna soup from Stefanie Phillips. (@stefsdinner)
For more crazy lasagna twists, check out my lasagna cheesecake, lasagna meatloaf, or this epic lasagna timpano!
Lasagna Soup in a Lasagna Bowl
Equipment
- foil
- oven safe bowls or large ramekins
Ingredients
Soup
- 1 pound ground beef or sausage
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 green bell pepper diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 4 ounces tomato paste
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomato
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 cups chopped fresh spinach
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon oregano
Bowls
- 1 pound lasagna noodles
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese
- high heat oil
- parchment paper
Serving
- leftover noodles from above
- leftover cheese from above
- ricotta cheese
Instructions
Make the soup
- Bring a heavy bottom pan to high heat with some oil. Add in the beef and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes, to brown the beef. Break it up as you cook it, and season it with about half the salt. If there is excess fat, you can drain some if you want.
- Add in the pepper and onion and cook 10 minutes to soften. Add in the garlic and cook 2 minutes. Add in the tomato paste and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add in the crushed tomatoes and broth and bring to a simmer. Add in the spinach, cream, oregano, and chili flakes. Add the remaining salt and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Simmer on low until ready to use.
Make the bowls
- Preheat oven to 425
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the lasagna and cook about 9 minutes until softened but not overcooked. A few minutes less than it says on the package.
- Strain and transfer the noodles to a well oiled baking sheet or platter, making sure the noodles are oiled on both sides to prevent too much sticking.
- Grease the oven safe bowls you plan to use. Add parchment paper rounds to the bottom. Measure one noodle by putting it in the middle of the bowl and up both sides of the bowl. Rip it slightly to mark the spot, then transfer to a cutting board. Cut 12 noodles the same length.
- Fill one of the bowls with 3 noodles, making sure to stager them so there will be as much coverage as possible along the edges. Next add cheese, then 3 more, sealing up the bowl on the sides. See photos.
- Add some foil to the middle to apply pressure to the sides of the lasagna bowl. Tuck in some cheese to the sides, between the layers of noodles. You should be using about 1/4 of the total amount of cheese for each bowl, tro save some for inside the soup later.
- Use the foil to also cover the noodle edges that are exposed to prevent them from burning.
- Once you make both bowls, put them on a baking sheet and bake for 45 minutes.
- While they are baking, cut the noodle scraps into squares to put into the soup later.
- Remove all the foil and see how firm the edges are. If needed, bake 10 minutes without the foil.
- Use your knife along the edges of the bowls to separate the lasagna from the bowl itself. Flip the lasagna bowl out of it's mold, and remove the parchment paper.
- Return to the oven and bake another 10-15 minutes upside down to brown the outsides of the bowl and add crunch.
Serve
- Put the lasagna bowl on a plate. Ladle in some soup until it is half full. Add some of the cut lasagna noodle scraps, mozzarella, and ricotta. Add more soup to fill the bowl and serve.