30 Budget-Friendly Easy Lasagna Soup Worth Making

This easy lasagna soup takes all the flavour of a baked lasagna — rich tomato sauce, savoury sausage, melty cheese — and turns it into a spoonable one-pot meal in under an hour. There's no layering, no waiting for a tray to set, and no washing up a dozen dishes, since everything simmers together in a single pot. Broken lasagna sheets soak up the sauce as they cook, so every spoonful gets that classic pasta-and-tomato bite. Below are 30 ways to make it, from budget weeknight versions to slow-cooker and vegetarian spins.

This is the base recipe most cooks turn to first: half beef mince, half Italian sausage, browned together for deeper flavour than either meat alone. A tin of crushed tomatoes and a spoonful of tomato paste build a rich sauce, while beef stock keeps it properly soupy rather than stew-thick. Simmer the broken lasagna sheets directly in the pot for the last 10-12 minutes so they release a little starch into the broth. Top each bowl with a dollop of ricotta stirred with parmesan for that unmistakable lasagna finish.

Swap the raw sausage for pre-cooked meatballs or leftover bolognese to cut a good 15 minutes off the clock. Use a jarred passata instead of crushed tomatoes plus paste, and boil the noodles separately while the sauce simmers so nothing holds up dinner. This version is ready from fridge to table in half an hour, making it a genuine Tuesday-night option rather than a weekend project.

Brown the sausage and onion in a pan first, then transfer everything except the pasta, ricotta and mozzarella to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours, and stir in the broken noodles only in the last 20-25 minutes so they don't turn to mush. This is the easiest version for a busy day, since the slow cooker does the simmering while you're out.

Use the sauté function to brown the sausage and onion directly in the pot, then add the tomatoes, stock and seasoning. Pressure cook on high for 5 minutes with a 5-minute natural release, then stir in the broken lasagna sheets and simmer on sauté for a further 4-5 minutes until tender. It's the fastest route to a from-scratch pot, with real depth of flavour despite the short cook time.

For extra richness, whisk 250 g (1 cup) ricotta with a splash of double cream, a pinch of nutmeg and grated parmesan until smooth, then swirl a generous spoonful into each bowl instead of just dolloping it on top. The cream loosens the ricotta so it melts into the hot broth rather than sitting in a clump. This variation tastes closest to a proper baked lasagna, with a genuinely creamy mouthful in every spoonful.

Replace the beef and sausage with 450 g (1 lb) lean turkey mince, and add an extra 5 g (1 tsp) fennel seed and a pinch of chilli flakes to make up for the flavour sausage would normally bring. Because turkey renders less fat, add an extra 15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil when browning so it doesn't catch on the base of the pot. This lighter version keeps all the comfort with noticeably less grease sitting on top of the broth.

Skip the meat entirely and build flavour with 300 g (10 oz) sliced mushrooms browned hard in olive oil, plus a tin of drained lentils or white beans for body. Use vegetable stock in place of beef stock, and finish with the usual ricotta and mozzarella. Mushrooms browned properly, without crowding the pan, give this version a savoury depth that stands in well for meat.

Use hot Italian sausage instead of mild, and add a diced fresh chilli or 5 g (1 tsp) crushed red pepper flakes along with the garlic. A splash of the sausage's own spiced fat, rather than draining it all away, carries the heat through the whole pot. Balance the spice with an extra spoonful of ricotta on top, which cools each bite as you eat.

Stir 120 g (1 cup) shredded mozzarella directly into the hot soup just before serving so it melts into long strings through the broth, then top with the usual ricotta-parmesan mix. Torn provolone is a good third addition for a sharper edge. This is the version to make when the cheese pull matters as much as the tomato flavour.

Use the cheapest mince you can find, a tin of value crushed tomatoes, and stock made from a cube rather than fresh — the long simmer means cheaper ingredients still taste rich by the time it's done. Skip the ricotta topping and finish with grated cheddar instead, which costs less than parmesan and melts just as well. This version feeds six for only a little more than the cost of the mince and pasta.

Stir 100 g (3½ oz) roughly chopped kale or cavolo nero into the pot for the last 5 minutes of simmering, just long enough for it to wilt without turning bitter. The sausage fat helps the greens taste rounder rather than raw and grassy. It's a good way to work vegetables into a dish that's normally just meat, tomato and cheese.

Combine Italian sausage, beef mince and diced pepperoni or salami for three layers of savoury flavour in one pot. Brown the pepperoni first so it crisps slightly and releases its paprika-red oil into the base before the other meats go in. This is the richest, most indulgent version on the list, best served with garlic bread to mop up the extra oil.

Double every ingredient except the pasta and cook it in your largest stockpot, keeping the broken noodles separate until serving so leftovers don't turn to mush overnight. This batch comfortably feeds ten to twelve, or gives a family of four two full meals across the week. Freeze the sauce in portions before adding any noodles or cheese.

For the deepest flavour, let the tomato and stock base simmer uncovered for a full hour before adding the noodles, stirring occasionally so it reduces and concentrates rather than just heating through. A parmesan rind, added at the start and fished out before serving, adds a savoury depth you can't get any other way. This is the version worth making on a weekend when you have time to let it develop properly.

Skip the browning step entirely: crumble the raw Italian sausage straight into the pot along with the tomatoes, stock, seasoning and onion, then bring it all to a simmer together instead of cooking the meat separately first. Simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes, breaking up the sausage with a spoon as it cooks, until it reaches 74°C/165°F and shows no pink, before stirring in the broken noodles. You lose the deeper flavour that browning normally builds, but it's the fastest route to a truly hands-off pot when you can't stand over the stove.

Use 450 g (1 lb) diced or shredded chicken thigh instead of red meat, browned first in olive oil with a good pinch of smoked paprika to add colour the chicken doesn't naturally have. Chicken stock replaces beef stock here, and the result is noticeably lighter while still tasting like lasagna thanks to the tomato, herbs and cheese. Rotisserie chicken, shredded and stirred in at the end, works well when you're short on time.

Skip the tomatoes altogether and build a creamy chicken-alfredo-style base instead: sauté chicken and mushrooms, add 700 ml (3 cups) chicken stock, then stir in 240 ml (1 cup) double cream and a generous handful of parmesan once the noodles are tender. It tastes completely different from the tomato-based versions but keeps the same broken-noodle-and-ricotta structure. Fresh spinach stirred in at the end adds colour that the sauce otherwise lacks.

Replace the pasta with 2-3 spiralised courgettes (zucchini), added raw to the hot soup just before serving so they soften in the residual heat rather than turning to mush over direct heat. Because there's no starchy pasta soaking up broth, use slightly less stock than the classic recipe calls for. This version keeps all the cheese and tomato flavour while cutting the carb count significantly.

Use a gluten-free lasagna sheet or brown rice pasta broken into pieces, and check the stock and sausage labels, since both sometimes contain hidden gluten as a filler. Gluten-free pasta turns mushy faster than wheat pasta, so cook it separately and add it to each bowl just before serving rather than simmering it in the pot. Everything else in the classic recipe is naturally gluten-free already.

Stir 120 ml (1/2 cup) double cream into the tomato base once it's simmered for 15 minutes, turning the sharp acidity of the tomatoes into something rounder and closer to a tomato-basil soup. A large handful of fresh basil, torn and stirred in right at the end rather than cooked, keeps its flavour bright instead of muddy. This version is milder and a good choice for feeding children who find the classic too tangy.

Cut the ingredient list down to sausage, a jar of good marinara sauce, stock, broken lasagna sheets and shredded mozzarella, with no separate onion, garlic or dried herbs needed since a good jarred sauce already contains them. It won't taste quite as complex as the classic, but it's genuinely on the table in 25 minutes with almost no chopping. Keep a jar of marinara in the cupboard specifically for nights like this.

Ladle the finished soup into oven-safe bowls, top generously with shredded mozzarella, and slide them under a hot grill (broiler) for 2-3 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and browned in spots. This mimics the golden, bubbling top of a baked lasagna in a way a simple dollop of ricotta can't. Watch it closely, since the cheese can go from golden to burnt in under a minute.

Let the sauce simmer low and slow for 90 minutes with a whole peeled carrot and a rib of celery added for sweetness, then fish them out before serving. This is the version to make on a lazy Sunday when there's time to let the kitchen fill with the smell of it cooking. Serve with warm crusty bread and let everyone add their own cheese at the table.

Build the whole pot without a single fresh ingredient, for the week when the shop hasn't happened at all: garlic powder and dried minced onion stand in for fresh, tinned mushrooms add bulk where a recipe would normally call for fresh veg, and a splash of shelf-stable UHT cream stirred in at the end replaces the ricotta topping, since it doesn't need refrigeration until opened. Everything else — tinned tomatoes, stock cubes, dried pasta and a wedge of hard cheese — keeps in the cupboard for months, so this version works even when the fridge is nearly empty. It won't taste as bright as a version made with fresh aromatics, but it's a genuine back-of-the-cupboard meal rather than a takeaway night.

Make a double batch of just the meat-and-tomato base, cool it completely, and freeze it in individual portions for up to 3 months, leaving out the pasta, ricotta and mozzarella entirely. On a busy night, thaw a portion, bring it back to a simmer, and add freshly cooked noodles and cheese only when you're ready to eat. Freezing the noodles with the soup is what causes mushy leftovers, so this split-prep method avoids that entirely.

Roast 2 red peppers at 220°C (425°F) until the skins blister, then peel and chop them into the pot along with the sausage for a smoky sweetness plain tinned tomatoes don't have. This variation leans more rustic and slightly sweeter than the classic, closer to a peperonata than a straightforward tomato sauce. It's worth the extra 20 minutes of roasting when peppers are in season.

Add 200 g (7 oz) sliced mushrooms with the sausage so they brown in the same fat, then stir in a large handful of fresh spinach in the last 2 minutes of cooking, just until it wilts. The mushrooms add an earthy depth and the spinach adds colour and a bit of virtue to an otherwise rich, cheesy pot. This loaded version is closest to a lasagna packed with vegetables between the meat layers.

Use mild Italian sausage or plain beef mince, skip any chilli flakes, and cut the garlic back to 2 cloves so the flavour stays gentle enough for younger palates. Chop the pasta pieces smaller than usual, since little ones find shorter noodles easier to manage with a spoon. Serve the cheese on the side so each child can add exactly as much or as little as they like.

Add 15 g (1 tbsp) tomato paste cooked until it darkens slightly in the pan before the liquid goes in, plus a dash of Worcestershire sauce and a grating of parmesan rind simmered in the broth, for a savoury depth that tastes like it simmered all day. These small additions don't change the character of the soup, just deepen it. Taste and adjust the seasoning right at the end, since the parmesan rind adds saltiness as it simmers.

This is the everyday version: sausage browned first, everything else added in stages, and the pasta simmered directly in the broth for the last 10-12 minutes. No slow cooker, no pressure cooker and no extra pans to wash, just a stockpot and a wooden spoon from start to finish. It's the version most worth learning first, since every other variation on this list builds from it.

Undercook the pasta by a minute or two less than the packet says, since it keeps softening in the hot broth even after you take the pot off the heat. Brown the sausage properly before adding any liquid, since those browned bits stuck to the bottom of the pot are flavour, so scrape them up with a wooden spoon once the stock goes in. If the soup thickens too much as it sits, a splash of extra stock or water brings it back to a proper soup consistency. Always add cheese toppings to individual bowls rather than the whole pot, which keeps leftovers from turning gluey.

Ladle the soup into deep bowls and top each with a spoonful of the ricotta-parmesan mixture, a scattering of extra mozzarella and a few torn basil leaves. Warm, crusty garlic bread or a simple green salad with a sharp vinaigrette are the classic sides, cutting through the richness of the tomato and cheese. For a heartier meal, serve alongside a small Caesar salad, which echoes the parmesan flavour already in the soup.

Store leftover soup in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, keeping any un-added pasta separate if you cooked extra. To freeze, portion the soup without the noodles or cheese into freezer bags or containers and keep for up to 3 months, since noodles turn mushy after thawing and it's best to cook fresh pasta when you reheat. Reheat gently on the stovetop over medium-low heat, or in the microwave in 1-minute bursts, adding a splash of stock or water since the noodles will have soaked up liquid as they sat.