I’m not the type to yuck someone else’s yum, but the lasagna soup craze on TikTok really tested me. It’s my nightmare version of watery lasagna, scooped into a bowl. I prefer actual lasagna to be light on the sauce, with a balance of cheese and noodle. While I recognize this dish is soup and purposeful in its red sauce broth, there is the strong possibility for a bland, one-note, or overly acidic meal. Here are some tips on making a better lasagna soup that doesn’t just taste like a can of tomato sauce.
I initially thought lasagna soup was a quick dinner hack—just boil broken lasagna noodles in thinned-out tomato sauce and add cheese—no chopping, peeling, or sautéing needed. While that would be a fast dinner for sure, it would also be terrible. Watered-down tomato sauce tastes bad. You have to actually treat the tomato sauce like a soup broth, and that means adding other ingredients, like aromatics and seasonings. Sorry, but you’re going to need a cutting board and a knife.
Add aromatics. Heat a bit of oil in a pot and add minced onion and garlic (or a finely diced mirepoix), then add salt and cook until translucent.
Add seasonings. This is especially important if you’re making the soup broth from scratch, but even if you’re using a flavored jar sauce—like tomato-basil, roasted garlic, or arrabbiata—your broth will still require a little added excitement. Once the broth is simmering, raid your spice cabinet. Sprinkle in garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, MSG, or red pepper flakes.
Add herbs. A great way to add complexity to a one-note soup is with herbs. Use fresh, dried, or both. A little goes a long way, so you don’t need to muddy the broth with too many leaves. Add dried herbs to the broth while it’s cooking so they get a chance to rehydrate and imbue the broth with flavor. Add chopped fresh herbs to the bowl just before serving when they’re still bright and punchy.
I don’t expect to have too many fans on this one, but the ricotta cheese blob I see adorning lasagna soup all over the internet doesn’t do it for me. The tomato sauce broth is decidedly leaning acidic. When this creamy, fresh cheese distributes into the acidic broth it gives me the flavor profile of, well, vomit. Granted, this might be a me thing, but swapping the cheese made this a far better soup for me. You never know, you might discover another combination you like. While shredded, low-moisture mozzarella is a solid choice, try shredded parmesan, swiss, sliced camembert, or sharp cheddar.
Before finally scooping my lasagna soup test into a bowl, I gave it a taste to see if it needed anything else. Despite the added ingredients and aromatics, it was still too harsh. It needed sugar; just a small amount of sweetness to round off the savory soup.
While thick, tangy tomato sauce is delicious and balanced over a mound of spaghetti, there’s much less pasta to tone down the sauce when it’s been soup-ified. Stir in a bit of plain granulated sugar to make the broth more palatable. Depending on the recipe you’re using, start with a teaspoon of sugar per serving of soup. Taste the soup and decide if you need more. Once you’ve reached the perfect balance of acidic, umami, sweet, and salty, the only thing you’re missing is a buttery slice of garlic bread.
