High Protein Lasagna Soup with Ground Turkey
This lasagna soup has the flavors of a pan of lasagna in a bowl: browned ground turkey, a garlicky tomato broth, tender pieces of lasagna noodle and a spoonful of melted cheese on top. It all cooks in one pot on the stove, so there’s no layering and no oven.
Lean ground turkey and a cottage cheese and mozzarella topping make this a high protein lasagna soup without any cream. The full recipe and the nutrition estimate are in the card below.
High Protein Lasagna Soup with Ground Turkey
Equipment
- Large Dutch oven or heavy soup pot (6-quart)
- Wooden spoon
- Instant-read thermometer
Ingredients
Soup
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds 93% lean ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt divided, plus more to taste
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
- 5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 8 ounces regular lasagna noodles about 9, broken into 2-inch pieces
Cheese topping
- 1 cup 2% small-curd cottage cheese
- 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- fresh basil leaves for serving, optional
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the turkey and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt. Cook for 6–8 minutes, breaking it up with a wooden spoon and letting it sit between stirs, until browned with no pink left and the turkey reads 165°F (74°C) on an instant-read thermometer.
- Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onion and cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring often, until soft.
- Add the garlic, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1–2 minutes, until it darkens slightly.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Turn the heat up to bring the soup back to a steady simmer. Add the noodles and stir to separate them. Simmer for 10–12 minutes, stirring every couple of minutes so they don’t stick, until the noodles are tender.
- While the noodles cook, stir the cottage cheese, mozzarella and Parmesan together in a small bowl.
- Taste the soup and add salt if needed. Ladle into bowls and top each with a spoonful of the cheese mixture and a few basil leaves.
Notes
- Use regular lasagna noodles, not no-boil.
- For a smoother topping, blend the cottage cheese for a few seconds before mixing in the other cheeses.
- The soup thickens as it sits. Thin leftovers with a splash of broth when you reheat them.
- Nutrition is an estimate per serving from USDA values, including the cheese topping and without the basil.
Why This High Protein Lasagna Soup Works
Lean turkey has very little fat, so it needs help to brown. Spread it out in the hot pot and leave it alone for a minute or two between stirs. The brown bits that form on the bottom dissolve into the broth later and give it a meaty depth that pale, steamed turkey won’t.
Cooking the tomato paste until it turns a shade darker takes away its raw, tinny taste and makes the broth taste more like a long-simmered sauce.
The noodles cook right in the soup. Their starch thickens the broth a little as they go, so the soup coats a spoon instead of tasting watery.
Most of the protein comes from the turkey and the cheese topping. Cottage cheese gives about as much protein as ricotta for less than half the calories, and once it’s mixed with mozzarella and Parmesan and melts into the hot soup, it eats a lot like the ricotta layer in a lasagna.
Ingredients and Swaps
93% lean ground turkey browns well and stays moist. Extra-lean (99%) works, but it’s drier, so add another tablespoon of oil. Ground chicken cooks the same way and needs the same temperature. Lean ground beef works too; cook it to 160°F (71°C).
Use regular lasagna noodles, not no-boil. No-boil sheets are thinner and turn soft fast in a pot of soup. Break them up inside a zip-top bag so the pieces don’t scatter across the counter. If you’d rather skip the breaking, mafalda (ruffled strips that look like small lasagna noodles) or bow tie pasta work in the same amount.
Crushed tomatoes give a thick, smooth broth. A 24-ounce jar of marinara can replace the crushed tomatoes and Italian seasoning. It’s usually sweeter and saltier, so taste before you add more salt.
Small-curd 2% cottage cheese is the one to buy. If you don’t like the curds, blend it for a few seconds and it turns smooth like ricotta. Ricotta works if you prefer it; the protein stays about the same and the calories go up.
Use low-sodium broth. The tomatoes, Parmesan and mozzarella all add salt, so it’s easier to season at the end.
Have more ground turkey to use up? Our ground turkey tacos are another quick dinner.
How to Keep the Noodles from Getting Mushy
Stir every couple of minutes once the noodles are in. Broken lasagna pieces stick to each other and to the bottom of the pot.
Keep the soup at a steady simmer, not a hard boil. A rolling boil tears the soft edges of the noodles.
Start tasting a piece a few minutes early. Take the pot off the heat when the noodles are tender with a little bite left, since they keep softening in the hot broth.
If you’re counting on leftovers, cook the noodles separately in salted water and add them to each bowl. Noodles stored in the soup keep drinking up the broth, and by the next day the soup is thick and the noodles are soft.
Ways to Change Up This Lasagna Soup
- Add greens: stir a few handfuls of baby spinach into the pot at the end and let it wilt for a minute. For a meatless pasta dinner with spinach and ricotta, try our cheesy baked ziti with spinach.
- Add vegetables: cook a diced zucchini or 8 ounces of sliced mushrooms with the onion. They add bulk without many calories.
- Make it spicier: double the red pepper flakes, or swap half the turkey for hot Italian turkey sausage with the casings removed. Cook it to 165°F (74°C), the same as the turkey.
- Make it creamier: stir half of the cheese topping straight into the pot before serving instead of spooning it on top.
What to Serve with Lasagna Soup
Lasagna soup is a full meal in a bowl. Garlic bread is the obvious match for the last of the broth, and a crisp green salad with a sharp vinaigrette balances the cheese.
For another soup night, our chicken gnocchi soup is a creamy option.
How to Store, Freeze and Reheat Lasagna Soup
Keep leftover soup in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3–4 days, and the cheese topping in its own container. The soup thickens overnight, so add a splash of broth or water as you reheat it in a pot over medium-low heat, stirring, until it’s hot all the way through (165°F / 74°C).
To freeze, make the soup up to the point where the noodles go in, cool it, and freeze it for 2–3 months. Thaw it overnight in the refrigerator, bring it to a simmer and cook the noodles in it then. Don’t freeze the cheese topping; cottage cheese turns grainy and watery after thawing.
For ground turkey you can portion out for the week, see our turkey meatballs meal prep.
Lasagna Soup FAQ
Can I make lasagna soup in a crockpot? Yes. Brown the turkey with the onion on the stove first, until the turkey reaches 165°F (74°C), then stir in the garlic, seasoning and tomato paste. Move everything to a slow cooker with the crushed tomatoes and broth and cook on LOW for 6 hours or HIGH for 3 hours. Stir in the broken noodles and cook on HIGH for 25–35 minutes, stirring once, until tender. Add the cheese topping when you serve it.
Can I make it gluten-free? Yes. Use gluten-free lasagna noodles and check that your broth is labeled gluten-free. Gluten-free noodles can fall apart if they sit in the pot, so cook them separately following the package directions and add them to each bowl.
