Vegan Lasagna Soup
It's a fact that lasagna is one of my all-time favorite dishes. Top 3, at least! But it's also a fact that it takes quite a long time to cook it. After you've put so much love and effort into all the layers and the béchamel, it feels like a trial of patience when the lasagna still needs to be baked for more than 30 minutes until you can eat it.
I guess all of this is also part of the magic. It feels like you have to earn a lasagna. But let's just say, it doesn't harm to have a slightly quicker option up your sleeve, right? Two years ago, our good friend Philipp told us about this dish called lasagna soup, which isn't a real thing in Germany. At first, we were somewhat skeptical, but once we tasted it, we fell in love with this soup.
This recipe is based on our classic vegan lasagna. Feel free to chose your favorite minced meat substitute. The sauce is basically a more liquid variation of the classic tomato sauce layer, but this also helps to cook the lasagna noodles directly in the soup until al dente. For an umami flavor, make sure to NOT skip the vegan red wine, soy sauce, and tomato paste.
Depending on where you're living, you might have a hard time to find these wavy shorter lasagna sheets that are often found in American recipes. Since they are so rare in Germany, we used the larger, dry pasta sheets for this recipe, broke them into smaller pieces and cooked them directly in the lasagna soup. If the soup gets too thick because of this, just add some water or vegetable broth.
While usually, a bowl of lasagna soup is served with a cheesy topping mixture of ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan, we actually think it's totally enough to serve the vegan version with a dollop of creamy plant-based yogurt and an optional sprinkle of our cashew parmesan.
Long story short: Thank you, Philipp!
Vegan Lasagna Soup
Ingredients
- 8 dried lasagna sheets
- 500 g (18 oz) vegan minced meat substitute – if you’re using dry soy granulate, only use 250 g (9 oz)
- 1 onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 2 carrots
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 2 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 100 ml (0.5 cups) vegan red wine
- 800 g (28 oz) canned chopped tomatoes
- 1 l (4 cups) vegetable broth
- 15 g (0.5 oz) fresh basil
- vegetable oil for frying
- salt
- pepper
- vegan Parmesan and plant-based yogurt for serving
Instructions
Peel and chop onion and garlic. Finely dice carrots and celery. If you’re using dried soy granulates, soak it in hot liquid according to package instructions.
We start by frying vegan minced meat and onions parallelly. Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and sear the vegan minced meat substitute of your choice for approx. 5 minutes. It should be nicely browned. Add soy sauce and keep frying for approx. 2-3 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside until later.
Parallelly, add vegetable oil in a large pot. Fry diced onions over medium-low heat for approx. 3-4 minutes, or until translucent. Add garlic and keep frying for 1 minute. Then add tomato paste and maple syrup, stir to combine, and keep frying for three more minutes. The tomato paste should get a bit darker in color.
Add carrots, celery, and season with dried oregano, basil, cayenne, and paprika. Fry everything for approx. 4-5 minutes.
Deglaze with vegan red wine, then add canned tomatoes, vegetable broth, and the fried vegan minced meat. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer over medium heat for approx. 15-20 minutes.
Break the dried lasagna sheets into smaller pieces and add it to the soup, along with fresh basil. Keep the soup simmer until the lasagna sheets are al dente – this should only take 5 minutes or so. Finally, season to taste.
Serve the vegan lasagna soup with a dollop of plant-based yogurt, vegan Parmesan, and fresh basil!
