Instant Pot lasagna soup gives you everything people love about baked lasagna in a bowl you can make on a weeknight. The broth turns rich and tomatoey, the noodles cook up tender with a little bite left in the center, and the sausage brings enough savoriness to make the whole pot taste layered and slow-cooked even though it comes together fast. The cheese dollop melts into the hot soup and turns every spoonful creamy without making the base heavy.
What makes this version work is the order. Browning the sausage first gives you the savory foundation. Toasting the tomato paste with the onion and garlic deepens the tomato flavor before the broth goes in, and pressure cooking the broken noodles directly in the soup lets them pick up flavor instead of tasting like plain pasta. The only trick is not overcooking the noodles; a short high-pressure cook keeps them from turning mushy.
Below you’ll find the exact cues I use to keep the noodles intact, plus a few simple swaps if you want to make it lighter, spicier, or meatless.
The noodles held their shape and the broth thickened up just enough after the quick release. I topped each bowl with the ricotta mixture and my husband said it tasted like lasagna without all the layering.
Save this Instant Pot Lasagna Soup for the nights when you want cheesy, brothy comfort with broken noodles and almost no cleanup.
The Short Pressure Cook That Keeps the Noodles from Going Soft
Lasagna soup goes wrong when the pasta stays under pressure too long. Broken lasagna noodles absorb liquid fast, and a full cook time leaves you with a thick, muddy pot instead of a soup with distinct noodles and broth. Four minutes on High is enough to cook the noodles through without letting them collapse.
The other key move is pressing the noodles under the liquid instead of stirring them aggressively. Once they’re submerged, leave them alone. Stirring after pressure cooking can break them down even more, especially if you’re using thinner store-brand noodles that soften quickly. If the soup looks a little loose when you open the lid, that’s fine; it tightens as it sits for a few minutes.
What the Cheese Dollop Is Actually Doing Here
- Italian sausage — This is the main source of body and seasoning. Mild sausage gives you a more classic lasagna taste, while hot sausage brings heat without needing extra pepper flakes. If you use turkey sausage, brown it well so it still brings enough savory flavor.
- Tomato paste — This is not just there for color. Cooking it for a minute with the onion and garlic takes the raw edge off and gives the broth a deeper, more cooked tomato taste. If you skip this step, the soup can taste flat.
- Crushed tomatoes and diced tomatoes — The crushed tomatoes build the broth, and the diced tomatoes leave little pockets of texture. Using both gives the soup a better balance than a single can of tomato product. If you only have one type, use it, but the texture will be less layered.
- Lasagna noodles — Broken noodles are the right choice here because they catch the broth and cheese in a way that short pasta doesn’t. Break them into rough 2-inch pieces so they’re easy to eat by the spoonful. Any broad, sturdy pasta shape can work in a pinch, but it won’t feel like lasagna the same way.
- Ricotta, mozzarella, and parmesan — This mixture gives you the creamy, stretchy finish that makes the soup taste complete. Ricotta keeps it soft, mozzarella melts into the hot broth, and parmesan sharpens the whole bowl. Whole-milk ricotta makes the smoothest dollop, but part-skim will still work.
Building the Pot in the Right Order
Brown the sausage first
Start with the sausage in the Sauté setting and cook it until it loses its raw pink color and starts to pick up browning on the bottom of the pot. That browning matters because it becomes the base flavor in the broth. If there’s a lot of grease, drain off the excess, but leave enough behind to cook the onion. A dry pot at this stage means less flavor.
Cook the onion and tomato paste together
Once the onion goes in, let it soften for about 3 minutes until it looks translucent at the edges. Add the garlic and tomato paste and stir for a full minute. You want the paste to darken slightly and smell sweet, not raw and sharp. If the garlic starts to brown hard, the heat is too high and the soup will pick up a bitter note.
Pressure cook with the noodles submerged
After the broth and tomatoes go in, press the broken noodles down until they’re covered. Don’t stir once the lid is on unless you absolutely have to, because that’s how noodles break apart and turn gummy. Four minutes on High sounds brief, but the noodles keep cooking in the hot broth during the quick release. If the soup seems thin right away, give it a few minutes before adding anything else; it often thickens on its own.
Finish with seasoning and the cheese bowl
Stir after the pressure release and taste before adding salt. Sausage, broth, and tomatoes all bring salt, so it’s easy to overshoot if you season too early. The cheese dollop should be mixed separately and spooned into each bowl right before serving. That keeps the ricotta light and lets the hot soup melt the mozzarella into creamy ribbons instead of clumping it in the pot.
How to Make This Soup Fit Different Nights
Make It Spicier with Hot Italian Sausage
Swap in hot Italian sausage and keep the red pepper flakes as written if you want a soup with more bite. If your sausage is already heavily seasoned, taste before adding extra heat at the end. The broth stays balanced because the ricotta topping cools it back down.
Make It Meatless with Mushrooms and Extra Seasoning
Use chopped cremini mushrooms in place of sausage and brown them until their liquid evaporates and they start to pick up color. Add an extra pinch of Italian seasoning and a little more tomato paste to replace the richness the sausage normally brings. You’ll get a lighter bowl, but the broth still tastes full and savory.
Make It Gluten-Free with Sturdy Gluten-Free Pasta
Use a gluten-free lasagna noodle or a firm gluten-free short pasta that can hold up under pressure. Keep the cook time on the shorter side, because GF pasta softens faster and can go from tender to fragile quickly. If it thickens too much after cooking, loosen it with extra broth instead of overcooking it.
Storage and Reheating
- Refrigerator: Store for up to 4 days. The noodles absorb broth as it sits, so expect it to thicken.
- Freezer: It freezes best without the noodles. If you want to freeze it, stop before adding pasta, then cook fresh noodles when you reheat.
- Reheating: Warm it gently on the stove or in the microwave with a splash of broth. Hard boiling the leftovers will break the noodles and make the texture mushy.
Questions I Get Asked About This Recipe
Instant Pot Lasagna Soup
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- Set the Instant Pot to Sauté and brown the Italian sausage, then drain excess fat if needed.
- Add the diced onion and cook for 3 minutes, stirring until softened.
- Stir in the minced garlic and tomato paste, cooking for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, chicken broth, Italian seasoning, dried basil, and red pepper flakes, then stir to combine.
- Press the broken lasagna noodles under the liquid so they cook evenly.
- Seal the Instant Pot and pressure cook on High for 4 minutes, then quick release.
- Stir the soup and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- If the soup is too thick, add a splash of broth; if too thin, set to Sauté and simmer briefly until thickened.
- Mix the cheese dollop ingredients by combining ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, and basil.
- Ladle the soup into bowls and top each with a generous dollop of the cheese mixture.
