Lasagna Soup – Low Carb

This is my low carb version of the super popular lasagna soup! My cousin told me over and over that it was the best thing she’d ever had. Although not very photogenic, this soup is worth its weight in gold. It tastes better the next day, so all week you can be in transports of delight by the convenience of reheating this amazing soup!

What is lasagna soup?

The viral lasagna soup is basically a deconstructed slice of lasagna. This approach is a real time saver, and you can eat it right away. No waiting 45 minutes for this to bake, and then another half an hour for it to firm before you cut into it. After everything is prepped, assembled and baked, I am ready to GO! Unfortunately, if you cut into a lasagna before it’s set, everything runs, and it basically becomes a soup! I’m sure that’s probably part of the lasagna soup’s origin story. The only ingredients that change is that you add broth, and you don’t use as much cheese. That is of course unless you really want to!

How is Lasagna Soup Low Carb?

Typically sheets of lasagna are broken up and put in the soup, but in my low carb version I subbed spiraled zucchini instead. Do not overcook these noodles, they only take about 3 minutes until they are ready. After three minutes you can serve right away. All the other ingredients in this soup are naturally lower in carbohydrates.

Low Carb Noodles or Zoodles in Your Lasagna Soup?

I tried this dish with low carb noodles originally. The noodles I get are a high protein and I thought they would work here. We are not the biggest fan of the low carb noodles in this setting! Texture is what destroyed it for me. When reheated, the soup was even worse. Low carb noodles are just wrong in this soup. Although zucchini noodles are nothing like pasta, they just WORKED! Zucchini is a powerhouse of an ingredient! I have always known zucchini was an incredible vegetable, but when I did some further research, I was blown away. This is what this vegetable has to offer.

• Calories: 17
• Protein: 1 gram
• Fat: less than 1 gram
• Carbs: 3 grams
• Sugar: 1 gram
• Fiber: 1 gram
• Vitamin A: 40% of the Reference Daily Intake (RDI)
• Manganese: 16% of the RDI
• Vitamin C: 14% of the RDI
• Potassium: 13% of the RDI
• Magnesium: 10% of the RDI
• Vitamin K: 9% of the RDI
• Folate: 8% of the RDI
• Copper: 8% of the RDI
• Phosphorus: 7% of the RDI
• Vitamin B6: 7% of the RDI
• Thiamine: 5% of the RDI

This list is from Healthline, they are the true experts here, check out this post to learn 12 health benefits of the humble zucchini! https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/zucchini-benefits#TOC_TITLE_HDR_10

Low Carb Lasagna Soup Makes A Great Meal Prep Option!

Like I mentioned before, soup is one of those dishes that is usually better the next day. Soup is something I always keep in my arsenal of meal prep recipes. It just makes sense! Whenever I am planning for the week, I like to choose a couple meals that we can eat 3-4 times if possible. Meals like soups, curries, and casseroles usually reheat well enough to please my picky eaters at home. Planning like this allows me to cook less. I am always looking for ways to cook less since I cook a lot from scratch. You wouldn’t believe the cleanup from a typical meal at my house. Multiply that by three times a day, add in small children who are eager to get their hands dirty as well, and it equals out to feeling a lot like I never leave that room of the house!

Tips For Cooking the Low Carb Lasagna Soup.

My first tip is to drain the fat off the beef. Using a paper towel is a great way to remove the fat but straining it and running hot water over it really does the trick. Fat is not the enemy here. At the end of the day, if you’re trying to lose weight, you don’t want to overindulge in calories or fat. If it’s not adding much to the dish, take it out. in this case I would rather have the fat from the cheese than the extra fat from the beef. Have you ever tried to get oil stains out of your clothes?? Just another reason why it’s better to remove any extra fat you can from your beef.

Stewarding tips

Buying in bulk

These next couple of tips are financial ones! Stewarding well has saved me so much money. I buy meat in bulk and label my rations. It will take you only about 5 extra minutes. When I am done putting my groceries away, I will take my meat for the week that is in a bulk package, and I will weigh and separate it. It’s so nice when I’m going to meal plan, and I have extra meat stored! Saving money on meat allows us to buy higher quality meat and eliminate food waste.

Make Vegetable Broth with kitchen scraps

Saving organic waste from this recipe like onion and zucchini scraps can also add up to extra savings. obviously, I would never eat the peels from onions and garlic, but you can store them, and other leftover pieces of vegetables in the freezer until you have enough to make a veggie broth or stock which adds so much flavor and nutrients to dishes. It’s much healthier homemade and it’s one more thing you don’t have to buy just by taking a little extra care to steward what you already have.

Lable your food to promote flexibility and eliminate waste

Labeling your rations really helps you stay on top of planning and food waste. If I am planning to make soup Friday because I’m having guests over, but the meat is only good until Thursday, I have the advantage of choosing to either make the soup one day early, or to freeze the meat for a couple of days to extend it’s life. Since my meal plans are not ridged, I can decide if I want to ditch my plan and freeze what I have or use up what’s in my fridge.

Kill Bacteria

Cooking food that’s going bad soon will extend the life of the food by about 3-5 days. I could never wrap my head around this concept until I understood what’s going on at a microscopic level. Food spoils because of bacteria, so when you cook it thoroughly, you kill all the harmful bacteria that was going to spoil your food. Now you have a regular meal that will last about 3-5 days in your fridge. Isn’t food so cool?