White Chicken Lasagna is rich with sharp cheeses, a creamy bechamel sauce and packed with basil, sun-dried tomatoes and tons of garlic flavor. Comfort food at it’s best, this White Chicken Lasagna is hearty, delicious and sure to be your families new favorite chicken recipe.
There are some dishes that are just King of Comfort Food 101. My all time favorite food in that comfort food category is always going to be homemade macaroni and cheese. But running a close second to that big ol’ pan of mac n cheese, my next favorite comfort food has to be this White Chicken Lasagna. I’m pretty transparent on this one, aren’t I? Are you seeing the pattern? Pasta, cheese, carbs.. oh my! Unfortunently, it’s summer down here in Florida and while everyone else is bopping around in shorty shorts and bathing suits, here I am serving up a non-bathing suit friendly White Chicken Lasagna pan of cheesy goodness. Ahhhh …. complex contradictions.
An easy lasagna recipe is a staple in just about every American household. Whether it’s frozen or homemade, you are hard pressed to find too many people who do not like a big steaming plate of cheesy lasagna. The creaminess, dripping cheese, the tang from the tomato sauce.. it’s divine. You really don’t get more comforting of a meal then that. But me being me, I wanted to see if I could put a different spin on that classic dish. So I decided to meld together one of my favorite kinds of pizza which is white garlic pizza and lasagna and see what I would end up with. What was born was this super easy lasagna recipe in the way of White Chicken Lasagna. But I will say that there was some trials and errors to this White Chicken Lasagna recipe, I will be completely honest with you on that one. But I think in the end, this White Chicken Lasagna recipe was definitely worth the headaches and disappointments that I had to experience along the way. And let’s be honest, the ‘mistakes’ weren’t all that hard to eat.
This White Chicken Lasagna is amazing. It is full of garlic and a creamy, cheesy bechamel sauce, fresh basil, sun-dried tomatoes and TONS of garlic snuggled in-between blankets of al dente pasta noodles and then smothered with even more cheese. I promise you, this White Chicken Lasagna is to die for! So in my last stand against impending bathing suit season, I give to you this last token of love and comfort in a 13 by 9 pan.
DO YOU 100% NEED TO ADD CHICKEN TO THIS LASAGNA?
In this particular White Chicken Lasagna recipe I (obviously) add chicken but you could just as easily turn this into a meatless meal by simply leaving the chicken and bacon out. This White Chicken Lasagna would also be amazing using Italian sausage instead of chicken or even left over holiday turkey… the sky is the limit! Food is meant to be fun .. don’t over think it 🙂
WHAT IS A BECHAMEL SAUCE?
A bechamel sauce is a rich white sauce made with milk infused with herbs, spices and other flavorings. It is a creamy base sauce that you can then add cheese to and is what I use often when I make macaroni and cheese.
HOW DO YOU MAKE WHITE CHICKEN LASAGNA?
Easy! To make this White Chicken Lasagna, start by pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees and bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Once boiling, add in your lasagna noodles and cook per manufacturer instructions. When cooked, drain and run pasta under cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside. In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine ricotta, egg, 1/2 cup of Parmesan, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, garlic powder and salt. Mix to combine and set aside. In a large skillet, add butter and onions. Melt butter over medium heat while cooking onions and add in the garlic.
Stir to combine and cook for one minute. Sprinkle in the flour and stir, cooking for another minute. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil, stirring continuously so that the flour does not stick to the bottom. When your sauce comes to a low boil, add in your cheeses and spices and combine until cheese has melted. Stir in your shredded chicken. Lightly grease a 13 x 9 pan and spoon 1/2 cup of sauce into the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of pasta laid out side by side and spoon the chicken white sauce on top and evenly spread out over the noodles.
Add dollops of ricotta mixture on top of the pasta and spread evenly. Sprinkle a layer of basil, sun dried tomatoes, bacon and shredded mozzarella and then add another layer of noodles.
Repeat this set of layers three times, ending with a layer of noodles then cover the entire dish in shredded cheese.
Bake for 25 minutes, remove and let cool for 10 minutes. Serve with crusty bread or a fresh salad.
Enjoy!!
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White Chicken Lasagna
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
- 16 ounce package lasagna noodles cooked per box instruction
Ricotta Filling
- 15 oz ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil diced
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
White Sauce
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/2 large onion diced
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 4 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 cups sharp white cheddar cheese
- 4 ounces Parmesan cheese grated
- 15 - 20 basil leaves diced
- 6 slices bacon cooked crispy
- 3 ounces sun-dried tomatoes chopped
- 3 cups mozzarella cheese shredded
Instructions
- Easy! To make this White Chicken Lasagna, start by pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees and bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Once boiling, add in your lasagna noodles and cook per manufacturer instructions. When cooked, drain and run pasta under cold water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
- In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine ricotta, egg, 1/2 cup of Parmesan, 1 cup of mozzarella cheese, garlic powder and salt. Mix to combine and set aside.
- In a large skillet, add butter and onions. Melt butter over medium heat while cooking onions and add in the garlic. Stir to combine and cook for one minute. Sprinkle in the flour and stir, cooking for another minute. Whisk in the milk and bring to a boil, stirring continuously so that the flour does not stick to the bottom. When your sauce comes to a low boil, add in your cheeses and spices and combine until cheese has melted. Stir in your shredded chicken.
- Lightly grease a 13 x 9 pan and spoon 1/2 cup of sauce into the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of pasta laid out side by side and spoon the chicken white sauce on top and evenly spread out over the noodles. Add dollops of ricotta mixture on top of the pasta and spread evenly. Sprinkle a layer of basil, sun dried tomatoes, bacon and shredded mozzarella and then add another layer of noodles. Repeat this set of layers three times, ending with a layer of noodles then cover the entire dish in shredded cheese. Bake for 25 minutes, remove and let cool for 10 minutes.
Have you made this with fresh noodles? Wondering as the last layer is not covered with sauce and so concern is that it would be hard/dry.
Hello Vince, Sorry to say we have not tried it with fresh noodles but but now I am going to have to try that. Also Vince Let me assure you the last layer of noodles doesn’t become dry because the cheese on top of the last layer of noodles keeps them from drying out and the last layer of noodles is also sitting on the sauce from the layer below adding moisture.
Can this be frozen? For how long?
yes! you can assemble the lasgana and freeze it prior to baking. Simply assemble it uncooked in a freezer safe pan and cover with foil.. freeze for up to 3 months. To cook, remove it from the freezer and cook it for about 90 minutes at 350 degrees.
Can this be assembled the day before its baked?
Absolutely! You can even bake it the day before and simply reheat it when you need it. If you want to assemble the lasagna without baking it, cover your lasagna with plastic wrap or foil and then refrigerate overnight. When you are ready, remove it from the refrigerator and try to let it come to room temperature. Then bake as instructed but ad an extra 10 minutes or so. If you don’t have time to bring it to room temperature, cover with foil and bake as instructed but increase the time by about 20 minutes. Hope that helps and let me know how it turns out 🙂 it’s one of my favorite dishes!
what a great change to regular lasagna, I am always looking for new recipes and this one sounds like a great one to remake the same old same old!
We love lasagna but I never thought to add chicken. Thank you for the inspiration. This recipe looks delicious, I’ll be adding it to our next meal plan.
This looks AMAZING! Love lasagna recipes like this. My husband would absolutely love this for dinner – yum!
Do you end with a layer on noodles then the shredded mozz?? I want to make this for my Son birthday dinner, he’ll love it!! Thanks
Yes! You top it off with a layer of noodles and then cheese.. just like regular lasagna. This is one of my households all time favorite dishes .. I hope your son loves it 🙂
Thanks so much…..looks yummy!!
Thank you Cathi!!
Sounds yummy. I might try it with spinach added!
Spinach would be great! I’ve done it with broccoli but I bet spinach would be delicious. Let me know how it turns out 🙂
Looks Delish
Thank you 🙂 Give this recipe a try, I hope you like it.