“Hey I’m Amanda and today on my recipe food we’re making some delicious comforting chicken lasagna so let’s get started.”

“This chicken lasagna recipe is hearty silky delicious and of course there’s a lovely cream sauce to tie everything together.”

“I love those it’s one of those Comfort Classics it kind of makes a big portion and lasts a while and everybody loves but chicken lasagna is one of my favorites because it has that lovely creaminess and the chicken just tastes great in there. A lot of times meat lasagnas don’t heat up the right way they’re a little bit too acidic or they’re kind of flat this has a nice balance of flavors and I love the creaminess in there.”

Ingredients

• Nine lasagna noodles (plus a couple extra just in case)
• Large onion
• Minimum of four garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup of butter
• Half a cup of flour
• 2 and 1/2 cups of chicken broth
• 1 and 1/2 cups of milk
• Half a teaspoon of dried basil
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• Half a teaspoon of cracked black pepper
• 1/4 cup of parm
• 10 oz of thawed spinach
• 15 oz or 425 G container of ricotta cheese (full fat)
• 2 cups or 224 G of shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup of parm
• 2 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley (flat leaf)
• 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt
• Half a teaspoon of dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• One egg
• Four cups of shredded chicken
• 168 G or 1 and 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella for topping

How to Make Chicken Lasagna recipe Step by Step Instructions

Preparing the Noodles

“First off set your oven to 375 and you’re going to take a large pot fill it with water salt it and bring it to a boil. As soon as your water’s boiling you’re going to add about nine lasagna noodles in there. We want these to be Al Dente so they’re not going to be fully cooked they’ll finish cooking and absorb delicious things when they’re in the oven. The recipe needs nine but I would do a couple more just in case there’s a problem.”

“Those noodles are pretty big we’re going to Baby them a bit to make sure they all go in the pot and nothing sticks.”

“My lasagna noodles are nice and alente after about 5 minutes but it totally depends on the type of pasta so read the package. I drained these and I’m rinsing them under some cold water just to stop the cooking and so they don’t stick together. Set those aside.”

Prepping the Vegetables

“There’s a tiny bit of prep work to do while those noodles cook so grab a large onion and we’re going to give it a good dice. If you find making food to be a bit of a chore I understand but one thing that you could work on these are knife skills if you can chop things quicker dinner will come together so fast. Many ways to do this but if I’m cutting an onion vertical slices and then change direction and you get a really nice dice.”

“Grab a minimum of four garlic cloves. I took the skins off and these are ready to pass through a garlic press. If you don’t have one give them a nice mince and set aside.”

Making the Cream Sauce

“Our prep work’s all done so now we’re going to move to the stove. Grab a 1/4 cup of butter and a large Skillet and let’s get to work.”

“Pop your large Skillet onto medium heat. We’re going to add 1/4 cup of butter right now. Once your Butter’s melted we’re going to add the onion in as well as the minced garlic and this will cook for about 3 minutes stirring occasionally until it’s nice and softened.”

“After about 3 minutes once your onions are softened and your garlic is fragrant measure out half a cup of flour and we’re going to sprinkle that in and continue to cook for a minute. Let the flour totally coat the onions. You’re going to cook the flour for 3 minutes while stirring constantly and then we can add our liquids in.”

“We’re going to add 2 and 1/2 cups of chicken broth right now. Drizzle it in as you mix and 1 and 1/2 cups of milk as well. Mix that up. To season this I’m adding half a teaspoon of dried basil, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of salt to get started and half a teaspoon of cracked black pepper.”

“My sauce has come to a simmer it’s time to whisk whisk whisk for about four to 5 minutes until it’s nice and thick.”

“My sauce has thickened up nicely now I’m going to add a 1/4 cup of parm. Just that in like that and keep whisking for about a minute until it is all nice and melty.”

Making the Ricotta Mixture

“We’re going to make our ricotta mixture now. This ricotta mixture is so delicious delicious. I love ricotta in anything dessert or savory.”

“We need 10 oz of thawed spinach and there’s some water in here that’s not delicious so let’s pop that onto a paper towel carefully and just drain it into the sink. So much water. Much better. You could even use a cheesecloth for this or a clean tea towel or paper towels.”

“This reminds me of making spanakopita. You have like a massive mountain of spinach and you end up with like a tiny little bit. All right let’s break this up. You see it got pretty compressed.”

“To this large bowl of spinach we’re going to add a 15 oz or 425 G container of ricotta cheese full fat please, 2 cups or 224 G of shredded mozzarella and 1/4 cup of parm.”

“I’m also adding 2 tbsp of freshly chopped parsley and I like to use the flat leaf because it’s less waxy and has more flavor a nice vegetal flavor, 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt help just balance this out, half a teaspoon of dried basil (you could use fresh basil if you wanted to by the way) and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper one egg to bind them all.”

“Now you’re just going to mix and mush together with a spatula. Mmm this you can tell it’s going to be delicious and you could add so many flavors to this if you want like I wouldn’t mind a tablespoon of lemon zest and when you layer things in you can add the things you love too so later on if you wanted to you could have a layer of sauteed mushrooms or marinated artichoke hearts. It’s really anything like delicious is going to go in this pretty well.”

Assembling the Lasagna

“My ricotta mixture is all mixed up so grab a 9×13 in casserole dish and we’re going to start assembling.”

“Grab about half a cup of your white sauce and we’re going to spoon that onto your casserole dish. It’s our first layer. This is going to prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom of your casserole dish very important. I definitely used more than half a cup for the first layer I just wanted to have like a thin layer at the bottom.”

“Now we’re going to place three lasagna noodles onto our white sauce: one, two and three.”

“We’re going to divide our ricotta mixture in half roughly and spread half of it onto our noodles. Using your hands is going to be pretty easy here so just have clean hands and use them as your tool.”

“I wouldn’t say chicken is the star of this dish but it is called chicken lasagna. You want four cups of shredded chicken. Probably easiest just to grab a rotisserie chicken from the supermarket, strip it, shred the meat up, or you can have like boiled or baked chicken breast and just shred that too. I have a family that only likes white meat. I’m the only one that likes dark so I did the chicken breast option today.”

“Grab two cups or half of your chicken and sprinkle that over the top. Ladle about a third of the cream sauce over the chicken. Now the cream sauce is really flavorful so it’s going to add a lot to the chicken. Honestly if you use a rotisserie chicken I think the meat’s going to have more flavor too or just like really season your chicken breasts if you’re making them.”

“Three more noodles over the top: one, two and three.”

“If you ever have an afternoon to yourself and you want to make something ahead of time this is a great idea by the way. The rest of the ricotta is going to go on now so plop that on. But this lasts up to 3 months in your freezer so after baking it you can have individual portions wrapped and ready or just the whole casserole dish, and if you’re making this it’s actually really easy to double the recipe and make two: one to enjoy now and one to have later. That’s my mom’s secret to always being prepared for guests.”

“Spread the ricotta mixture into an even layer once again. An offset spatula makes this really easy.”

“Now sprinkle the rest of the chicken over the top. And I’d point out that this is a very American version of lasagna. It is not a traditional thing you’d find in Italy but that’s okay it’s an homage.”

“Another third or half of the remaining white sauce now gets drizzled over the chicken.”

“Three more noodles go on top. And by the way for this recipe you shouldn’t use the no boil ready to use lasagna pasta. Make it yourself it’s going to work better.”

“Now we’re going to add the remaining cream sauce over the lasagna noodles. This cream sauce does not look pretty but it is so delicious. Smooth that into an even layer.”

“The crowning glory on top of our chicken lasagna is 168 G or 1 and 1/2 cups of shredded mozzarella. Just get a nice even layer on top. This will be cheesy bubbly and delicious. If you wanted you could sprinkle a little bit of extra parm on top for some added flavor.”

“We’re going to cover this with foil right now.”

Baking the Lasagna

“Our lasagna’s ready to go into the oven. 375 for 25 minutes then remove the foil and bake an additional 20. If you want a golden top just broil it for about 3 minutes.”

“In you go.”

“Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Give it a slice and just like that it’s cheesy delicious and ready to enjoy.”

Conclusion

“It’s creamy dreamy hearty and delicious. I love the play of flavors. It’s something you can eat the whole portion of, ask for more and still feel good about it. I hope you get a chance to make this delicious recipe.”