White Chicken and Spinach Lasagna
This white chicken and spinach lasagna is a unique and delicious twist on classic lasagna; the mounds of spinach makes for a healthy bonus!
Have I mentioned I love food?
Hi. I love food. Nice to meet you.
And in my quest for food and recipes that rock my world and that demand I share them with you, I’m always trying out or creating new recipes. It’s fun. For me.
But I can always tell when the fam is sick and tired of having a food-blogger for a mother-slash-wife because the disturbance in the force goes something like this: “for all that is good and righteous, please let it be taco night.”
This white chicken and spinach lasagna was at first an experiment that had my family feeling a bit uneasy and skeptical since they had recently suffered through a 2-week bout of new recipes each night, but it turned into an epic summer of eating this many, many times.
I even froze a quadruple batch, packed it up and traveled across the country to serve at Brian’s family reunion. We’ve (ok, I’ve) made it for company, eaten it just the seven of us for Sunday dinners, and given it out as a freezer meal to friends. This lasagna has become one with our family.
The reason I know it’s a winner is just last week after trying the 48th version of a slow cooker chicken tandoori recipe that pretty much failed into a soupy, gloppy, curdled mess (yummy, I know), I heard: “I just wish mom would make that white lasagna stuff again, then we wouldn’t get in trouble for making gagging noises at the table.”
Yep, sure sign of a winner, winner lasagna dinner.
The fact that it calls for lots of divine cheese is mitigated by the mounds of fresh spinach pressed in between each layer. It has become my latest lasagna obsession and I’m so happy to add it to my lasagna arsenal.
What to Serve With This
- Steamed veggie or this Zucchini Mozzarella Medley
- Store-bought French Bread (or for homemade this French Bread)
- Fresh, seasonal fruit
One Year Ago: Creamy Swiss Cheese Chicken Bake
Two Years Ago: Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Three Years Ago: Healthy and Delicious {Refrigerator} Bran Muffins
White Chicken and Spinach Lasagna
Ingredients
Sauce:
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup chopped white or yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 2 ½ cups milk
- ¾ teaspoon dried basil
- ¾ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Lasagna:
- 9 no-boil lasagna noodles
- 2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
- 2-3 cups cooked chicken
- 1 pound mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 4 cups)
- 3 ounces Parmesan cheese, about 1 to 1 1/2 cups, reserve 1/4 cup for the top of the lasagna
- 2 packages (9-ounces each) baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat a 9X13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the onion is translucent and tender, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the flour and let it cook, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes.
- Gradually add the chicken broth and milk while whisking vigorously. Continue cooking and stirring for 4-5 minutes until the mixture simmers and thickens. Stir in the basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
- To assemble, spread about 1 to 1 1/2 cups sauce on the bottom of the prepared pan. Place 3 no-boil noodles on top and dollop with 1/2 of the ricotta. No need to spread the ricotta out into an even layer, although you can press it down a bit, just spoon it across. Add half of the chicken on top of the ricotta.
- Layer on 1/2 of the chopped spinach. It will seem like a lot but just spread it evenly – it will cook down while baking. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella and 1/2 of the Parmesan cheese (don’t forget to take out 1/4 cup of the Parmesan for sprinkling across the top!).
- Place 3 noodles over the top, gently pressing down to compress the layers below. Spread 1/2 of the remaining sauce over the top. Repeat the layers again (remaining ricotta, chicken, spinach, mozzarella, Parmesan).
- Place the last 3 noodles over the top, pressing down again. Spread the remaining sauce over the top and sprinkle with reserved Parmesan cheese.
- Cover the baking dish with lightly greased aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 15 minutes until golden and bubbly. Let the lasagna rest for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: inspired by this recipe at allrecipes (changed up the method, cut butter in half, used oven-ready noodles, altered the sauce broth/milk amounts, used fresh spinach instead of frozen, etc.)
aGHHH! Just put this in the oven a half hour ago and realized I may have used regular lasagna noodles not the no cook variety! Is there any recovery from this? I usually only buy the no cook variety but some helpful shoppers may have tripped my up! Will they get soft enough if I cook longer? It smells so good it will be a shame if the noodles are crunchy!
Hey Amanda – did this work out? Other than adding a little broth around the edges of the pan, I’m not sure what else to do other than baking longer. Hope it worked out!
Could I use frozen spinach? Thawed and drained?
Yes, I think so – you’d need a lot less if doing so.
This turned out delicious and my whole family loved it, including my 7 month and 2 year old. The baby kept grabbing my arm to feed him more. I modified the recipe a little though. I’m big into hiding vegetables into meals, so I grated a whole yellow squash and half a head of cauliflower into the sauce. I only had one bag of spinach, so that was another reason why I added other vegetables. I used water instead of butter and added marjoram, paprika, and extra pepper into the sauce. I’m all about using spices to add flavor instead of fat and oil. I had to cook the lasagna for an extra 10 minutes because the top layer of noodles weren’t soft enough. I was so yummy though and I can’t wait to eat the leftovers for lunch!
Hi Mel, in step 3 it usually takes 30 mins for the sauce to thicken up as opposed to the 4-5 mins in the recipe. Is there something I’m doing incorrectly that it is taking so long for the sauce to thicken up? Thanks!
Hey Jeremy – I’m surprised it’s taking that long, but a lot may have to do with the cooking temp; I think I tend to cook it over higher heat (which may not be the best idea because it can scorch). So you may not be doing anything wrong; however, if you want it to thicken it up more quickly, you could add a few more tablespoons flour.
This is one great recipe. I did tweak it a bit by adding more garlic, Italian seasonings and sliced mushrooms. I also used half ricotta and half cottage cheese which I whirred in a food process to get it smooth then I added a pinch of nutmeg to the cheese mix.
I just made this for the second time to rave reviews! This time I added a shredded carrot and a handful of frozen corn for color. Received very well.
Question on the White Chicken and Spinach Lasagna. I plan on making this to take to a cabin trip. The recipe says it can also be frozen. Does this mean freeze before it is ever cooked? Also if so, can I take out to thaw for a while before baking. I noticed the cooking time for it being frozen is almost two hours. Please reply (I’m a person with little cooking experience so any assistance you can provide would be most appreciated. P.S. Love your recipes
Yes I freeze it precooked. And you could let I thaw in the refrigerator for sure…just cut down the cooking time by a bit!
Great. Now what is the best way to freeze this lasagna. I’ve googled and it says not to use tin foil pans to prepare and freeze because the food might taste tinny (mine will be frozen for 3 weeks). Other way is line glass pan with foil, prepare, cover with foil used, freeze overnight, then lift out and wrap with add’l foil and put back in freezer. When ready to cook, take out of foil put in glass pan, thaw, and cook. I’m mainly concerned about how to avoid freezer burn. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. (P.S. I’m a closet cook so need all the help I can get)
I always bake in a glass pan, let it cool, cover with a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of foil. Freeze. Then once I take it out, I remove the plastic wrap and cover with foil again and bake. It helps to let it cool before freezing to avoid freezer burn
I’ve had this recipe printed since 2013 and am just now going to try it. I went thru most all posts below and learned some great tips to use beforehand. Will post again when made. Love the recipes
Do you think this would be good if I used a rotisserie chicken for a little more flavor? I made this once before and LOVED it, but my husband thought it needed more flavor….
Sure!
Yummy! I wasn’t sure about this from the appearance. But it sounded good. I was pleasantly surprised how much we loved it–even the kids! With all that cheese, I guess you can’t go wrong! 🙂
I’m sorry to say that this actually looks horrifying. But because it’s you I am copying the recipe to try, that’s how much I trust you.
Hello, just discovered your blog and I must say I’m in love! A question about the chicken, I know it says cooked already, but is it minced or just chopped? Can’t wait to try it, thanks!
I use chopped chicken. 🙂