Chicken and Spinach Lasagna
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This delicious spin on traditional lasagna combines ground chicken, spinach, mozzarella cheese, and a to-die-for creamy sauce made with parmesan cheese, olive oil and chicken broth. It’s the perfect comfort food to make for a special family dinner or to take to a friend.
This white lasagna is my go-to dish when I want something to make for a new mom, someone recovering from illness or surgery, or a birthday dinner. It’s also perfect for feeding a crowd.
What’s wonderful about this recipe is that it feels extra special, but because you can make it ahead (and it freezes wonderfully), it’s a no stress option when cooking for others.
It’s also very easy thanks to a few shortcuts, including ground chicken, frozen spinach, and no boil lasagna noodles.
One important note about the ingredients: It’s best to use LIGHT olive oil vs. extra virgin olive oil. The light oil allows the flavors of the lasagna to shine through without overpowering them.
Shortcuts and Substitutions:
- This lasagna freezes really well. If you plan to freeze it or you’re making it to give to someone else, I recommend baking it in a foil baking pan with a lid.
- I typically use 2% milk in this recipe, but you can use low fat or whole as well. Skim milk may make the sauce too watery, but you could just use a little less.
- I use full fat cottage cheese in the recipe, but you can swap low fat if you desire.
- You can easily substitute ground turkey for the ground chicken in this recipe.
Serve this white lasagna with a fresh green salad and some garlic bread.
Chicken and Spinach Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra virgin or light olive oil
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 med onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, diced
- 1 1/4 c cottage cheese
- 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed
- 1/2 c light olive oil
- 1/2 c all purpose flour
- 2 c chicken broth
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 8 oz no-boil lasagna noodles
- 4 c shredded mozzarella
- kosher salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onions until translucent. Add ground chicken, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper, and cook until chicken is no longer pink, breaking up large pieces with a wooden spoon. Add garlic, and saute for one additional minute.
- Remove from heat (transfer to a bowl if desired) and stir in cottage cheese and spinach.
- In a medium saucepan, heat 1/2 cup light olive oil until warm. Add in flour and cook for two minutes, whisking constantly. Slowly add chicken broth and milk and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. The mixture will begin to thicken.
- After mixture is thickened (it will start to coat the sides of the pan), remove from heat. Stir in parmesan cheese, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. If mixture becomes too thick, you can add additional milk or broth to thin.
To Assemble the Lasagna:
- Lightly rub a 9×13 baking pan or lasagna pan with a thin layer of olive oil. Spread approx 1/2 cup of sauce in the bottom of the pan. Cover with a layer of lasagna noodles. (You may need to break one of the noodles in half).
- Pour another cup of sauce over the noodles. Top with 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/3 of the chicken mixture (eyeball it).
- Add another layer of noodles, another cup of sauce, another cup of cheese, and half of the remaining chicken mixture.
- Top with another layer of noodles, another cup of sauce, another cup of cheese, and remaining chicken mixture.
- Top with one more layer of noodles, remaining sauce, and remaining mozzarella.
- Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake an additional 20 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly.
Notes
Nutrition Facts
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