Kick Ass Chicken Lasagna
A completely amazing, totally delicious chicken lasagna recipe that is always a favorite! Kick Ass Chicken Lasagna is the perfect cozy comfort food meal and is one of my favorites to bring for neighbors when you need to stuff the fridge.
When I decided to share my favorite chicken lasagna here, I was actually inspired by the World's Worst Lasagna that I was served just recently.
To give you an idea, it was loaded with cream of chicken soup [NO], which, I'm pretty sure, should never be in anything called lasagna.
While I was researching all the things you need to make a seriously Kick Ass Chicken Lasagna (details below), something happened.
My friend's very young and very healthy husband just out of the blue got very sick. At age 29 he was diagnosed with colon cancer. 9 days before Christmas.
And my heart just broke for them.
I wanted to DO something because I am a bring you magazines, walk your dogs, fill up your fridge kinda girl. The only problem is that my friend lives in Chicago which is approximately really extra far from here.
And so I, along with a handful of other food bloggers decided to virtually fill up our friend's fridge.
Chicken Lasagna is for sure a dish that's easy to tote along to a potluck, or send to a neighbor that's buried in work, had a baby, or just has no time to cook with whatever is ailing them.
And I wanna take a minute to tell you about my friend.
Do you know Ashley at Center Cut Cook? You probably do and you just didn't know it. Ashley is responsible for the super duper world famous Chocolate Lasagna.
Once we went to a family gathering and there was a giant pan of Chocolate Lasagna just hanging out on the dessert table. Whoever brought it just found the recipe (because it is everywhere. It really is famous!), loved it, and made it, having no idea they were cooking from my friend's archives. I messaged her right away.
Ashley is not only the master of chocolate and Oreos, but also is responsible for things like Maple Bacon Dijon Chicken. All of those words right next to each other are perfect. {the photos are more perfect. Seriously.}
And then there's the Candy Cane Kisses Hot Cocoa Mix which... actually I could really use a big cup of that right now!!!
Besides being very talented in the kitchen and behind the camera, Ashley is amazingly supportive of her peers. She shares and sends along kind words of encouragement -- I can't even count how many times she has helped me with big things, with little things, or just exchanged a few lines of funny frustrations.
She is reeeeeally great.
Her husband is great, too! He manages servers or something very techno-savvy for his job and once he just waved his magic computer wand on Sugar Dish Me and fixed a bunch of things that would have taken me a decade.
They are the nicest nice people, married for 10 years now and high school sweethearts, which for me makes what is happening exponentially unfair and plain old crummy.
WHAT GOES WITH CHICKEN LASAGNA?
Salad! I love a good salad with all my dinners, but especially with a cheesy pasta dish like lasagna. I VERY MUCH recommend my Favorite Italian Salad Recipe. the dressing is a little bit Olive Garden copycat recipe, but with more flavor (and no packets of seasoning).
And you can't have lasagna without bread. My Easy Cheesy Italian Bread Recipe is a no-knead bread stuffed with cheese, bread, and tomatoes. If you are in a hurry, you can throw together this Almost 1 Hour Dinner Bread Recipe. I also HIGHLY recommend Copycat Carrabba's Herb Dip.
Who needs to go out when you can have all this (and leftovers!) in your own kitchen?
Kick Ass Chicken Lasagna
An amazingly cheesy chicken lasagna that kicks ass! It is also perfect to take to a neighbor or friend. This is stuff-the-refrigerator food!!!
Ingredients
- 9 uncooked lasagna noodles
For the Filling:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into very small bits (½ inch or smaller)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 12 ounces whole milk ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 2 ounces grated Parmesan Romano cheese
For the Cheese Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 2 ½ cups milk (at least 2 %)
- 4 ounces grated Parmesan Romano cheese
- 12 ounces shredded mozzarella, divided
For the Mushrooms:
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
- 1 teaspoon oregano
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 13 X 9 baking dish (I rub a little olive oil on the bottom and sides).
- Cook the lasagna noodles according to package instructions, but only cook halfway (because they will cook more in the oven). Drain and rinse with cold water (stops the cooking process).
- While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the chicken. Then add the salt, pepper, oregano, and basil. Brown the chicken over medium high heat. This will take only 4-5 minutes (because the chicken pieces are small).
- Set the drained noodles and cooked chicken aside.
- In a medium bowl mix together the ricotta cheese, egg, and 2 ounces Grated Parmesan Romano. Stir in the cooked chicken and set aside.
- Make the cheese sauce and cook the mushrooms at the same time. In a medium saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour until it thickens. Then pour in the milk, stirring while you pour. Bring it to a simmer.
- In a medium skillet (or re-use the pan you cooked the chicken in), melt the tablespoon of butter. Add the mushrooms and toss them with the oregano. Let them cook over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until they are caramelly in color - about 5 minutes.
- When the milk in the saucepan simmers, stir in the 4 ounces of grated Parmesan Romano cheese, and 8 ounces of the mozzarella. Stir until it melts.
- To assemble the lasagna, lay 3 of the noodles on the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread ⅓ of the ricotta mixture over the noodles. Spoon or ladle ⅓ of the cheese sauce over the ricotta mixture. This will help it to spread. Top with half of the mushrooms.
- Repeat. When you get to the last layer, sprinkle the entire top with the remaining 4 ounces of shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
12Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 424Total Fat: 20gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 118mgSodium: 652mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 37g
If you are looking for more recipes that are perfect for filling the refrigerators of all your neighbors and friends, I have a few recommendations
Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole {Gluten Free} - My Gluten Free Kitchen
Cashew Rice Bowl - Vegan in the Freezer
Pepperoni Pizza Dip - Wishes and Dishes
Meals to Deliver to Family and Friends - Barefeet in the Kitchen
Comfort Food Because Sometimes Bad Things Happen - On the Banks of Squaw Creek
I hate any dirty words coming out of women. It's so disgusting.
I hate internet trolls, so HOT DAMN, I guess we can call it even, Margaret.
@Margaret Swindells, fuck off.
Hi heather loved your post . Im also mad about dogs have been training them now for 39 yrs obedience advertising ect but really enjoy trial work and helping people with problem dogs usually means traing the OWNER not the dog no such thing as a bad dog now your wonderful lasagne heather try using skinless thigh trimmed of excess fat the difference is amazing and alot cheaper please do and let me know what you think.
Can this be assembled a day ahead & then cooked before serving?
I am sure it can! I have never tried it but refrigerating overnight shouldn't hurt anything ?
First, I'd like to say I scoured the internet for a good chicken lasagna, this was my favorite pick, however, I did adapt it quite a bit. Because of this, I cannot fairly rate it, so I am giving it 5 stars on the basis it was a great basic starter recipe that was easily adaptable.
I do not like dry lasagna and knew this recipe did not have enough milk for the cheese sauce (none of the recipes I looked at for chicken lasagna did), so I doubled the cheese sauce. For the cheese sauce, I used mostly half and half and only 1 c. of whole milk. Cheese sauce was excellent, but still not enough sauce, next time I will triple it. I also seasoned the cheese sauce with crushed black pepper and Italian Seasoning.
For the ricotta filling, I used almost an entire 32 oz. container, not 12 oz., 1 egg, about 1/2 cup of whole milk and seasoned with parsley, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
I also put bacon and ham, as well as, chicken in my recipe. I followed the layering process, but did sprinkle the bacon and ham on each layer, I did not mix it in the cheese sauce with the chicken first.
If anyone is interested in this smoky twist, I used a package of bacon, crisped it, set aside, when cooled, I chopped into larger bits,. In the same pan I threw one ham steak in for about 4 minutes, enough to flavor it from the bacon grease, set aside to drain then trimmed the fat and cubed it into 1/2 inch chunks. I then added the cubed chicken into the same pan as I used for the bacon and ham. Seasoned the chicken with some Old Bay, Italian Seasoning, and just a few dashes of cayenne. Once all the meat was cooked, I had added fresh sliced mushrooms to the same pan as I cooked all the meat and let it simmer for about 3 minutes and mixed with the chicken prior to adding to the cheese sauce.
As you can see I adapted this recipe quite a bit and made it my own. This is a great base starter to a chicken lasagna, next time I will add some chardonnay to the cheese sauce and a dash grey poupon for a chicken cordon bleu flavor. Thank you!
Thanks for all these fun tips and twists, Lisa!
This was an absolute hit on my dinner table tonight my guests enjoyed this so much tonight all the compliments was overwhelming thank you so much for this delicious recipe I have this pinned
Thank you! So glad you loved it!
Just curious. Don’t the noodles stick to the bottom of the pan even with greasing it? I’ve always put some sauce in the bottom before adding the first layer of noodles.
@Kelly,
They absolutely did not!
Can I freeze it for a week and then bake?
Made it, was going to Post it. Bummer. Looks Fabulous Have company coming over to eat it. Thank u for the Recipe
Check out Chrisbeatcancer.com Chris was 26 when he was diagnosed with colon cancer.
Just found this recipe and story. Just curious about how things turned out.
This dish was great. My family loved it for Sunday dinner. A keeper!
Just wondering if you think this dish could be made the night before, refrigerated and baked the next day? If so, would you make any adjustments?
I think that would work just fine, Laura! I don't think you'll need to make any adjustments 🙂
My kiss ass chicken came out dry. Is there any reason?
Well... I think I'd have to know a little more about what you think went wrong? With cheese + cheese sauce + ricotta this is one thing I've never ever had trouble with being dry, but if you'd like to trouble shoot a little I'm happy to help!