White Hen Lasagna

This white rooster lasagna is filled with three kinds of cheese and layers of creamy white sauce, juicy shredded rooster, mushrooms, and noodles. It’s straightforward to make and tremendous satisfying!

With its wealthy, creamy layers of béchamel sauce, white rooster lasagna all the time jogs my memory of rooster alfredo! It’s an effective way to alter issues up from a conventional spinach lasagna (which I additionally love). And if you happen to’re a fan of this recipe, attempt my white rooster chili subsequent.

Overhead view of white chicken lasagna in a ceramic casserole dish, with a spatula resting in an open space where a slice used to be.

This white rooster lasagna is mild and creamy, with three sorts of cheese and all of the consolation I like in a basic lasagna. Rising up, lasagna nights have been all the time an enormous deal in our home, and now I’ve put my very own spin on the basic as a result of why not? Actually, this one took place as a result of I had some leftover noodles, creamy sauce, and rooster leftovers within the fridge. And let me inform you, it become one thing superb!

This model replaces the standard floor beef and tomato sauce combo with juicy shredded rooster and a wealthy, silky, home made white sauce referred to as béchamel. The result’s golden-baked layers brimming with rooster, mushrooms, and oodles of noodles and melty cheese. It’s a recent, scrumptious spin which you could make any night time of the week. I’ll present you simply how straightforward it’s!

Why I Love This White Hen Lasagna Recipe

A recent spin on basic lasagna. Every time I’m craving consolation meals that’s one thing slightly completely different, I make this straightforward white rooster lasagna. It’s hearty and satisfying, like a basic home made lasagna, with tremendous creamy, savory layers that get lightened up by tender rooster.
Straightforward to make. There’s a small quantity of prep concerned to make the white sauce and rooster layers, however each come collectively rapidly on the stovetop.
Nice leftovers. This white lasagna recipe makes sufficient to serve 4 individuals comfortably, however it’s so good that I typically double it and bake two! One to take pleasure in straight away, and a second to refrigerate and freeze for later. When you ask me, home made lasagna tastes even higher the subsequent day. 😃

White chicken lasagna ingredients with text labels overlaying each ingredient.

What You’ll Want

White lasagna comes collectively identical to a basic lasagna, with a couple of tweaks to the elements. Take a look at my ingredient and substitution notes right here. Remember to scroll right down to the recipe card for a printable listing with the total recipe quantities and particulars.

Béchamel Sauce – Traditional béchamel sauce may be very straightforward to make at house. For this white lasagna, I embrace a variation of béchamel enriched with half-and-half and cream cheese.
Butter – Salted or unsalted butter, for sautéeing the mushrooms. I just like the added taste that comes from butter however you possibly can use olive oil if you happen to desire.
Mushrooms – These could be cremini, white, or brown mushrooms, or any selection you’d like. Child portobellos are one other good possibility. Give the mushrooms a mild rinse beneath operating water, then take away the stems and slice them earlier than you begin.
Garlic – Freshly minced garlic, or you possibly can change every recent clove with ¼-½ teaspoon of garlic powder.
Ricotta Cheese – Ricotta is a light Italian delicate cheese. You’ll discover it within the dairy aisle alongside different delicate or specialty cheeses. When you can’t discover ricotta, cottage cheese or mascarpone cheese make good substitutes.
Parmesan and Mozzarella – Rounding out our trio of cheeses is freshly grated parmesan (or pecorino) and shredded mozzarella cheese. If wanted, you should utilize one other melty cheese, like cheddar, rather than shredded mozz.
Egg – You’ll want one complete egg to behave as a binder for the cheese combination.
Hen – Shred a store-bought or home made rotisserie rooster. Boiled rooster will even work (see my recipe for boil rooster), or any leftover cooked rooster you’ve available.
Lasagna Sheets – I make this recipe with recent lasagna noodles. When you’re utilizing dry lasagna sheets, it’s greatest to boil them al dente first. Or, if you happen to depart them dry, I like to recommend making an additional ½ cup of béchamel sauce to offset the dry lasagna noodles, since they’ll absorb extra liquid.

What Is Béchamel?

Béchamel sauce is a French white sauce produced from a “roux” of butter and flour combined with milk. It’s fast to make and you should utilize it as a base for many different sauces, together with Alfredo sauce and the cheese sauce in mac and cheese. Béchamel is a key ingredient in white lasagna and creates the creamy layers in recipes like my lasagna bolognese and butternut squash lasagna, too.

Chicken lasagna served on a dinner plate.

Easy methods to Make White Hen Lasagna

There’s one thing about pulling a bubbly, golden lasagna from the oven that awakens the home goddess in me. The satisfaction!! The most effective half about this white rooster lasagna is, it takes little or no effort. Comply with the steps with images right here.

First, Prep the Elements

This lasagna recipe begins with a easy home made white sauce, then it’s a matter of pre-cooking the mushrooms and mixing up the ricotta layer. This fashion, every little thing is able to layer into the baking dish. Right here’s do it:

Flour cooking with butter in a skillet with a wooden spoon, to make a roux. — 1. Prepare dinner the butter and flour.

Put together the béchamel. Whisk flour with melted butter over medium-high warmth. As soon as that begins to scent aromatic, stir in half-and-half and rooster broth, and season the sauce with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Lastly, stir within the cream cheese and simmer the sauce so it thickens.
Prepare dinner the mushrooms. Subsequent, add your cleaned and sliced mushrooms to a skillet with extra melted butter. Prepare dinner and stir for a couple of minutes whereas they soften, then add the garlic and season to style. Lastly, stir within the shredded rooster.
Make the cheese filling. In the meantime, add the ricotta, egg, and parmesan to a bowl. Fold that collectively till it’s nicely mixed.

Layer and Bake

Together with your elements cooked and prepared, layering this rooster lasagna is fast and straightforward. As with every lasagna, the purpose is to layer evenly, beginning with sauce and ending with cheese, so that you get equal quantities of goodness in each chunk:

Lasagna noodles layered into the bottom of a baking dish. — 1. Begin with a layer of white sauce and noodles.

Assemble the lasagna. Begin with 2-3 spoonfuls of béchamel sauce, and unfold that into the underside of an 8” baking dish. Cowl the sauce with lasagna sheets. Prime that with ricotta combination, then the rooster and mushrooms, a layer of mozzarella cheese, and one other layer of béchamel. Repeat till you’ve used up all of the elements.
Bake. Cowl the pan with foil and bake the rooster lasagna at 400ºF for 25 minutes. Take away the foil for the final 5 minutes of baking in order that the cheese on high can brown slightly. Afterward, let the lasagna relaxation for Quarter-hour earlier than slicing and serving.

Whole lasagna cut into quarters in a ceramic baking dish, surrounded by bowls of ingredients.

Ideas and Variations

Hold whisking. It’s essential to whisk the béchamel sauce continuously whereas it cooks and thickens, to keep away from lumps.
When assembling a lasagna, be certain that the cheese and sauce are the final layers.
Layer evenly. Do your greatest to divide the béchamel, rooster, and cheese filling evenly between the layers. This helps with even baking, and also you don’t find yourself with some layers which are thicker than others.
Relaxation earlier than slicing. As tempting as it’s to slice right into a hot-from-the-oven, steamy lasagna, resist! Letting this rooster lasagna relaxation for 10-Quarter-hour after baking lets the cheese and sauce arrange a bit for much less soupy slices.
Not a fan of mushrooms? When you dislike mushrooms, be at liberty to skip them or change them with one other veggie, like spinach or cooked squash.
Use floor rooster as an alternative. When you don’t have rooster to shred, you should utilize a package deal of floor rooster. Remember to break up and brown the bottom meat in a pan beforehand.
Swap out the protein. It received’t be a rooster lasagna, per se, however you possibly can change the shredded rooster on this recipe with nearly any protein you’d like. Mess around with options like cooked floor meats, sausage, pulled pork, or shredded beef, or skip the meat altogether and change it with sautéed greens for a vegetarian lasagna.

A slice of white chicken lasagna on a stoneware plate next to a fork and knife.

A slice of chicken lasagna served on a plate.

Storing and Reheating Leftover Lasagna

Refrigerate. Enable your white rooster lasagna to chill utterly, and retailer it coated within the fridge for as much as 4 days.
Reheat. I like to recommend reheating this lasagna within the oven beneath foil, at 350ºF for about half-hour or till the layers are warmed by once more. You may also microwave particular person parts in 30-second increments.
Freeze. You’ll be able to double-wrap the lasagna tightly in plastic wrap or retailer it hermetic and freeze it for as much as 3 months. Thaw it within the fridge in a single day earlier than reheating.

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Put together the bechamel sauce:

Begin by cooking the flour. Soften butter in a saucepan over medium-high warmth. As soon as the butter is melted, add flour. Prepare dinner the flour till aromatic (it would scent like popcorn).
Add the liquid. Steadily stir in half-and-half and the rooster broth. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir within the cream cheese and prepare dinner till barely thickened. Set the bechamel sauce apart.

Put together the mushrooms:

Slice the mushrooms. Wash the mushrooms beneath operating water. Don’t soak them; simply rinse gently. Take away the mushrooms’ stems and slice the caps into skinny slices.
Sauté the mushrooms. Soften butter in a big skillet. Add the mushrooms and prepare dinner, stirring, for five minutes.
Put all of it collectively. Add garlic and season the mushrooms to style with salt and pepper. Prepare dinner for 1 minute and take away from the warmth. Stir within the shredded rooster. Put aside.

Put together the lasagna filling:

Make the cheese sauce. Mix the ricotta, egg, and parmesan in a bowl and put aside.

Assemble the lasagna:

Prep. Begin by heating the oven to 400ºF.
Begin with the bechamel. To make the layers, add 2-3 tablespoons of the ready bechamel sauce to the underside of an 8-inch baking dish.
Layer the elements. Add sufficient lasagna sheets to cowl the underside. Add ¼ cup of the ricotta cheese combination, ⅓ of the rooster and mushroom combination, ⅔ cup of mozzarella cheese, and ½ cup of bechamel sauce. Repeat layers till you’ve used all the elements, ending with sauce and cheese.
Bake the lasagna. Cowl with foil and bake the lasagna for 25 minutes. Take away the quilt within the final 5 minutes of baking.
Serve: Enable the rooster lasagna to chill for Quarter-hour earlier than serving.

When you use dry lasagna sheets, prepare dinner them in boiling water (like pasta) till al dente, or use dry lasagna sheets. When you resolve to make use of dry lasagna sheets, make extra bechamel sauce, round ½ cup extra, as a result of the dry sheets will absorb an excessive amount of liquid, and you’ll find yourself with dry lasagna.
For this recipe, you should utilize leftover rotisserie rooster or go together with leftover cooked rooster.
When assembling lasagna, make certain the cheese and sauce are the final layers.

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