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This white chicken lasagna is packed with three types of cheese and layers of creamy white sauce, juicy shredded chicken, mushrooms, and noodles. It’s easy to make and super satisfying!
With its rich, creamy layers of béchamel sauce, white chicken lasagna always reminds me of chicken alfredo! It’s a great way to change things up from a traditional spinach lasagna (which I also love). And if you’re a fan of this recipe, try my white chicken chili next.
This white chicken lasagna is light and creamy, with three kinds of cheese and all the comfort I love in a classic lasagna. Growing up, lasagna nights were always a big deal in our house, and now I’ve put my own spin on the classic because why not? Honestly, this one came about because I had some leftover noodles, creamy sauce, and chicken leftovers in the fridge. And let me tell you, it turned into something amazing!
This version replaces the traditional ground beef and tomato sauce combo with juicy shredded chicken and a rich, silky, homemade white sauce called béchamel. The result is golden-baked layers brimming with chicken, mushrooms, and oodles of noodles and melty cheese. It’s a fresh, delicious spin that you can make any night of the week. I’ll show you just how easy it is!
Why I Love This White Chicken Lasagna Recipe
- A fresh spin on classic lasagna. Whenever I’m craving comfort food that’s something a little different, I make this easy white chicken lasagna. It’s hearty and satisfying, like a classic homemade lasagna, with super creamy, savory layers that get lightened up by tender chicken.
- Easy to make. There’s a small amount of prep involved to make the white sauce and chicken layers, but both come together quickly on the stovetop.
- Great leftovers. This white lasagna recipe makes enough to serve 4 people comfortably, but it’s so good that I often double it and bake two! One to enjoy right away, and a second to refrigerate and freeze for later. If you ask me, homemade lasagna tastes even better the next day. 😃
What You’ll Need
White lasagna comes together just like a classic lasagna, with a few tweaks to the ingredients. Check out my ingredient and substitution notes here. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for a printable list with the full recipe amounts and details.
- Béchamel Sauce – Classic béchamel sauce is very easy to make at home. For this white lasagna, I include a variation of béchamel enriched with half-and-half and cream cheese.
- Butter – Salted or unsalted butter, for sautéeing the mushrooms. I like the added flavor that comes from butter but you could use olive oil if you prefer.
- Mushrooms – These can be cremini, white, or brown mushrooms, or any variety you’d like. Baby portobellos are another good option. Give the mushrooms a gentle rinse under running water, then remove the stems and slice them before you start.
- Garlic – Freshly minced garlic, or you can replace each fresh clove with ¼-½ teaspoon of garlic powder.
- Ricotta Cheese – Ricotta is a mild Italian soft cheese. You’ll find it in the dairy aisle alongside other soft or specialty cheeses. If you can’t find 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 needed, you can use another melty cheese, like cheddar, in place of shredded mozz.
- Egg – You’ll need one whole egg to act as a binder for the cheese mixture.
- Chicken – Shred a store-bought or homemade rotisserie chicken. Boiled chicken will also work (see my recipe for how to boil chicken), or any leftover cooked chicken you have on hand.
- Lasagna Sheets – I make this recipe with fresh lasagna noodles. If you’re using dry lasagna sheets, it’s best to boil them al dente first. Or, if you leave them dry, I recommend making an extra ½ cup of béchamel sauce to offset the dry lasagna noodles, since they’ll soak up more liquid.
What Is Béchamel?
Béchamel sauce is a French white sauce made from a “roux” of butter and flour mixed with milk. It’s quick to make and you can use it as a base for lots of other sauces, including 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.
How to Make White Chicken Lasagna
There’s something about pulling a bubbly, golden lasagna from the oven that awakens the domestic goddess in me. The satisfaction!! The best part about this white chicken lasagna is, it takes very little effort. Follow the steps with photos here.
First, Prep the Ingredients
This lasagna recipe starts with a simple homemade white sauce, then it’s a matter of pre-cooking the mushrooms and mixing up the ricotta layer. This way, everything is ready to layer into the baking dish. Here’s how to do it:
- Prepare the béchamel. Whisk flour with melted butter over medium-high heat. Once that starts to smell fragrant, stir in half-and-half and chicken broth, and season the sauce with salt, pepper, and a pinch of nutmeg. Finally, stir in the cream cheese and simmer the sauce so it thickens.
- Cook the mushrooms. Next, add your cleaned and sliced mushrooms to a skillet with additional melted butter. Cook and stir for a few minutes while they soften, then add the garlic and season to taste. Lastly, stir in the shredded chicken.
- Make the cheese filling. Meanwhile, add the ricotta, egg, and parmesan to a bowl. Fold that together until it’s well combined.
Layer and Bake
With your ingredients cooked and ready, layering this chicken lasagna is quick and easy. As with any lasagna, the goal is to layer evenly, starting with sauce and ending with cheese, so you get equal amounts of goodness in every bite:
- Assemble the lasagna. Start with 2-3 spoonfuls of béchamel sauce, and spread that into the bottom of an 8” baking dish. Cover the sauce with lasagna sheets. Top that with ricotta mixture, then the chicken and mushrooms, a layer of mozzarella cheese, and another layer of béchamel. Repeat until you’ve used up all the ingredients.
- Bake. Cover the pan with foil and bake the chicken lasagna at 400ºF for 25 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes of baking so that the cheese on top can brown a little. Afterward, let the lasagna rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
Tips and Variations
- Keep whisking. It’s important to whisk the béchamel sauce frequently while it cooks and thickens, to avoid lumps.
- When assembling a lasagna, ensure that the cheese and sauce are the last layers.
- Layer evenly. Do your best to divide the béchamel, chicken, and cheese filling evenly between the layers. This helps with even baking, and you don’t end up with some layers that are thicker than others.
- Rest before slicing. As tempting as it is to slice into a hot-from-the-oven, steamy lasagna, resist! Letting this chicken lasagna rest for 10-15 minutes after baking lets the cheese and sauce set up a bit for less soupy slices.
- Not a fan of mushrooms? If you dislike mushrooms, feel free to skip them or replace them with another veggie, like spinach or cooked squash.
- Use ground chicken instead. If you don’t have chicken to shred, you can use a package of ground chicken. Be sure to break up and brown the ground meat in a pan beforehand.
- Swap out the protein. It won’t be a chicken lasagna, per se, but you can replace the shredded chicken in this recipe with just about any protein you’d like. Play around with alternatives like cooked ground meats, sausage, pulled pork, or shredded beef, or skip the meat altogether and replace it with sautéed vegetables for a vegetarian lasagna.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve my white chicken lasagna with a side of green salad, like this copycat La Scala chopped salad, or something with crunch, like my shaved Brussels sprouts salad or roasted vegetable salad. It’s also great paired with focaccia slices or soft homemade dinner rolls for a heartier meal. For dessert, I’ll keep things light with coconut macaroons, or indulge in a quick and easy chocolate souffle if we’re entertaining.
Storing and Reheating Leftover Lasagna
- Refrigerate. Allow your white chicken lasagna to cool completely, and store it covered in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat. I recommend reheating this lasagna in the oven under foil, at 350ºF for about 30 minutes or until the layers are warmed through again. You can also microwave individual portions in 30-second increments.
- Freeze. You can double-wrap the lasagna tightly in plastic wrap or store it airtight and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw it in the fridge overnight before reheating.
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White Chicken Lasagna
Ingredients
For the bechamel sauce:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups half-and-half
- ½ cup chicken broth
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- a good pinch of nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons cream cheese
For the mushrooms:
- 1½ tablespoons butter
- ½ pound mushrooms, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For the lasagna filling:
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 ounces fresh lasagna sheets
Instructions
Prepare the bechamel sauce:
- Start by cooking the flour. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the butter is melted, add flour. Cook the flour until fragrant (it will smell like popcorn).
- Add the liquid. Gradually stir in half-and-half and the chicken broth. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in the cream cheese and cook until slightly thickened. Set the bechamel sauce aside.
Prepare the mushrooms:
- Slice the mushrooms. Wash the mushrooms under running water. Do not soak them; just rinse gently. Remove the mushrooms' stems and slice the caps into thin slices.
- Sauté the mushrooms. Melt butter in a large skillet. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes.
- Put it all together. Add garlic and season the mushrooms to taste with salt and pepper. Cook for 1 minute and remove from the heat. Stir in the shredded chicken. Set aside.
Prepare the lasagna filling:
- Make the cheese sauce. Combine the ricotta, egg, and parmesan in a bowl and set aside.
Assemble the lasagna:
- Prep. Start by heating the oven to 400ºF.
- Start with the bechamel. To make the layers, add 2-3 tablespoons of the prepared bechamel sauce to the bottom of an 8-inch baking dish.
- Layer the ingredients. Add enough lasagna sheets to cover the bottom. Add ¼ cup of the ricotta cheese mixture, ⅓ of the chicken and mushroom mixture, ⅔ cup of mozzarella cheese, and ½ cup of bechamel sauce. Repeat layers until you have used all of the ingredients, ending with sauce and cheese.
- Bake the lasagna. Cover with foil and bake the lasagna for 25 minutes. Remove the cover in the last 5 minutes of baking.
- Serve: Allow the chicken lasagna to cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Equipment
Notes
- If you use dry lasagna sheets, cook them in boiling water (like pasta) until al dente, or use dry lasagna sheets. If you decide to use dry lasagna sheets, make more bechamel sauce, around ½ cup more, because the dry sheets will soak up too much liquid, and you will end up with dry lasagna.
- For this recipe, you can use leftover rotisserie chicken or go with leftover cooked chicken.
- When assembling lasagna, make sure the cheese and sauce are the last layers.
Nutrition
Nutritional info is an estimate and provided as courtesy. Values may vary according to the ingredients and tools used. Please use your preferred nutritional calculator for more detailed info.
