Garlic Parmesan Chicken Lasagna Bake? Layers of lasagna noodles, chicken, peas, creamy garlic Parmesan sauce – no cans, all real, totally yummy.
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I’m not someone who usually cooks, but I made this for a group of friends, and long story short, it was awesome! So simple and everyone loved it. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Amelia
This.
I’ve made it twice in the last two days, once for bringing life to the original recipe concept and taking some photos, and once for “recipe testing”. Aka licking the sauce. Again. More. Spoonfuls. In my mouth. Garlic Parmesan creaminess. I like this recipe a lot, you guys.
The funny thing about this recipe is that it’s called Garlic Parmesan Chicken Lasagna BAKE, but it’s not called an official Lasagna for a reason. It has this sort of all-up-in-there casserole kind of a feel to it, with the small pieces of wavy lasagna noodles, chicken, peas, Parm, creamy butter garlic sauce, breadcrumbs, fresh thyme, etc etc etc yum yum yum.
When I made it the second time (the recipe testing aka licking of the sauce time) I used a normal 9×13 pan – not the mini round cuteness that you see above that is perfect for just Bjork and me – and I realized that with a big square pan, it really wouldn’t be that hard to layer the flat lasagna noodles with all the good stuff. Okay then, normal peeps, you go on right ahead and do that.
But alas, broken, saucy, messy, topped with browned and melted cheese and toasty breadcrumbs is just more aligned with my philosophical food style. Slicing a perfectly layered piece? Nope. We’re talking scoop that saucy goodness into a bowl and love it up.
PS. Peas? Why and how are they so good. Even the frozen ones. I mean, HONESTLY.
Speaking of peas, farmer’s market, anyone? I once got the most delicious bag of peas at the farmer’s market – these two little sisters had been sitting in the sun, shelling all the peas, and they sold me a huge plastic baggie of them for just a few dollars. They were sweet and fresh and delicious and I made a cheesy pasta with them. What else?
I’ve been thinking a lot about getting back to the farmer’s market now that temps have started to rise and life is starting to emerge from the Minnesota winter lockdown. But the bummer thing about Minnesota farmer’s markets is that even in April and May, they are not really offering lots of produce yet. Just a lot of rhubarb and stuff. Sometimes I wonder what it’s like to live in a normal place with normal, nice weather. What is that like, anyways?
My brother-in-law was asking us about CSA’s last night. Anyone who has done a CSA: what is your advice to a prospective CSA-er? Let me rephrase that: what is your advice to a prospective CSA-er who doesn’t have a huge appreciation for random vegetables? I am really excited about the idea, but equally clueless. I have this vision of myself getting boxes of random, unheard of produce all through the year and just trying to pawn it off on people out of new-vegetable laziness.
Help a girl out –> good idea or no?
When you make this, all you have to do is open your windows and let the garlic Parmesan smells drift and I will come to you. My nose can find these things. Okay? See you soon.
Three More Lasagna Recipes
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Garlic Parmesan Chicken Lasagna Bake
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 9–12 1x
Description
This Garlic Parmesan Chicken Lasagna Bake is made by quickly layering lasagna, chicken, peas, a creamy homemade sauce, and cheese.
Ingredients
For the lasagna:
- 10–15 no-boil lasagna noodles
- 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken (use rotisserie chicken for lots of yummy flavor)
- 12 ounces frozen peas
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup Swiss cheese
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- fresh herbs for topping
For the sauce:
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 6 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 5 cups milk
Instructions
- Make the sauce: Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant – stir continuously to avoid burning because burnt garlic will taste bitter. Add the flour, poultry seasoning, and salt. Whisk and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the milk, one cup at a time, whisking after each addition and allowing it to thicken slightly each time before adding the next cup. When the sauce is smooth and thick, remove from heat and set aside.
- Layer the lasagna: Grease a 9×13 pan and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover the bottom of the pan with (about 5) broken lasagna noodles, half of the chicken, half of the peas, 1/4 cup Parmesan, 1/3 cup water, and 1 1/2 cups sauce. Repeat this layer once more. Top with a layer of broken noodles, 1/3 cup water, 1 1/2 cups sauce, and 1/2 cup Swiss cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
- Making it pretty: Remove the foil, sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs, and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbly. Sprinkle with fresh herbs like parsley and thyme. Let stand 10 minutes or more before cutting and serving.
Notes
Nutrition is for 12 servings using 1 lb. shredded chicken breasts. Rotisserie chicken is a great option because of the flavor, but if you wanted to avoid the extra fat I would just cook your own chicken and sprinkle it generously with some seasoning.
The water gets added to help the no-boil noodles get cooked, so unless you’re using a different kind of noodles, don’t skip this. The noodles should soak up all that water during baking.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: garlic parmesan chicken lasagna bake, chicken lasagna bake, lasagna bake
no cans, all real, totally yummy. 300 calories. | pinchofyum.com” width=”600″ height=”1800″>
I’m getting weak in the knees just thinking about this recipe.
You sure know how to bring it, that’s why I love this site! Doable + tasty = true food love.
And no, I haven’t forgotten your baked chicken mozzarella rolls and neither has my family. To die for!
I was going to use up my leftover ham tonight in a casserole and now you’ve convinced me to make this instead. sigh. another time then hammy ham =)
I just made this recipe and swapped the chicken out for my leftover Easter ham. It was AMAZING! I’m not sure I ever want to make this dish with chicken, because the ham was soooo good! (The ham was a honey glazed.)
What a great idea Brenda! I love it!
has anyone made this the night before to bake the nextdY?
Yes, I did. Turned out great!
Yes it’s awesome.
Hey, we’re farmers, vegie farmers! Go for the crazy csa…then, this will sound like a plug but isn’t really, like our facebook page- field to feast sydney. I troll the internet for great recipes to cook with veg. I have no doubt you will find something that you can use. I’ve often plugged your posts because you cook some good stuff, creative vegie user. cheers x
I’ll check it out! Thanks Cath!
Okay Lindsay….gee, I’m writing you twice in one day. (wrote earlier regarding your spaghetti & spinach dish). I am going to try this tomorrow night. You don’t have to convince me that I’ll love it. Sounds so good. I’ll drop you a line and let you know.
Sharyn
This recipe looks great! What could I sub in as a vegetarian to make it as hearty as the original version with chicken? Maybe artichoke hearts?
Anywho, I’ve participated in a CSA for several years and I so go for it! Typically they’ll have options for how big of a share you want and for your first membership, go with the smaller one and take on each share as a culinary challenge! I found some great cookbooks that are organized by season or vegetable that were great references.
Also for me it’s been harder in the off seasons trying to figure out what to cook, because I don’t have a selection of the freshest produce being handed off to me. I have to actually PLAN what to buy when I go to the grocery store!? Psh.
CSAs are really quite lovely. I hope you enjoy it if you go through with one! 🙂
I would use more green veggies, and I’m always a fan of throwing some white beans in recipes like this. Maybe asparagus, peas, and white beans with some bacon. Wait, not vegetarian. Dang. 🙂 I love a good vegetarian meal and I’m always up for adapting things, so I’m glad you asked!
Ok, For all you veg heads (and those who aren’t will still love this!
Instead of chicken…Add a “touch of Instant chichen granuales”(for flavor) Then add Asparagus tips/ sauteed mushrooms and Sugar snap peas(cut in have) AWESOME!
I always use this combo with my fetticuni alfredo….So very good. Do not over cook your asparagus and snap peas. (which you can “leave whole” if doing fetticuni alfredo.)
In a hurry? do this dish AND your fetticuni Alfredo, with “doctored up jarred fetticuni sauce…
How many chicken breasts?
Can I use more cheese?
4 chicken breasts, although it depends on size. And yes to more cheese.
Lindsay you amaze me! This looks fantastic and I’m sure will make it in our dinner rotation this week. I’ve made so many of your meals and loved every single one! Pinning!
Thanks Chelsea! 🙂 I love hearing that!
We are thinking alike today! I am white lasagna tomorrow! HA!
This looks incredible! I love the garlic chicken!
Thanks Tieghan! Let’s have a white lasagna party!
I could so go for some of this right now for breakfast. Doesn’t even have to be warm – yum! 🙂
I think this lasagna might be my spirit animal. Garlic? Yes. Cheese? Yes. Pasta? Yes. SO GOOD.
A note on CSAs: I haven’t done one myself, but I’m also thinking about trying it. I think the key to success will be two things: embracing the weirdo veggies as a challenge, and not beating yourself up too much if a couple slip by you and hang out in the fridge for too long. Also, the great thing about really good veggies is that you don’t actually need to do too much to them to make them delicious, a lot of times olive oil, salt, maybe a little lemon will do the trick.
Alexandra’s kitchen (one of my top 3 food blogs, along with you and Smitten Kitchen obvs) has TONS of great seasonal recipes and some CSA specific advice. Definitely check her out. https://alexandracooks.com/2012/09/24/getting-the-most-from-your-csa-two-favorite-potato-recipes/
How fun! I’ll have to check that out – thanks for sharing, Matilda!
maybe a veggie soup with the unwanted/unknowns?
This looks so delicious! I’ve got to make this for the family ASAP.
Pinning!
Have a beautiful Wednesday!
Yum!! Can’t wait to make this.
For the CSA thing. I did one last year that I had to go pick up from a market that was 10 miles away (not convenient) and the only flexibility about the produce in it was the “swap box” they had if some other CSA customer didn’t want their rutabaga and you did you could swap out.. otherwise I was stuck with loads of Kohlrabi… (if anyone has suggestions on how to make this edible please share)
The CSA I am doing this year delivers to your house!!! YAY!! you put out a cooler and they deliver on your specified day. Also you can go online a few days beforehand and pick and choose what you want in your box depending on the “size” of box you are getting. I would recommend this route for convenience and getting items you will actually use. If there is a market close to your house that is convenient, even better!
Other than that, I loved having a CSA last year and the excitement of cooking with new fun produce 🙂
Hope this helps!
Awesome tips – especially about the delivery/convenience thing. thanks Aryn!
Garlic, chicken, and cheese all in one post? Boy, do you know the way to a girls heart!
I would like to try this with shrimp
We haven’t tried this with shrimp before, but we’d love to hear if you give it a try!
Some CSA’s are flexible where you can say I don’t like the following foods please do not include them in my box. Others are not. I live in the middle of nowhere so no one delivers but some even deliver to your workplace which seems super cool to me.
I do not belong to a CSA because my situation is very different. My town does not have a grocery store but we are surrounded by farms that have their own markets. The farms are open June-Thanksgiving and I shop for my produce that way. It is nice because you can often speak with the farmers about the best way to prepare certain veggies.
PS I’ve only seen rhubarb too here in MD.
I love the idea of speaking with the farmers! I once had a farmer comment on an old recipe for a garlic scape dip and I was so honored to have a virtual chat with him about how much he enjoyed the dip using his own scapes. So awesome!
A) I had no idea you had a garlic scape dip, and I’m a long time follower. Ummm PINNED bc we have a big veggie garden in the south metro (MN); garlic scapes and garlic are some of our favorite things to grow!
B) I am thinking about making this for Mother’s Day next weekend buuuut my husband works all weekend-it would be nice to prep it ahead of time with three munchkins underfoot, to host our family gathering. Have you tried making this a day ahead and refrigerating until baking?
I totally just hit the “print” button when I got to the bottom of your post! This looks amazing. And I like that the sodium count is on the lower end– most cheesy pasta dishes are so high!
This looks AMAZING! I absolutely love any type of bakes, and this one sounds delish! Pinned!
Hi there Lindsay,
Since you are also from Minnesota, I wanted to mention that we’ve had great luck with the Harmony Valley Farm CSA. We’ve been members for several years now. At first I didn’t have any idea what to do with the vegetables I’d never heard of… but I learned, and we’re all the better for it!
Amy
I did a CSA with Harmony Valley Farms a few years back and loved it! In terms of CSAs in general, I definitely think you have to be up for the challenge of getting vegetables that you’ve never heard of and don’t know what to do with! Think of it as an educational experience! Harmony Valley really helped in this area by providing recipes along with each week’s box. Another important thing to think about is the amount of produce you can handle. When I did the CSA with Harmony Valley, I split it with one roommate and we got a box every-other-week. It was still a lot of produce for us!
That’s really true. We go through a lot because of the blog and everything, but it’s usually “normal” produce. I worry about the weirdo produce things. 🙂
Thank you so much Amy! I love comments like this – I am going to look them up now!
Looks so delish! Sorry about your lack of variety of veggies at your farmers market. I live in Santa Monica, Ca where we have one of the biggest and best FM in the country. Google it! If you are ever in Los Angeles I highly suggest you come check it out. It’s crazy good!
I think I just booked my plane ticket. SOLD.
This looks so stinkin’ good. A creamy pasta bake that’s lightened-up is a serious winner in my book.
My husband and I subscribed to a CSA last year for the first time, and we really loved it. We did sometimes get random veggies or things that we didn’t know what to do with, but that was part of the fun of it, it really forced us to try new things and new ways of cooking. Most of the time we got very common and usable veggies with just a few randoms thrown in (and if there was something we really didn’t like, we were able to find friends who did who would happily take the offending items). I would say go for it! I am totally signing up for mine again this summer and can hardly wait for the first delivery!!
I can’t wait for the farmers markets to start back up in Minneapolis…it’s my favorite weekend activity! That said – I have mixed feelings about CSA’s. I love supporting local farms, but I also like picking out my own stuff and hate wasting things, which sometimes happened to me the years I had a CSA. I think I’m gonna skip it this year (also because we’ll be out of town for the entire month of July) so I can explore new farmers markets in our new ‘hood. Also, this lasagna bake – OMG. YUM!
Good thoughts, Taylor. Part of what I like about the farmer’s market is going out and seeing all the stuff and picking whatever looks best. 🙂
This sounds wonderful!
Mary
I’ve done a few CSA’s over the years and have always LOVED them. It can be a little tricky at times though. One year there was a bad drought in the mid west, and our boxes weren’t as full as they usually were and what was in them, looked… well… a little tired.
I really liked supporting a local business where I drove to the farm to pick up my veggies every week. Thought I work for a major food company, I always try to support the little guys when I can.
One things I might suggest is splitting a share with someone else. If it’s just you and Bjork, it will be a LOT of veggies and lots of dark leafy greens. And I love that kinda stuff, but after 18+ weeks of it, I started making lots of soups and giving things to friends.
My other tip, if you can find a fruit CSA, its a must do!!
Best of luck! Great Post!
Great tips AJ! Thank you!!
What a versatile recipe. You had me at Garlic… and Parmesan…. and chicken!
I too love peas but my fiance will not eat them 🙁 I’ve had friends and family use CSAs and overall they’ve been happy with them. I see them as kind of like a box you get on”Chopped,” in that you might not know what to do with some ingredients but your new fave vegetable might just be around the corner!
So my boyfriend has been talking about doing a carb fast lately and I *was* on board … until now. He doesn’t really like cream sauces so it looks like he’s on his own wagon after this. Holy jeebus, Lindsay. This looks amazing!
Oooh bum. How are the carbs in gluten free pasta? Is that a dumb question? I like using GF pasta from time to time… maybe a good alternative!
Well, I *did* get him to agree to high fiber noodles. He’s super suspicious of the GF noodles, so I haven’t been able to get him to agree to try them quite yet. Lol.
Either way, lasagna will be happening ASAP. This looks divine.
I agree with folks saying that CSAs can be pretty mysterious, but they can also open your world and palate to some cool food! I did not know what the heck kohlrabi was a few years ago, but once I learned it was like a potato, I made kohlrabi au gratin and I think my husband wanted to court me all over again! I must say what I think some other commenters are thinking…please join a CSA so you can post more awesome recipes using the mystery veggies!!!
I don’t think you’d be able to smell the garlic all the way from Israel
Lol.
Don’t underestimate me, Judy. 😉
That made me laugh out loud! 🙂