Leftover Chicken, Spinach and Artichoke Lasagna in a cheesy and creamy bechamel sauce, a delicious and easy dinner that takes comfort food to the very next level. If you like the classic spinach and artichoke dip, you will love this chicken lasagna with a twist.
You know you made one delicious dish when you can’t stop eating it. And let me tell you, this cheesy chicken lasagna is one of the best dishes I’ve had in a while. Loaded with carbs, sure, but hey, so worth it! You know me already, I tend to cook either low-carb, super light recipes, or coma-inducing carb recipes.
Now, I wouldn’t quite say that this chicken lasagna is heavy, on the contrary, it’s a lot lighter than the traditional ground beef lasagna. I have experimented with lasagna recipes quite a lot, from High Protein Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna, to a light Healthy Turkey Lasagna with Spinach and Ricotta or a nice vegetarian Butternut Squash Spinach Lasagna.
They all have different fillings, but are equally delicious, so it’s hard to pick on I like best. I suppose it depends on my mood too, sometimes I prefer a hearty meal, other times, a light one. But, no matter what, this chicken lasagna with spinach and artichokes is definitely a winner here.
HOW TO MAKE THE LEFTOVER CHICKEN, SPINACH AND ARTICHOKE FILLING
The best lasagna filling starts with a silky creamy bechamel sauce. It’s so easy to make it, but if you want to get the best white sauce, there is one ingredient that makes all the difference: dijon mustard. Just a little bit goes a long way, trust me.
HOW TO MAKE THE BECHAMEL SAUCE
- melt the butter, add the flour and mix well
- pour in the milk, whisking well to avoid lumps, and keep whisking until the sauce thickens
- add the grated cheese, dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and remove from the heat
That’s the sauce done. Before adding the other ingredients, divide the sauce, a quarter of it can go towards topping the lasagna and coating the dish, and the rest for the filling. To finish the filling, add the cooked chicken cut up into small pieces, the spinach (if using frozen and thawed one, squeeze the water really well) and the chopped artichokes.
How to assemble the chicken lasagna
Depending on the size of your dish, you might have to break some of the lasagna sheets into smaller pieces, as they won’t fit in.
- coat the dish with a thin layer of bechamel sauce
- arrange one layer of lasagna sheets and top with half of the filling
- arrange another layer of lasagna sheets, and again another layer of filling
- for the top, we need one more layer of lasagna sheets, which will be topped with the remaining bechamel sauce and grated cheese
And that’s all, this is probably the fun part, and it really does not take long at all. Feel free to add as much or as little grated cheese as you like, but do make sure the lasagna sheets are covered well with sauce, otherwise they will not soften during baking.
WHY DOES MY LASAGNA FALL APART?
There could be a few reasons why lasagna in general, or this particular lasagna falls apart, although I really don’t think that could possibly happen. But here are a few tips for you:
- make sure you squeeze the spinach well – if it’s still watery, the sauce will be way too thin, and you’ll end up with a soggy lasagna that can’t be cut up properly
- wait until the white sauce thickens before removing it from the heat, otherwise the sauce won’t be good enough to bind the ingredients together
- the lasagna will be cut up a lot better if you wait for it to cool down slightly after removing from the oven, when it’s bubbling hot, the layers won’t look as nice
Now, with the last point, not sure I could follow it myself, I love food that is super hot, rather than warm or cold. So I usually just dig in straight away 🙂
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Leftover Chicken, Spinach and Artichoke Lasagna in a cheesy and creamy bechamel sauce, a delicious and easy dinner that takes comfort food to the very next level. If you like the classic spinach and artichoke dip, you will love this chicken lasagna with a twist. Perfect layers of no-boil lasagna sheets, creamy chicken filling and then baked to perfection until bubbly hot. My kind of dinner!
- 30 g butter (about 2 tbsp)
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 2 cups full-fat milk
- 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 cup leftover chicken, cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup frozen spinach, thawed
- 1/2 cup canned artichokes, chopped
- 12 sheets lasagna
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
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To make the sauce, melt the butter in a pan set over a medium heat, add the flour, and whisk well.
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Pour over the milk, and continue to whisk until the sauce thickens.
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Add the grated cheese, dijon mustard, salt and pepper, and mix well, then remove from the heat.
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Divide the sauce, so that 3 quarters of it can go towards the filling, and the rest for assembling the lasagna.
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Add the chicken, artichokes and spinach, making sure you squeeze the spinach well, so it's not watery.
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Brush the dish with a thin layer of white sauce, arrange one layer of lasagna sheets (see photo no 2), then spread half of the filling over.
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Arrange another layer of lasagna sheets, again filling, and top with other sheets.
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Spread the remaining white sauce all over the top lasagna sheets, and cover with grated cheese.
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Bake in the preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahreneheit) for about 20 minutes, or until the top is golden and the lasagna is bubbling hot.
