This is a ridiculously easy, no-pasta, lasagna-style chicken bake that uses chicken instead of pasta.
The only little cooking required before it goes into the oven is making the white sauce. Yes – everything else goes into the pan uncooked, and the oven does all the work.
Jump to:
I’m a big fan of lasagnaBut it takes some work, and sometimes I just want a meal where there’s minimal upfront work, but the results are still incredibly delicious.
I have a few more Shortcuts for lasagna – I mean mine lasagna soup and mine Chicken lasagna enchilada (using tortillas instead of lasagna sheets and a shortcut to white sauce), and this last one came to me when I was daydreaming about lasagna, Garfield style.
📋 what do we need
- chicken – I use 4 chicken breasts in this recipe and slice them in half. This recipe makes 4 large servings, but you can slice each breast into 3 slices if you like (so you have 12 slices total) and it will easily serve 6 people.
- pasta – I use pasta in this recipe for a smooth sauce. If you’re in the US, pasta is the same as tomato paste. It’s a medium-thick sauce (about the consistency of double/heavy cream) made from 100% tomatoes. If you can’t get it, you can substitute the same amount of finely chopped or crushed tinned/canned tomatoes – You’ll just have to cook the sauce for a few more minutes.
🔪 How to make this chicken bake
***Full recipe with detailed steps on the recipe card at end of this post.***
- First we make the white sauce – this is the only part of the cooking that requires you to use a stove/top.
- Now here is the An unusual part – We are going to add onion, mushrooms, garlic, red pepper, a little oil, a crumbled stock cube and a little seasoning to the bottom of a casserole dish and mix together. We leave it raw. There is no need to soften the onion, etc. Yes, I know it sounds weird, but those veggies cook nicely under the chicken while the dish is in the oven.
- We top the onion mixture with a chicken breast that we cut across (to create a flat chicken breast in the shape of an escalope). Then drizzle over pasta, sprinkle with some dry herbs and drizzle over half of that white sauce you made earlier.
- Repeat the layers of chicken, pasta, dried herbs and layers of white sauce, then top with cheddar cheese and put in the oven until Golden and bubbly.
- I like to sprinkle on a pinch of dried parsley before serving.
📺 Watch how it is prepared
👩🍳Professional tip If you want to make this dish even faster, you can use store-bought white sauce (bechamel sauce).
All the flavors of lasagna sauce, with minimal preparation.
🍽️ with what to serve
This chicken bake is lovely and hearty, so serve it with toppings to mop up that gravy – like:
🍲 More recipes for baking chicken
Stay up to date with new recipes!
Subscribe to our newsletter Hear when I post a new recipe. I’m on too YouTube (new videos every week) f Instagram (Behind the scenes stories and beautiful food photos).
Baking chicken lasagna style
This is a ridiculously easy, no-pasta, lasagna-style chicken bake that uses chicken instead of pasta.
Instructions
-
Heat the oven to 200C/400F.
-
First prepare the white sauce. In a medium-sized pot, add the butter and melt over medium heat.
-
After it melts and bubbles a little, add in the flour and mix it into the butter with a whisk (this will create a thick paste called roux).
-
Continue gently stirring the roux over the heat for one minute to cook the flour. Add in a little of the milk, increase the heat and mix with the whisk to combine.
-
Keep adding the milk a good splash at a time, and whisking until all the milk is gone (usually it takes me about 3 or 4 minutes and I add the milk in about 5 splashes). Don’t worry if you get a few lumps, keep mixing with the whisk and they will disappear as the sauce thickens.
-
Continue to mix the sauce with the whisk over the heat until the sauce thickens. Once it has thickened, add in the salt, pepper, nutmeg and cheddar. Stir together and then turn off the heat.
-
Now take a large baking pan or casserole dish.
-
Add the chopped onion, mushrooms, garlic, red pepper, olive oil, crumbled chicken stock cube and salt and pepper to the pan and mix together. Note: The pan doesn’t have to be on the heat for this. The ingredients go into the oven rawThere they will cook together.
-
Add half of the chicken slices in one layer on the onion mixture.
-
Drizzle over half of the pasta, sprinkle half of the dry herbs and spoon over half of the white sauce.
-
Place the remaining chicken slices on top, followed by the remaining pasta, then the rest of the dried herbs and the remaining white sauce.
-
Sprinkle the grated cheddar on top.
-
Put in the oven for 40 minutes, until the chicken is ready, the cheese is brown and the sauce is bubbling.
✎ Notes
I use pasta in this recipe for a smooth sauce. If you’re in the US, pasta is the same as tomato paste. It’s a medium-thick sauce (about the consistency of double/heavy cream) made from 100% tomatoes. If you can’t get it, you can substitute the same amount of finely chopped or crushed tinned/canned tomatoes – You’ll just have to cook the sauce for a few more minutes.
Can I be early?
Yes, you can make this dish up to a day ahead. Prepare the dish, but do not put it in the oven.
Cover and keep in the fridge for up to a day.
When you are ready to cook it, take it out of the fridge about an hour before you plan to cook it – to take the chill off.
Then cook for 40-50 minutes at 200C/400F – until the chicken is hot and fully cooked.
Can I freeze it?
Yes, but it is better to cook the dish first, then cool, cover and freeze.
Thaw in the refrigerator overnight (make sure it is completely thawed), then remove from the refrigerator about an hour before you plan to reheat it – to take the chill off.
Then put in the oven, covered with foil and cook for 40-50 minutes (remove the foil for the last 10 minutes) at 200C/400F – until the chicken is heated through.
How to reduce this recipe
You can halve the recipe to serve 2-3 people by halving all the ingredients and using a smaller casserole dish. The cooking time will remain the same as the original recipe (40 minutes).
The nutritional information is per serving (serves 6)
diet
Calories: 613KKLCarbohydrates: 29Gprotein: 53GFat: 32GSaturated fat: 17GPolyunsaturated fat: 2GUnsaturated fat: 10Gtrans fat: 1GCholesterol: 185mgsodium: 938mgpotassium: 1587mgfiber: 4GSugar: 14Gvitamin: 2457IUVitamin C: 56mgcalcium: 397mgiron: 4mg
Some of the links in this post may be affiliate links – meaning if you buy the product I get a small commission (at no extra cost to you). If you buy, then thank you! This is what helps us keep Kitchen Sanctuary running. The nutritional information provided is approximate and may vary depending on a number of factors. For more information, see our terms and conditions.
