Chicken and Cheddar Lasagna Bake

Lasagna isn’t typically a summer meal, but for some reason, I have been craving lasagna noodles. Since it’s summer, I wanted to lighten up the traditional meal and make it differently than I normally do. I knew immediately that I wanted to use chicken and have a light, white sauce replace the normal ground beef and marinara.

Thus…this dish was born! It has layers upon layers of shredded chicken, creamy white sauce, tangy cheddar, and as an added bonus, some shredded zucchini! While this looks like it might be a very heavy meal, the sauce was made with chicken stock and 2% milk, which really helps to cut down on the fat. I also used whole wheat lasagna noodles which adds delicious whole-grains but also a great texture to the dish.

This recipe is great for summertime entertaining or a weeknight meal when you have some extra time to put these different components together. It freezes great and keeps for delicious left overs! This is the perfect dish for late summer when the nights start to get cooler. It is one of those transitional type meals that can take you from summer time right into fall!

This Chicken and Cheddar Lasagna Bake will definitely be on repeat this summer and I can’t wait to throw other fresh veggies and produce in there. This would be great with eggplant, yellow squash, or even with artichokes and spinach!

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Chicken and Cheddar Lasagna Bake

Ingredients

• 1 box whole wheat or white no boil lasagna noodles
• 2 cups chicken broth low sodium
• 1 cup milk
• 2 chicken breasts cooked and shredded. Rotisserie would work great!
• 1 cup shredded zucchini all excess moisture removed
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 3 tbsp. flour

Instructions

1. Begin by preheating your oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, break up your raw noodles into medium sized pieces and set aside for later.
2. Oven medium heat, melt your butter and then add in your flour, whisking until smooth. Add your broth and milk and continue whisking.
3. Stir until the mixture begins to boil and becomes thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat then add salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste.
4. In a casserole dish, begin by layering a ladle full of sauce, then broken lasagna noodles, then shredded chicken, zucchini, and finally the cheese. Continue layering until you fill your casserole dish. Pour any remaining sauce over the layers and finish with any remaining cheese.
5. Bake covered with foil for 30 minutes, then remove foil and continue cooking for 20-25 minutes, or until bubbling and the cheese is golden brown.
6. Let cool for 10 minutes so that the lasagna has time to set back up and doesn't run all over your plate when cut. Serve and enjoy!