This White Chicken Lasagna with Ham and Spinach is the ULTIMATE comfort food! Made with a lighter Alfredo sauce, it’s decadent enough for the holidays and still loaded with healthy ingredients.
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I just kind of love this time of year.
There’s something just so magical about September – December, with the back-to-school and back-to-routine excitement, October with Thanksgiving and Halloween, and I’ll be honest from October to December is all about Christmas for me.
I love Christmas, probably because there are so many reasons and opportunities to gather around a table of good food with friends and family.
Because really — what is great food without great people to share it with??
We love all the comfort foods: from this Rigatoni Pasta Bake, to this Perfect Instant Pot Pot Roast Recipe, or this cozy Crockpot Chicken and Dumplings.
So here we are in October, and I’m bringing you something that will be a show-stopper on your holiday tables, but is just as perfect for a weeknight, weekend, anytime dinner for the family.
Why we love this White Chicken Lasagna:
This White Chicken Lasagna is basically all of my favorite components of a main dish right here:
- pasta
- cheese
- a creamy white (healthier!) Alfredo sauce
- ham
- chicken
I chose to make my own Alfredo sauce, even though you could use a store bought variety, because it allows me to control things like salt, sugar, and fat a bit more and add in extra goodies like spinach.
How to prep this White Lasagna ahead:
- The sauce can easily be made ahead of time (up to 4 or 5 days even, depending on the freshness of your ingredients) and stored in the fridge until you’re ready to assemble
- Assemble the whole lasagna ahead: this is my favorite hack! Assembling the lasagna a day or two before you need to bake it allows time for the oven ready noodles to soften and it shaves 20 minutes off the bake time! When I do this, I cover and bake for 25-30 minutes, then uncover and brown.
- Have your chicken and ham chopped and cheese shredded: if you need to, you can even buy canned or precooked, chopped chicken (or a rotisserie chicken!) and shredded cheese. We all need a quick win some days!
Lasagna is one of my ultimate comfort foods. Isn’t it everyone’s?? The presentation, with the layers of pasta, sauce, cheese and meat, is so pretty and takes this dish right to center stage on a crowded holiday table.
I would love to hear how you guys make things a little easier on yourselves when you’re planning meals around the holidays?
Any great make ahead tips or things you keep on hand to help with meal prep? Ideas for treats that look extra special but are easy to pull off? I’d love to hear about them!
Note: this post was originally sponsored by Catelli pasta, and although I have tested this recipe with other brands, Catelli still makes the best oven-ready lasagna noodles! Other brands can take up to 15-20 minutes longer in the oven.
White Chicken Lasagna with Ham and Spinach
written by Ashley Fehr
Ingredients
Alfredo Sauce
- 1/2 cup butter or margarine
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups low fat milk
- 1/4 cup frozen spinach thawed and squeezed dry
- 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Lasagna
- 12 Catelli Express oven-ready lasagna noodles (uncooked)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- 2 chicken breasts cooked, chopped or shredded
- 2 cups chopped cooked ham
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese divided
Instructions
Alfredo Sauce
- Melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Add garlic, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and cook 1 minute. Whisk in flour until completely combined.
- Whisk in broth and continue cooking over medium heat until sauce has thickened. Gradually stir in milk, whisking and cooking each time until thickened. Stir in spinach and Parmesan and set aside.
Lasagna
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and lightly grease a 9×13″ baking dish.
- Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the baking dish, then top with 3 lasagna noodles, ¼ of the sauce, ⅓ of the chicken, ⅓ of the ham and ⅓ cup Mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers twice so that you have 3 layers of 3 lasagna noodles each.
- Top with remaining 3 lasagna noodles, remaining ¼ sauce, 1 cup mozzarella cheese and ¼ cup Parmesan cheese.
- Cover with a lightly greased piece of foil and bake for 40-45 minutes until noodles are tender (they will absorb the sauce and expand as they cook!).
- Remove foil and bake for 10-15 minutes until starting to brown. Let sit for 10 minutes before slicing into 9 pieces and serving.
Notes
Nutrition Information
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Tried this recipe?
Tag @thereciperebel or hashtag #thereciperebel — I love to see what you’re making!
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Kathy says
Can I use fresh spinach?
The Recipe Rebel says
Hi Kathy! You could, it would just need to be cooked first. Enjoy!
Vicki says
This sounds wonderful, but I can’t believe it only has 10 grams of carbs per serving since there are the noodles, and also white wheat flour. My husband is doing a strict low carb diet, and while I know he’d love this, I think it would sabotage his diet. How do you figure the carbs in your recipes? I’d like to make this, as I’m sure my son and I would love it, but we’re trying to stick to things we all can eat. (By the way, we loved the sheet pan chicken fajitas….I substituted a no cal, no carb brown sugar in the seasoning, and we used low carb tortillas.)
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Vicki! If you are on a special diet for medical reasons, I would always recommend calculating nutrition information yourself, as different products will all affect the outcomes. Nutrition information is calculated automatically by the recipe card.
Di Saunders says
Thanks so much Ashley, off to try the recipe 🙂
Di Saunders says
Hi Ashley, does this dish freeze well.
Thanks, Di
Ashley Fehr says
Yes it freezes great!
Barbara Lochmondy says
To freeze, should I do everything but bake it, and then wrap it tightly for the freezer? Thaw overnight or thaw completely b4 baking? Same length of time & same temp?
Thanks.
Ashley Fehr says
I haven’t tried freezing this one yet. It could be fine, but low fat milk can get a little weird after freezing sometimes. If you want to try it, I would freeze before baking and probably let it thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Donna says
This looks so yummy! I noticed you added cheese to the Alfredo sauce in the video. How much and what type as it is not indicated in the directions. Thanks so much
Ashley Fehr says
So sorry about that Donna! I have updated the recipe above
sharon vice says
made this tonight fantastic, before I read the other reviews I thought there would not be enough sauce, so I also doubled the sauce.. It was too much sauce for me. I recommend making this exactly to the recipe. Next batch I will.
Thanks for sharing,
sharon
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Sharon! Thanks! I definitely recommend making the recipe as written as well.
Heather Grant says
I made three of these in different batches and there wasn’t enough Alfredo for the first, so I had to pour an entire grocery store Alfredo in to keep everything on time, but it still came out amazing!
I gave the second as a gift, but I knew to make two batches of Alfredo so they got the best batch! They are cooking it at their place this very moment- the first dish in in the oven in their new home! They will be big fans of yours in a matter of minutes LOL
For the third I substituted mushrooms and black olives for the ham just to mix things up. Hopefully it will have a white pizza flavor to it that way. I want to freeze it though, so we can put some space between the meals for variety during the week. I probably won’t make it for a month actually. How does freezing the whole thing assembled change the cook time? I have never made something ahead and cooked it after freezing, so I also don’t know: do I let it thaw first or cook from frozen?
I’m such a newbie! Thanks for the advice in advance and for this crazy good recipe- my picky eater actually devoured this with excitement and she generally won’t try new things -especially not spinach! My husband even thanks you, because I loathe Alfredo anything, so he is glad it is on the menu now after 10 years of marriage!
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Heather! I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed it! You can definitely freeze before baking. I prefer to let mine thaw overnight in refrigerator before baking, just because it will bake most evenly. But you definitely can bake from frozen or partially frozen. Be sure to put the cold dish in the oven during the preheat so that the temperature change doesn’t shock the baking dish, and you may need to add 20-30 minutes additional cook time.
Deanna says
I have this in the oven baking now. Only problem I ran into was with the sauce. I had to stop and make another batch as it clearly was not enough. My 9 x 13 pan held 4 noodles vs 3 per layer. I suggest having extra cheese and sauce on hand.
It smells yummy! Can’t wait to try it and post a full review.
Ashley Fehr says
Hi Deanna! I’ve tested this recipe multiple times and there really should be enough sauce. You can always add extra if you like it very runny, but I like my lasagna to set somewhat after baking.
Charlotte says
Can you freeze this?
Ashley Fehr says
You can, but if you are going to I would choose higher fat dairy (whole milk or cream) as there is less of a chance that it will separate
Gail D says
This sounds so-so yummy.
Question? Is there another meat I can substitute the ham with? I don’t eat pork.
Thank you
Ashley Fehr says
You can omit it!
Susie Phelps says
Can I use the noodles you boil instead of oven-ready? It’s hard to find oven-ready lasagna noodles in my town.
Ashley Fehr says
Yes, you definitely can!
Shannon Scott says
I would like to prep this recipe 2 days ahead of time. Is it best to cook and freeze or can I assemble all of the ingredients and cook on day 3?
Ashley Fehr says
You can assemble it completely, just cover and bake the day you need it! Two days in the fridge shouldn’t be a problem
Holly says
Can this be made in crockpot & how many hours
Ashley Fehr says
I actually just posted a Crockpot White Chicken Lasagna recipe here: https://www.thereciperebel.com/crockpot-white-chicken-lasagna/
Phyllis says
I assume the. Oodles are cooked first before combining?
Carole says
The noodles go into the dish uncooked. (The video is helpful). So much easier when you don’t have to cook the noodles first!
Ashley Fehr says
The noodles are oven ready so they go in uncooked
Sara I says
This looks great! So creamy and decadent. Think I’ll try this lasagna, minus the ham, since I don’t eat pork. Looking forward in eating a warm batch of lasagna in this chilly weather!
Ashley Fehr says
Thanks Sara!
Cathleen @ A Taste of Madness says
I don’t like turkey, so I always make a ham for Thanksgiving/Christmas/Easter, and never know what to do with the leftovers. This looks perfect!
Ashley Fehr says
Oh that’s a great idea!