This EASY White Lasagna recipe is one of my family’s favorite meals. It’s filled with chicken, pesto, spinach, and is layered with a creamy white sauce. And of course a healthy dose of ricotta, because what is lasagna without the cheese?? This rich and hearty twist on classic lasagna will be your new comfort food favorite! Originally published March 28, 2016.

A close-up of a slice of cheesy lasagna topped with melted cheese and fresh basil leaves on a white plate, with a spoonful of green pesto sauce in the background.

So we are renovating our kitchen right now, including tearing down a couple walls. It’s all very dramatic and exciting, seeing everything stripped down to the studs!

But let me tell you, there is nothing more humbling than having construction work going on in my home every day. This is a world that I know nothing about, and that means there is a lot of room for stupid, stupid questions. (Just ask the Bobcat.)

White Lasagna with Chicken and Pesto from The Food Charlatan

Jeff, our contractor, asked me the other day if we wanted insulation put in the floors. Without thinking, I said, oh, does it make the floor softer to walk on?

He just looked at me. Maybe he was waiting for me to smile? But no. I just looked right back at him, hoping, that yes, it would indeed make walking around my house feel like walking on a cloud of pillows instead of the tough-as-nails tile I’m used to. (Maybe I have trauma from 12 hour kitchen sessions, when all I want is a foot rub by the end of the day??)

The trauma must be impacting my brain cells, because eventually he laughed and told me, “nobody’s ever asked me that before.” He kept laughing. “You know, I was having a pretty bad day up til now, but you just turned it around. No, it doesn’t make the floor softer, it just helps muffle sound.”

You guys, I am here for you. If you’re ever having a bad day just come and ask me really basic questions about construction. You will be laughing in no time. (Or rolling your eyes, or crying?? I can’t be sure)

A close-up of a baked cheesy casserole in a glass dish, topped with melted golden cheese and fresh basil leaves, surrounded by fresh spinach leaves.

Chicken and pesto: your new lasagna crush

This white lasagna is soooo good you guys! It’s like a mash up of all my favorite things: chicken, noodles, cheese, PESTO. Are you a pesto fanatic like me? Love that stuff.

I made the white sauce a little lighter by using Greek yogurt instead of cream. But then I smothered it all with mozzarella so…take it or leave it. Oh wait there are layers of spinach in there too! That’s healthy! I’m not completely hopeless.

I love me a good traditional lasagna, but I also really love trying variations. What’s not to love about cheesy layers with various flavor combos?! (Zucchini Lasagna, anyone? Butternut Squash Lasagna? Poblano Corn Lasagna??) You are going to love this one.

I posted this recipe back in 2016, 10 years ago now! So crazy to think how time flies. When I made this lasagna the first time, my kids were 5 and 2. Now they are 15, 12, 9, and 6! I’m doubling my numbers over here 😂

This is a classic recipe in our family. We make it when we want something comforting and creamy, that packs a pesto punch. You are going to love it!

A close-up of a cheesy, golden-brown slice of vegetable lasagna on a fork, topped with melted cheese and herbs, showing creamy layers and a slightly crisp surface.

Important ingredients

Here are some of the ingredients that make this recipe shine:

  • good basil pesto packs an intense flavor punch! You can use homemade or store bought, just make sure it’s high quality since a good bit of the flavor profile for this lasagna comes from the pesto.
  • ricotta cheese is a creamy lasagna staple. Not only is it like the glue that brings all the ingredients together to make a cohesive casserole, it adds so much richness and depth! Do yourself a favor and use full fat ricotta.
  • no boil noodles are here to make your life EASY. We don’t have to boil the noodles ahead of time. Instead we just cover the casserole really well and the steam cooks them in the oven!

How to make white lasagna

Here are all the ingredients laid out. Easy peasy!

Various cooking ingredients are arranged on a counter, including olive oil, milk, spinach, flour, cheese, broth, onion, garlic, and butter. Below, chopped onion and minced garlic are on a wooden cutting board.

First get all your chopping out of the way. If your chicken isn’t prepped yet, do that now! I love a rotisserie chicken for this recipe. Costco, I love you.

Two images show chopped onions being sautéed in a light-colored skillet. The first image shows just the onions, while the second shows the onions mixed with ground black pepper and stirred with a wooden spoon.

Add the onions to the hot butter and oil in the pan. Sprinkle with the spices and get them all sauteed and golden, yum.

Then sprinkle some flour on the onions, to start our roux.

Two images show a white pan on a wooden surface with diced vegetables and a wooden spoon. In the first image, flour is sprinkled over the veggies; in the second, the flour has been stirred in and mixed thoroughly.

Mix the flour in so that it absorbs all the fat.

Then get your liquid ready. We are using chicken broth, I like to use Better Than Bouillon. (see notes)

Two images: Top—A hand holds a jar of Better Than Bouillon base next to a glass measuring cup and a spoon. Bottom—A hand scoops yogurt from a container into the same measuring cup on a wooden table.

Then add some Greek yogurt and milk. You can use sour cream in place of the yogurt! Or heavy cream. Or honestly just milk is fine. The sauce isn’t that fussy. If you sub milk for the yogurt, you will want to cook your roux a bit longer to make it thicken.

Pour the liquid in sloooooowwwwwly. If you dump it in all at once, the flour bits will have no time to break up and thicken. Instead they will stay in sad little lumps. No sad lumps please.

Two images show a creamy mixture being prepared in a pot. The first image shows milk being poured over sautéed vegetables and seasonings. The second image shows the ingredients mixed together with a wooden spoon.

And voila, sauce! Keep cooking for a couple minutes to help the flavors meld. Give it a taste to see if you want to add any seasonings!

Two images show a creamy, herb-speckled sauce being stirred with a wooden spoon in a pan. In the second image, shredded chicken has been added to the sauce, ready to be mixed in.

Then, when the sauce is perfect, add in the chicken. Take it off heat, that’s done!

Now it’s time for our dreamy creamy ricotta layer. Mix together a tub of ricotta with an egg and some pesto. This stuff is gold.

Top: A glass bowl with an egg, pesto, and ricotta cheese. Bottom: The same bowl after the ingredients have been mixed together with a spatula to form a creamy green mixture.

Now it’s time to assemble! First get the bottom of your pan wet with the sauce, so the noodles don’t stick.

A glass baking dish with a layer of creamy chicken filling on the bottom in the top image, and three uncooked lasagna noodles placed over the filling in the bottom image.

Add 3 no boil noodles. I LOVE no boil noodles!! Who wants to boil a big pot of water? It’s one of the worst parts of lasagna making.

Layer on the ricotta mixture:

A glass baking dish shown in two stages: the top half displays a creamy yellow mixture spread over a base layer, and the bottom half has fresh spinach leaves layered on top of the mixture.

Then add on a few fistfuls of fresh spinach. Say that 10 times fast.

Add on the “real” layer of white sauce (the first layer was just to prep the pan.)

Two images: Top shows a glass baking dish with a layer of spinach topped with a creamy chicken mixture. Bottom shows the same dish with the mixture now covered in shredded cheese, ready for baking.

Then add your first layer of mozzarella cheese.

THEN, repeat it all again two more times! 1) Noodles, 2) ricotta, 3) spinach, 4)white sauce, 5) cheese.

Here is the final layer of mozzarella cheese, on top of all the layers:

Two glass baking dishes filled with an unbaked casserole. Both dishes are layered with spinach, shredded cheese, and other ingredients, ready to be cooked. The top casserole has more visible shredded cheese, while the bottom has a finer cheese topping.

Add on some parmesan cheese for good measure.

Then cover the whole thing up with some foil. Make sure it’s crimped really well on the sides! We don’t want steam getting out. That steam is what cooks the no boil noodles!

A side-by-side image: the top shows a baking dish covered with crumpled aluminum foil, and the bottom shows a freshly baked, cheesy casserole with a golden-brown top in a glass dish.

And here she is! You need to bake it at least 50 minutes covered to cook the noodles. Then take a second to broil the top to get this browned cheese goodness.

This time I baked it in a 9×13 inch pan, to see if it would work. It did, but a 2-quart pan (8×11) is preferable. You can see here that there is some space in between the edge of the pan and the lasagna. I kind of piled the ingredients in the center, right on top of the noodles. If you use a 2-quart pan, the noodles and layers will go right up to the edges of the pan, and the lasagna will have prettier layers.

A close-up of a baked zucchini lasagna in a glass dish, topped with melted, golden-brown cheese, resting on a woven placemat.

But no matter what pan you bake it in, it’s going to be delicious! You can’t go wrong with all that cheese and pesto!

What to serve with this lasagna

My go-to sides are a good bread to sop up all the lasagna goodness, and then a simple salad or vegetable to add some lightness to the meal. Here are my favorite options to go with this lasagna!

  • The Best Garlic Butter Bread >> I stand by the name, and this is my go-to bread for pretty much any type of pasta main dish. It’s perfect!
  • Lemon Arugula Salad >> this is one of my favorite salads, and the one most likely to be served on any given night at my house
  • Easy Roasted Broccoli Recipe >> my kids love this broccoli and the recipe starts with frozen florets, so when I’m short on time or desire this is a clutch side!
A close-up of a slice of creamy, cheesy vegetable lasagna garnished with fresh basil, served on a white plate with a decorative rim. Green leafy vegetables are blurred in the background.

How to store leftover lasagna

Cover the casserole dish tightly with plastic wrap, or transfer cut pieces to an airtight container. Keep the covered lasagna in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Reheat individual pieces in the microwave at 50% power for 1-2 minutes or until hot. To reheat the remainder of the lasagna in the original dish, add a bit of water to cover the bottom of the empty section of the pan. Cover the top tightly with foil and place in a cold oven. Set the oven to 350 degrees and bake for about 30-35 minutes, until heated through.

Can you freeze lasagna?

Lasagna is an ideal candidate for freezing! In fact, sometime when I go to the effort to make a lasagna I double the recipe and freeze the second one to get two dinners out of the work for one.

If you’re freezing a lasagna as a make ahead meal, assemble the entire lasagna but do not bake it. You can use a foil pan if you don’t want one of your pans held hostage in the freezer for a long time. Once assembled, wrap the pan really well in a few layers of plastic wrap, and then a layer of foil. It will be good in the freezer for 3-4 months. To bake, completely unwrap the pan and reseal with the foil. If your pan is glass, put it into a cold oven. Set the temperature for 350 degrees. It takes about double the bake time to bake from frozen, so plan for a good 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours to bake. Remove the foil for the last 20-30 minutes to get the top browned.

To freeze leftover baked lasagna, follow the same wrapping instructions, or place cut slices in individual freezer safe containers. It will last in the freezer for 1-2 months. Pre-baked and then frozen lasagnas are at risk of drying out, so sooner rather than later is better. Reheating instructions are the same as above. For individual containers, just microwave at 50% power for 3-4 minutes until it’s hot enough for you.

Close-up of a cheesy, baked vegetable lasagna topped with melted golden cheese and fresh basil leaves, showing layers of pasta and greens in a glass baking dish.

More lasagna goodness

I don’t know about you, but delicious layers of noodles and sauce enveloped in copious amounts of cheese is one of my love languages. There are SO many good lasagna variations!

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White Lasagna with Chicken and Pesto

4.84 from 6 votes
Prep: 40 minutes
Cook: 50 minutes
Total: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 8
A close-up of a slice of cheesy lasagna topped with melted cheese and fresh basil leaves on a white plate, with a spoonful of green pesto sauce in the background.
This EASY lasagna is filled with chicken, pesto, spinach, and a creamy (slightly lightened up) white sauce. And of course a healthy dose of ricotta!

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 2 teaspoons dried basil, or 1 tablespoon fresh
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 6 tablespoons flour
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1 & 2/3 cup chicken broth
  • 2 cups cooked chicken, chopped (rotisserie is best)
  • 1 (15-ounce tub) ricotta cheese
  • 1/3 cup basil pesto, homemade or store-bought
  • 1 large egg
  • 9 no-boil lasagna noodles
  • 2 & 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • 2 cups fresh spinach
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  • In a large skillet, melt 3 tablespoons butter with 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.
  • Add 1 chopped onion to the butter.
  • Add 2 teaspoons dried basil, 1 and 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
  • Saute for 5-7 minutes, until the onions are soft and translucent.
  • Add 4-5 cloves of chopped garlic and saute for one more minute.
  • In increments, sprinkle 6 tablespoons of flour over the onion mixture, stirring well after each addition to make sure the flour is incorporated into the fat.
  • In a large glass measuring cup, add 1/3 cup milk, 1/3 cup Greek yogurt, and 1 and 2/3 cup chicken broth.* Stir to combine.
  • Slowly add the liquid to the pan with the onions, whisking constantly. Go as slow as you need to make sure the liquid gets absorbed. You want to whisk out any flour chunks.
  • Cook over medium heat, stirring until the mixture is thickened slightly, just a couple minutes.
  • Add 2 cups cooked chicken to the white sauce and turn off the heat.
  • In a medium bowl, stir together 15 ounces of ricotta, 1/3 cup pesto, and 1 egg.
  • To assemble: wet the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish** with about 1/2 cup of the white sauce. Just enough so the noodles don't stick.
  • Layer 3 no-boil lasagna noodles on top. Spread with 1/3 of the ricotta mixture. Top with about 1/2 cup of fresh spinach. Add 1/3 of the white sauce and spread to the edges. Top with about one third of the 2 and 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, you can just eyeball the amount.
  • Repeat the layers two more times. 1) Noodles, 2) ricotta, 3) spinach, 4)white sauce, 5) cheese.
  • Sprinkle the top with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
  • Spray a sheet of foil with nonstick spray and cover the lasagna. Crimp the edges well; we don't want steam escaping. That steam is what cooks the no-boil noodles.
  • Bake at 350 for at least 50 minutes, or until cooked and tender. Test a noodle with a fork to see if it runs through easily. If they are still rubbery, cover again and cook another 10 minutes.
  • When the noodles are tender, remove the foil and turn up the oven temperature to broil. Broil until golden brown and bubbly, 1 to 3 minutes. Keep an eye on it!
  • Let stand for 10 minutes before serving! I like to serve this with some French bread, a big salad, and maybe some other green vegetable like green beans.
  • Storage: Store covered in the fridge for 5-7 days.
  • Freezing: If you're freezing a lasagna as a make ahead meal, assemble the entire lasagna but do not bake it. You can use a foil pan if you don't want yours held hostage in the freezer for a long time. Once assembled, wrap the pan really well in a few layers of plastic wrap, and then a layer of foil. It will be good in the freezer for 3-4 months. To bake, completely unwrap the pan and reseal with the foil. If your pan is glass, put it into a cold oven. Set the temperature for 350 degrees. It takes about double the bake time, so plan for a good 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours to bake. Remove the foil for the last 20-30 minutes.
    To freeze leftover baked lasagna, follow the same wrapping instructions, or place cut slices in individual freezer safe containers. It will last in the freezer for 1-2 months. Prebaked and then frozen lasagnas are at risk of drying out, so sooner rather than later is better. Reheat in the microwave at 50% power for 3-4 minutes until it's hot.

Notes

*Instead of liquid chicken broth, I like to use 1 and 2/3 cup water and 2 teaspoons of Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base.
**This recipe is made to fill a 2 quart casserole dish, but you can also make it in a 9×13 inch dish, I tried it. Everything has more space to spread out, so the lasagna layers aren’t as tall and pretty, but it definitely works. A 2 quart pan makes a better presentation. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 424kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 103mg | Potassium: 279mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 1373IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 283mg | Iron: 2mg
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Calories: 424
Keyword: chicken, easy dinner, Lasagna, Pesto
Did you make this? I’d love to see it!Mention @thefoodcharlatan or tag #thefoodcharlatan!

I made this recipe in 2016

I can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I published this! It’s an old classic around here. My kids still love it. Here is the photo from back in the day, this is a 2 quart pan.

White Lasagna with Chicken and Pesto from The Food Charlatan

And here is the old story 😂

Eric has this habit of putting things up on our walls with reckless abandon. Here’s the Star Wars poster that he randomly tacked up on the wall one day:

White Lasagna with Chicken and Pesto from The Food Charlatan

(Can’t we have NORMAL Star Wars posters? Like, with Han and Leia? At least Harrison Ford is easy on the eyes. No, I have to have Prince Xizor. (Seriously. That’s his name. Eric would know.)

There’s also a random piece of art that Charlotte painted that he taped (crooked) on the wall, MONTHS ago. The problem is that I just don’t see things after a while and I forget it’s there. Like, if I had remembered that we had a 5-year-old’s “Tree Stump and Throbbing Heart” painting on the wall in the entry way BEFORE we hosted 30 family members for Easter on Sunday, then I would have taken it down. But no. It’s just part of the decor now I guess.

Hopefully this barrage of Pesto Lasagna photos makes up for the Prince Xizor photo up there.

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4.84 from 6 votes (5 ratings without comment)

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Comments

    1. Hi Julie! Yeah totally, just boil them first for a couple minutes until very al dente, then use as instructed. Enjoy!

      Reply

  3. I don’t like plain Greek yogurt, so would I use sour cream instead? Or creme fraiche?

    Reply

    1. Hey Deb! I’ve never tried it but I’m sure you could! I would just look up some tips on freezing lasagna.

      Reply

      1. I baked it, froze it, got it out a week later, heated it through, then took the foil off and turned on the broiler. It was amazing!!

        Reply