Marry Me Chicken Lasagna with Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Sauce
By Isabella Quinn
Prep
30 min
Cook
55 min
Total
85 min
Servings
10
Covering the lasagna allows the trapped heat to cook the sauce between the layers. Baking uncovered browns the cheese on top. The ingredients in this Marry Me Chicken Lasagna recipe include chicken, bacon, spinach, and sun-dried tomatoes. Try serving lasagna with cheese as a meal.
The sauce includes butter and garlic, milk and whipping cream, Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Boiling sauce is seasoned with Parmesan cheese and stirred until it melts, and spinach and sun-dried tomatoes are added. Other ingredients include a layer of ricotta cheese mixed with garlic powder. Cooked chicken and bacon are mixed into the remaining sauce to ensure even distribution.
Cook lasagna noodles to al dente or close to it; they will continue to cook in the oven. Start testing the noodles for doneness around 40 to 50 minutes into baking time with foil covering the pan. Look to see if the noodles are cooked by checking for bubbling sauce in several places on the pan. Remove the foil covering during the last few minutes of baking time to brown the cheese topping. The main risk to noodle texture is overcooked noodles that might be mushy after baking.
Cool lasagna for 10 minutes or longer before serving to help the layers set for easier slicing. Garnish, if desired, with chopped fresh parsley. Lasagna can be made ahead by assembling it before baking, covering, refrigerating, and allowing it to sit on the counter for about 30 minutes before baking as directed.
Why we keep this one around
- Foil helps the baked dish retain heat and ensures the creamy sauce reaches all layers of pasta in the baking process before the top layer browns.
- Undercooked pasta maintains its shape better because it continues to cook in the sauce when baked than if it is fully cooked before baking.
- Adding Parmesan cheese to the cream sauce as it cooks helps the sauce coat other ingredients, including spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, evenly in each portion.
- Chicken and crisp bacon pieces are added to the leftover sauce to create a more uniform filling than dry chicken and bacon toppings.
- The open-baking stage browns the mozzarella. The closed-baking stage cooks the pasta layers.
- Resting for 10 or more minutes lets the hot sauce settle and makes sliced ingredients less likely to fall out.
Ingredients
- •9 lasagna noodles (cooked according to package instructions)
- •nonstick spray
- •3 tbsp butter
- •3 large garlic cloves (minced)
- •1 ½ cups milk
- •1 ½ cups heavy whipping cream
- •1 cup Parmesan cheese (grated)
- •½ tsp kosher salt
- •¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- •¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- •2 cups fresh spinach (chopped)
- •⅔ cup sun dried tomatoes (chopped)
- •2 cups skim ricotta cheese
- •1 tsp garlic powder
- •4 cups chicken breast (cooked and shredded)
- •8 slices bacon (cooked until crisp and crumbled)
- •3 cups mozzarella cheese (shredded)
- •fresh Italian parsley (chopped, for garnish (optional))
Instructions
- 1
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- 2
Spray a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick spray.
- 3
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan.
- 4
Add the garlic and heat for 30 seconds.
- 5
Whisk in the milk, heavy whipping cream, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes.
- 6
Heat the sauce mixture until bubbling.
- 7
Add the Parmesan and whisk until smooth.
- 8
Stir in the spinach and sun dried tomatoes, then let the sauce sit until ready to use.
- 9
Combine the ricotta cheese and garlic powder in a medium bowl.
- 10
Spoon about 1 cup of sauce into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- 11
Top the sauce with 3 lasagna noodles.
- 12
Spread one-third of the ricotta mixture over the noodles.
- 13
Add the chicken and bacon to the remaining sauce.
- 14
Spoon one-third of the chicken mixture evenly over the ricotta layer.
- 15
Top with one-third of the mozzarella cheese.
- 16
Repeat the layers two more times, starting with the lasagna noodles.
- 17
Cover with foil and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling.
- 18
Remove the foil and bake for a few more minutes, until the cheese is golden brown.
- 19
Cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.
FAQ
Nutrition (per serving)
475
Calories
32g
Protein
32g
Fat
14g
Carbs
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