This deconstructed chicken lasagna is a quick alternative to traditional baked lasagna. Ready in around 20 minutes, it is perfect for a quick weeknight dinner.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Deconstructed lasagna is made by layering all of the traditional lasagna ingredients together but without the need to bake it! This chicken version is super quick to prepare – it can be on the table in just 20 minutes.
Key ingredients and substitutions
Fresh lasagna sheets
I use fresh lasagna noodles to make this recipe as they cook much more quickly. You can use dried lasagna sheets if you prefer, but you will need to factor in a little more cooking time. You will need 4 sheets per serving that should be around 4×4 inches square. If you have larger sheets you can snap them in half before cooking.
Chicken
The recipe below uses chicken breast chunks. However, you can actually make this lasagna with your protein of choice, so feel free to swap the chicken breast for ground beef, ground turkey, ground pork, or your favorite plant-based mince. Just note the other suggested swaps below if you do change the protein for this recipe.
Tomato sauce
The base of this sauce is tomato puree (US), AKA tomato passata (elsewhere in the world). You could substitute tomato sauce (US), or marinara sauce.
Baby spinach and zucchini
The vegetables I use in this sauce are baby spinach and shredded zucchini. However, you can substitute other vegetables if you like. Try adding some mushrooms, switch the zucchini for shredded carrot, or add some diced pumpkin.
Ricotta cheese
If you don’t have ricotta to hand, you could substitute sour cream. If you are using beef instead of chicken, try using shredded mozzarella instead of ricotta.
How to make this 20 minute deconstructed lasagna
This recipe is so simple to make, here are the key steps:
- Put a large pan of salted water on to heat. This is to cook the lasagna sheets.
- While the water is heating, prepare the vegetables, and brown the chicken in a hot skillet.
- Add the vegetables to the skillet, and the lasagna sheets to the water when it starts boiling.
- Remove the filling ingredients from the heat, add the ricotta and stir through. Drain the lasagna sheets.
- Assemble the lasagna by layering a sheet of lasagna, then a layer of filling, and repeating until each individual lasagna has three layers of filling between four pasta sheets.
Top with Parmesan cheese, pesto, black pepper and/or fresh basil before serving.
Deconstructed Chicken Lasagna (20 mins)
Ingredients
Lasagna
- 1 lb / 450 g chicken breast (diced)
- 2 zucchini (shredded)
- 4 cups / 120 g baby spinach (roughly chopped)
- 8 oz / 225 g tomato puree/ passata [Note 1]
- 1 cup / 236.59 ml ricotta
- 16 lasagna noodle sheets (~4×4-inch)
- 1 tablespoon / 14.79 ml olive oil
- Salt and pepper
To serve
- 2 tablespoons / 29.57 ml basil pesto
- ¼ cup / 25 g grated Parmesan
Directions
Prepare
- Set a pan of salted water to heat.
- Shred the zucchini and roughly chop the spinach.
Cook sauce
- Heat a drizzle of oil in a large skillet or fry pan.
- Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.
- Add chicken to skillet and fry for 3-4 minutes until starting to brown.
- Add zucchini to skillet and cook for around 1 minute until it softens.
- Add the spinach and tomato puree and bring to a simmer.
- Cook for 1-2 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Add a splash of water if the sauce becomes a little dry.
Cook lasagna sheets
- When the pan of water come to the boil, place add lasagna sheets to the pan, and cook according to instructions [Note 2]. Stir occasionally.
Finish sauce and assemble the lasagna
- Remove the skillet from the heat, add the ricotta, and fold it through to combine.
- Assemble the lasagna by placing one sheet of lasagna on each plate, and cover with a spoonful of the chicken mixture. Repeat until all sheets and chicken mixture have been used.
- Top with grated Parmesan and basil pesto. Enjoy!
Notes
- American tomato puree is similar to tomato passata.
- Approximately 6 minutes for fresh lasagna noodles, around 10-12 minutes for dried lasagna noodles.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate and provided for informational purposes only.
