This Chicken Lasagna layers a robust tomato-chicken sauce, tender lasagna noodles, and a smooth cottage cheese-and-spinach white sauce. Baked until bubbly and lightly browned, it’s satisfying comfort food that works well for family dinners or meal prep.
I often make this lasagna when we want something warm and filling. The white sauce blends quickly yet remains creamy, and the cottage cheese adds protein while the spinach adds color and nutrients. Using chopped rotisserie chicken keeps the prep fast, but you can substitute browned ground poultry or Italian-style chicken sausage if you prefer.
Recipe Overview
A Few Key Ingredients
Here are the main ingredients that define this dish. Full amounts are listed in the recipe card below.
Rotisserie chicken: Ready-cooked chicken adds great flavor and saves time. You can swap in ground chicken, turkey, or Italian chicken sausage—just brown it first and drain any excess fat.
Crushed tomatoes: The base of the red sauce. If your tomatoes are very acidic, a teaspoon of honey or a pinch of sugar balances the flavor. Whole canned tomatoes crushed by hand also work well.
Cottage cheese: When blended, cottage cheese creates a creamy, protein-rich white sauce. Full-fat gives the richest texture, but low-fat works if you prefer. Ricotta is an acceptable substitute.
Frozen chopped spinach: Thaw and squeeze out all excess liquid to avoid a soggy lasagna.
Lasagna noodles: Use regular boiled noodles for best texture; whole wheat or gluten-free varieties can be used as needed.
Tips for Success
- Cook the tomato paste briefly until it darkens and smells caramelized—this deepens the tomato flavor.
- Simmer the chicken tomato sauce until it’s thick and spoonable; thin sauce leads to a watery bake.
- Spread a little sauce in the bottom of the pan before adding noodles to prevent sticking.
- Under-cook noodles slightly (about 2 minutes less than package directions); they’ll finish cooking in the oven and stay firm.
- Loosely tent foil over the dish so it doesn’t touch the cheese while baking.
- Rest baked lasagna 15 minutes before slicing to let layers set for cleaner portions.
How to Make Chicken Lasagna
Make the Garlicky Tomato Chicken:
Step 1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and cook 4–5 minutes until soft.
Step 2. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook 1–2 minutes, stirring, until the paste darkens and becomes aromatic.
Step 3. Add the crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Simmer 8–10 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
Step 4. Fold in the chopped rotisserie chicken and a teaspoon of honey if desired. Simmer 3–4 minutes until the chicken is warmed and coated.
Step 5. If the sauce is still thin, simmer uncovered a few more minutes so it becomes spoonable rather than watery.
Step 6. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil and cook the lasagna noodles for about 2 minutes less than the package recommends.
Step 7. Drain the noodles and lay them in a single layer on a lightly oiled baking sheet to keep them from sticking.
Make the White Sauce:
Step 8. Squeeze thawed spinach in a towel until dry—removing moisture is essential to avoid a watery lasagna.
Step 9. Combine the cottage cheese, milk, squeezed spinach, Parmesan, egg, garlic, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of the mozzarella in a blender. Blend 1–2 minutes until silky and smooth.
Assemble the Lasagna:
Step 10. Preheat oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Step 11. Spread about 1/2 cup of the tomato-chicken sauce across the bottom of the dish. Drizzle 1/4 cup of the cottage cheese white sauce, then arrange 3 noodles over the sauces.
Step 12. Spread one-third of the white sauce over the noodles, then spoon one-third of the remaining tomato-chicken mixture on top.
Step 13. Repeat the layers two more times: noodles, white sauce, tomato-chicken sauce. Finish with the remaining 1 cup mozzarella spread evenly on top.
Bake:
Step 14. Loosely cover the dish with foil, keeping it off the cheese.
Step 15. Bake 25 minutes, remove foil, then bake another 15–20 minutes until sauce bubbles and cheese is melted and golden.
Step 16. For a more browned top, broil 1–2 minutes while watching closely.
Step 17. Let the lasagna rest at least 15 minutes before slicing. Garnish with chopped fresh basil or parsley if desired.
Recipe Notes
Make Ahead: Cook and cool the noodles and tomato-chicken sauce. Assemble in the baking dish, cover tightly, and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Add roughly 5–10 minutes to the bake time if baking from chilled.
Storage: Keep leftover lasagna covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Freezing: Freeze baked (or unbaked) lasagna well wrapped in plastic, then foil, for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating or baking.
Reheating: Reheat the lasagna covered at 350°F for 20–30 minutes until hot, or reheat individual portions in the microwave.
Questions I Get Asked a Lot
Yes. Use gluten-free lasagna noodles in place of regular noodles.
Yes. Replace the rotisserie chicken with browned ground beef; break it up while cooking and then continue with the sauce.
You can use a food processor or an immersion (stick) blender to achieve a smooth white sauce if you don’t have a countertop blender.
Common causes are undercooked, thin tomato sauce or insufficiently drained spinach. Remove as much water from the spinach as you can and simmer the red sauce until thick.
Yes. If using no-boil noodles, omit pre-cooking and thin the white sauce with about 1/3 cup water so the dish doesn’t become too dry during baking.
More Rotisserie Chicken Recipes
- Chicken Corn Soup
- Million Dollar Chicken Casserole
- Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie
- Buffalo Chicken Sliders
- Chipotle Chicken Quesadilla
- Shredded Chicken Tacos
- BBQ Chicken Pizza
Thank you for cooking along. If you try this recipe, please leave a comment and rating so others know how it turned out.
Chicken Lasagna With Cottage Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (or avocado oil)
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 5 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes (1 can)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups chopped rotisserie chicken
- 1 teaspoon honey (optional)
- 9 lasagna noodles
- Chopped fresh basil or parsley, optional to serve
Cottage Cheese Spinach White Sauce
- 2 cups full-fat cottage cheese
- 1 cup whole milk
- 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed well
- ½ cup finely grated Parmesan
- 1 large egg
- 2 garlic cloves
- ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
Instructions
Make the Garlicky Tomato Chicken:
- Heat oil, sauté onion 4–5 minutes until soft. Add garlic and tomato paste; cook 1–2 minutes until aromatic.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Simmer 8–10 minutes until slightly thickened.
- Add chopped rotisserie chicken and honey if using; simmer 3–4 minutes to warm through.
- If sauce is thin, simmer uncovered until it becomes spoonable.
- Cook lasagna noodles in well-salted water for about 2 minutes less than package time; drain and lay on an oiled sheet to avoid sticking.
Make the White Sauce:
- Squeeze thawed spinach thoroughly to remove liquid.
- Blend cottage cheese, milk, squeezed spinach, Parmesan, egg, garlic, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and 1 cup mozzarella until silky smooth.
- Reserve the remaining 1 cup mozzarella for the top.
Assemble the Lasagna:
- Preheat oven to 375°F and grease a 9×13-inch dish.
- Spread ½ cup tomato-chicken sauce on the bottom, drizzle ¼ cup white sauce, then place 3 noodles on top.
- Spread one-third of the white sauce, then one-third of the remaining tomato-chicken sauce. Repeat layers two more times and finish with reserved mozzarella.
Bake:
- Loosely cover with foil (not touching cheese) and bake 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 15–20 minutes more until bubbly and golden.
- Optional: Broil 1–2 minutes to brown the top, watching closely.
- Rest 15 minutes before slicing and garnish with fresh herbs if desired.
Notes
Storage: Refrigerate covered up to 3 days. Freeze wrapped for up to 3 months.
Reheating: Reheat covered at 350°F for 20–30 minutes until warmed through, or microwave individual portions.
Nutrition
Carbohydrates: 40 g
Protein: 41 g
Fat: 19 g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation.
Additional Info
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