This post is sponsored by MarzettiĀ® and Sway.
My husband has a new favorite meal.
It starts with Chicken Caesar and it ends with Lasagna, with layers of creamy spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and Mozzarella in between, and it is deeelish.
When we were in Seattle a few weekends ago, Bjork and I went out to a pizza place and ordered a Caeser salad to share. Only as an appetizer before each eating our own full-size wood fired pizza, so don’t go thinking we’re a shared-salad-as-an-entree kinda couple, alright? Sheesh. Mid-bite into the crunchy romaine and creamy dressing and Parmesan and buttery crouton wonderfulness, my food spirit lifted up and away, straight to salad heaven.
Caesar salad is SO good. I guess I had, um, forgotten. There are so many superdelicious foods in this world, you know? Like, how can a girl ever keep up?
So when we came back home, I was inspired to make a Caesar something. Enter this chicken caesar lasagna. I had all the ingredients I needed to make a lasagna, like no-boil noodles, cheese, chicken in the freezer, and the yummy MarzettiĀ® Simply Dressed Caesar dressing, and so Creamy Chicken Caesar Lasagna began and it felt so right.
Guess what? I love veggie lasagna, so this did not come away without a few handfuls of fresh baby kale sneak-ed in there (spinach would work, too!) and sun dried tomatoes. I think the somewhere between the creamy sauce and the cheese and the chicken, the veggies became a little more tasty for the man of the house because Bjork told me today: “I thought it was going to be a veggie lasagna, but YES! CHICKEN!” Apparently he didn’t notice the layer of green and red vegs in the 2.43 seconds it took him to inhale the first piece.
This one just works for everyone. Some kale and sun dried tomatoes to please the veggie lover, some chicken to satisfy the protein-needer, some creamy Caesar and homemade sauce and melted cheese for every person in the world who loves lasagna.
And that’s how this weeknight dinner ended with us all living happily ever after.
Creamy Chicken Caesar Lasagna
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield: 12–15 1x
Description
Chicken Caesar Lasagna! A classic favorite but made with your favorite chicken caesar ingredients. Super simple for an easy dinner!
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 4 ounces light cream cheese
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ground black pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup Marzetti Simply Dressed Caesar Dressing
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
For the lasagna
- 9 lasagna noodles
- 3 cups cooked, shredded chicken
- 3 cups Mozzarella cheese
- 3 cups chopped spinach or kale
- 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes packed in oil
Instructions
- Melt the butter over medium high heat. Stir in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the milk, a little bit at a time, until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Whisk in the cream cheese, Parmesan, and Caesar dressing until smooth and creamy. Taste and adjust as necessary.
- Cook the lasagna noodles according to package directions. Add the chicken to the sauce mixture and keep over medium low heat.
- Grease a 9×13 pan and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cover with 3 lasagna noodles. Top with 1/2 the chicken mixture, 1 1/2 cups kale, 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, and 1 cup mozzarella. Cover with 3 more noodles. Repeat layers, ending with another layer of noodles and the remaining 1 cup cheese.
- Bake for 30 minutes covered with greased foil. Remove the foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes to brown the cheese. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.
Notes
You can also divide this into more layers – just cook a few extra noodles and spread the filling out a bit more over 3 or 4 layers instead of just 2. You can also use the oven-ready noodles that donāt require boiling. However, I found it helpful to add a few tablespoons of water to the dish before baking if you do use them.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Italian
Keywords: chicken caesar lasagna, chicken lasagna, caesar lasagna
This yummy post was sponsored by MarzettiĀ® and Sway.