Transform your dinner table into a fine dining experience with this sophisticated white chicken lasagna that elevates comfort food to gourmet status. This isn’t your typical heavy, red-sauce lasagna. Instead, layers of tender chicken and roasted asparagus are enveloped in a luxurious white wine sauce made with butter, flour, and cream, then crowned with fresh marinara for the perfect balance of richness and brightness.
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Table of Contents
Why This Recipe Works
The magic happens in the layered flavor construction. The white wine sauce provides sophisticated depth while maintaining lightness compared to heavy cream sauces. Roasting the asparagus concentrates its flavors and prevents excess moisture from making the lasagna soggy. The fresh marinara on top adds bright acidity that cuts through the richness, creating perfect balance. The combination of three cheeses provides varied textures and flavors, while the lemon zest in the white sauce adds brightness that elevates every bite.
Why You Should Try This Recipe
There’s no getting around it; this creamy chicken lasagna recipe has a lot of steps and can seem pretty intimidating the first time you make it. Sure, it may not be a quick and easy chicken lasagna to prepare, but it’s very doable as long as you have the time to make each component.
Set aside a day to bake a Chicken and Asparagus Lasagna, and after that first bite, you’ll know it was all worth it.
White Chicken Lasagna Ingredients
White Wine Sauce:
- Unsalted butter – Creates the roux base and adds rich, creamy flavor
- All-purpose flour – Thickens the sauce to perfect consistency
- Dry white wine – Adds sophisticated depth and acidity to balance richness
- Lemon – Provides bright zest that enhances all other flavors
- Half and half – Contributes creamy texture without being too heavy
- Whole milk – Lightens the sauce while maintaining richness
- Eggs – Help bind the ricotta and create a silky texture
- Ricotta cheese – Provides a creamy, mild base for the cheese layers
Lasagna Components:
- Asparagus – Adds fresh, spring-like flavor and beautiful color
- Olive oil – Helps roast asparagus to perfection
- Lasagna noodles – Provides a sturdy foundation for layering
- Boneless skinless chicken breasts – Delivers lean protein and hearty substance
- Shredded mozzarella cheese – Creates stretchy, melted perfection
- Shredded Parmesan cheese – Adds sharp, nutty complexity
Fresh Marinara Sauce:
- White onion – Provides a sweet, aromatic base for the sauce
- Carrot – Adds natural sweetness and depth
- Whole butter РCreates rich foundation for saut̩ing vegetables
- Roma tomatoes – Deliver fresh, bright tomato flavor
- Fresh basil – Contributes aromatic, peppery notes
- Salt and ground black pepper – Enhance and balance all flavors
- Sugar – Balances acidity in tomatoes
- Chicken stock – Adds depth and helps achieve perfect consistency
If you prefer, you can substitute canned tomatoes. You can also add 1 or 2 finely chopped garlic cloves.
How to Make Chicken Lasagna With White Sauce
To prepare the white sauce:
- Clean the lemon with vegetable wash and dry well. Zest the skin of the lemon with a microplane and reserve the zest for later.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet set over medium heat.
- Once the butter stops foaming, whisk in the AP flour and cook until the flour turns a light tan color and smells like freshly baked bread.
- Add the dry white wine, lemon zest, whole milk, and half-and-half. Whisk until smooth.
- Continue whisking until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove the white sauce from the heat and allow it to cool for a few minutes.
- While the white sauce is cooling, whisk together the eggs and ricotta cheese in a separate bowl.
- Whisk the eggs and cheese mixture into the white sauce. Cover the white sauce to keep warm.
To prepare the lasagna:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Rinse, dry, and trim the asparagus. Cut the trimmed asparagus into inch-long pieces and in olive oil. Spread the asparagus on a baking tray and cook in the oven for 15 minutes, shaking the baking tray occasionally.Â
- While the asparagus is roasting, prepare the lasagna noodles to al dente according to the package directions. Drain and toss the noodles with the white sauce.Â
- Lightly grease a 9 X 13-inch baking dish.
- Spread a third of the noodles on the bottom of the baking dish. Place half of the chicken and oven-roasted asparagus over the noodles. Sprinkle a third of the Parmesan cheese on top. Top with another third of the noodles. Top with the remaining chicken, asparagus, and a third of the Parmesan cheese. Cover with the rest of the noodles. Spread any leftover white sauce and all the mozzarella cheese over the noodles.
- Bake the lasagna for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. While the lasagna is cooking, make the marinara sauce below.
- Top the cooked lasagna with the marinara sauce and the remaining Parmesan cheese. Serve hot.
To prepare the marinara sauce:
- Finely chop the white onions and grate the carrots. Set aside.
- Melt the unsalted butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Stir in the chopped white onions, grated carrots, tomatoes, basil, salt, ground black pepper, and sugar.
- Cover the saucepan and turn the heat to low. Simmer for about 15 minutes.
- Puree the sauce with an immersion blender. If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a standard blender, but be careful not to overfill it.
- Add the chicken stock to the pureed sauce and warm through.
Recipe Variation – Chicken and Spinach Lasagna
If you’re not a fan of asparagus, you can substitute it with spinach. Use 2 10-ounce packages of frozen chopped spinach, thawed, and drained (best to squeeze out the excess liquid).
What to Serve With White Chicken Lasagna
White chicken lasagna is a complete meal, but feel free to add a few sides. Here are a few suggestions you may want to try:
- Salad. A small salad with a simple acid-forward dressing will help cut through the dairy and highlight the chicken.
- Garlic bread. This side serves double duty by bringing pungency to the dish and providing a great way to mop up any extra sauce.
- Sauteed mushrooms. When prepared in olive oil, garlic, and rosemary, the mushrooms lend earthiness with pops of freshness to the meal. Serve the sauteed mushrooms on their own or use them as a topping for toasted bread.
Storage & Reheating Instructions
- Reheating Method: Bring to room temperature, then reheat covered at 375°F for 15 minutes (single portion) or 35 minutes (whole lasagna). Add a splash of marinara to prevent drying.
- Refrigerator Storage: Cover tightly and store for up to 3 days. Flavors improve after the first day.
- Freezer Storage: Wrap well in plastic and foil for up to 1 month. It can be frozen before or after baking.
Favorite Lasagna Recipes
Popular Pasta Recipes
Do you love asparagus? Try these recipes!
- Asparagus with Cream Sauce
- Asparagus Casserole
- Oven Roasted Asparagus
- Olive Garden Parmesan Roasted Asparagus
Check out my easy pasta recipes and the best chicken recipes on CopyKat!
Creamy White Chicken Lasagna – Asparagus & Wine Sauce
Ingredients
Lasagna
- 4 pounds fresh asparagus chopped
- olive oil
- 1 pound butter
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups dry white wine Chablis or Chardonnay
- 4 teaspoons lemon zest
- 2 cups half and half
- 2 cups milk
- 16 ounces ricotta cheese
- 8 eggs
- 16 ounces lasagna noodles
- 4 1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked and chopped
- 1 pound mozzarella cheese shredded Mozzarella Cheese
- 1 pound Parmesan cheese shredded Parmesan Cheese (not grated)
Marinara Sauce
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1/2 cup grated carrot
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/2 pounds Roma tomatoes
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 2 cups chicken stock
Instructions
- Toss the asparagus with a small amount of olive oil and roast in a 400°F oven for 15 minutes.
- Make the white sauce with the next six ingredients. Mix the eggs and ricotta cheese together and add this to the white sauce.
- Cook the lasagna noodles as directed on the package.
- Coat the noodles with sauce and lay them in a 9×13-inch casserole dish that has been coated with oil or nonstick spray. Distribute half of the chicken and asparagus over the noodles and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Add another layer of noodles, followed by the rest of the chicken and asparagus and another sprinkle of Parmesan. Add a final layer of noodles topped with white sauce and mozzarella cheese.
- Bake the lasagna at 400°F for 30 minutes.
- While the lasagna is baking, prepare the marinara sauce: In a quart saucepan, sauté the onions and carrots in butter. Stir in the tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper, and sugar. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Puree in blender until smooth. Return to the saucepan, add the chicken stock, and reheat.
- When the lasagna has finished baking, remove it from the oven and let it sit for 15 minutes. Serve topped with marinara sauce and sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.
This is a lot of work, but it taste wonderful. You will need to use a larger pan 2 1/2″ deep will work a lot better. The Marinara Sauce needs to be thicker, we used corn starch. You should split the chicken, cheese, and asparagus into thirds before you start to lay the layers out. We also but sauce on the bottom before the first layer of noodles. This is a very lite tasting Lasagna. We are going to try freezing the leftovers. This recipe will serve 12 large servings.
Enjoy!!
Thank you for your suggestion, I will see what I can do about modifying the recipe.