Shredded Chicken & Spinach Lasagna

Here it is! I finally got some time to sit down and get this recipe on the blog. 

First of all, have you ever had those days where you are seriously craving something, but you don’t want to break the macro or calorie bank, so to speak? I sure do! I also am a firm believer in the fact that nutritious food does NOT have to be boring, and it absolutely shouldn’t be! That’s why I take traditional recipes and play around with different ingredients until I can find a way to enjoy the food with zero guilt on my shoulders (honestly though, I generally don’t feel guilty about eating anything because I make the conscious choice to consume that food, so why feel guilty for it? That’s a blog post for another day though… or maybe a little video? Hmm..). 

OK, back to why you’re here: the recipe! This recipe was actually inspired by a lasagna dish I had at a little cafe here in Okinawa, Japan. It was brought to me in its own single-serve cast iron skillet and, instead of the traditional ground meat sauce, it was made with shredded pork. I can still remember how delicious that lasagna was, and it got the gears in my brain moving. How can I make something similar using chicken and a lot fewer calories? So, I came up with this recipe and I decided to add the spinach because I literally just add vegetables to everything!

Every Sunday, I spend a good amount of time in my kitchen meal-prepping. Between being a mom, wife, student, nutritionist, and balancing a social life while making sure I get to the gym, I am BUSY (in a good way though). To ensure that my family and I all get nutritious meals, meal prepping for the week has been an absolute lifesaver. 

Part of my weekly meal prep is usually a big thing of shredded chicken. If you’re a client of Arrow, this shredded chicken recipe, along with 47 others, is found in the Quick and Easy recipe book. If you’d like a copy of this recipe book for FREE, click HERE!

I make this shredded chicken because it is a great add-in for quick, healthy lunches, plus, it makes it so easy to add to recipes, like this one, and you don’t have to spend a bunch of time cooking the chicken because it’s already done!

Shredded Chicken and Spinach Lasagna

Nutrition Information per serving: Serves 10; 221 calories, 20g Protein, 22g Carbohydrate, 5g Fat

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, chopped
• 1 (28oz) can of crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 (6oz) can of tomato paste (so 3oz)
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt (can add more to taste)
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes (can omit)
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 400g cooked shredded chicken breast (about two medium chicken breasts)
• 1 cup fat free cottage cheese
• 1 medium egg (can omit)
• 1 oz grated parmesan cheese
• 4 oz grated 2% Mozzarella Cheese, divided (2oz&2oz)
• 5 cups Baby Spinach
• 9 Oven Ready Lasagna Noodles (can also sub for gluten-free noodles or zucchini) 

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F and spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a medium skillet, heat oil and add minced garlic and chopped onion, cooking until fragrant. 
3. Add crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, sea salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, basil, oregano, and onion powder, stirring until well combined.  
4. Let the sauce simmer for about 3 minutes. Then, add shredded chicken and continue to let simmer for about 10 minutes. 
5. While the sauce is simmering, it’s time to make the filling. In a medium-sized bowl, stir together the cottage cheese, egg, parmesan cheese, and 2oz of mozzarella cheese. 
6. Remove the sauce from the heat and add about 1/2 cup to the bottom of your baking dish. Next, line it with three lasagna noodles (I did two horizontally and one vertically, or two vertically and one horizontally depending on how you’re looking at your pan). Layer the pan with the sauce, cheese filling, spinach, reserved mozzarella, and repeat two more times, making sure ingredients are divided accordingly, finish off the top with the rest of the sauce and Mozzarella cheese. 
7. Cover with foil and bake at 350F for about 25 minutes, remove foil, and bake for another 10 minutes to really melt the cheese. 
8. Let it cool for about 5 minutes before cutting into it. I cut it into 10 equal slices in my 9×13 pan for the Nutrition information I will provide.

I served ours with some broccoli sautéed in 1/2 Tbsp olive oil and 1 oz of Parmesan cheese. 

Hope you all enjoy this wonderful recipe! If you make it and your family enjoys it, make sure you take a picture and give me a little shout-out!

XOXO

Devin