Think Alfredo sauce and skinny don't belong in the same sentence? Normally, I would agree with you. I mean, it's butter, cream and cheese. Not that healthy, is it? But this Alfredo sauce is different. Now, I'll tell you my secret, but only if you promise to keep an open mind. Ready? CAU-LI-FLOWER. Please don't run away!!
I think cauliflower usually stinks (quite literally and figuratively, actually) and I'm usually not a big fan, at all. But you guys, it just makes the perfect creamy and cheesy sauce! You can hardly tell it's cauliflower. To be honest, I can't taste it at all. Maybe you will, be the cauli taste is very light. Delicious sauce, mostly made of veggies. How amazing is that? Thanks to this cauli alfredo, you can have your lasagna, and eat it too! Enjoy 🙂
Skinny Chicken Alfredo Lasagna
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts (about 600 g - 1.3 lbs) - or rotisserie chicken
- 4 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
- 4 cups water
- 1 medium cauliflower about 1.2 kg - 2.6 lbs, cut into florets
- 1 tbsp butter about 15 g
- 4 large garlic cloves finely minced
- 3 cup white mushrooms sliced - see notes
- 3 cups baby spinach packed
- Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
- 1 cup + ½ cup mozzarella shredded
- 1 cup parmesan grated
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- 9 oz - 250 g oven ready lasagna sheets use gluten free lasagna for GF
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 360F - 180C.
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Prepare chicken. Place chicken in a medium pot and cover with water. Cook on medium heat for about 20-25 minutes. Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle. Chop in very small pieces. You can use your food processor for that: cut the breasts in 3-4 pieces, place in the food processor and pulse just a few seconds, or until finely chopped (don't pulse too much tough, you don't want ground chicken). Set aside.
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Prepare alfredo sauce. Fill a large pot with 4 cups of stock and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Add cauliflower florets, cover and cook for 10 minutes or until cauliflower is very tender. Transfer cauliflower to the bowl of your food processor using a slotted spoon. Add 1 cup of cooking liquid and process for about 3-4 minutes or until very smooth. You can also use a blender, but if you do, you might need to process the cauliflower in two batches. Add 1 cup of mozzarella, 1 cup of parmesan, nutmeg and freshly cracked black pepper. Process again until smooth. Separate and reserve 1 ½ cups of sauce and set aside.
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Prepare filling. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add mushroom and cook until they soften, then add spinach and cook until wilted. Add reserved chicken and reserved Alfredo sauce (except the 1 ½ cups you saved), and mix until everything is well combined. Taste and adjust salt and pepper if needed.
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Assemble lasagna.Spray a large baking dish with cooking spray. Place 2 or 3 lasagna sheets (depending on their size) on the bottom of the baking dish, breaking up the sides of the sheets to fit if needed. Top with ⅓ chicken alfredo mixture. Top with 2-3 more lasagna sheets and ⅓ chicken alfredo mixture. Repeat layering once and finish with lasagna sheets. Spread reserved alfredo sauce on top of the last layer.
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Cover loosely with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Scatter remaining cheese (½ cup) and cook for an extra 15 minutes or until golden.
Recipe Notes
If you don't like mushrooms or spinach, you can use other veggies like broccoli, kale, bell pepper...
Brittany
This looks great! Lasagna has always been a comfort food of mine
marie
Thank you Brittany! So glad you like this recipe 🙂
Allison
Could you use frozen cauliflower? This looks delicious!
Marie
I think you could yes! Let me know how it turns out if you try this recipe 🙂
Lori LeRoy- Reimer
Made this tonight, the sauce is amazing! Such a huge portion size, only chance I made was using a low carb pasta! Love ❤️
Marie
Yay so glad you enjoyed this recipe Lori!
Anna
I love lasagna!And this recipe looks amazing!! 😀
Marie
I hope you'll try it Anna, I'm sure you'd love it 🙂
Danette
Can you use all mozzarella cheese, my husband can't eat parmesan cheese. Cuz, this looks really good, and I want to try it, if this is possible.
Thank you for your time.
Marie
Yes, it think it would work!
Connie young
Maybe I’m being silly, but what about the liquid used for boiling the cauliflower? That’s not used other than the one cup to process it? Recipe looks awesome, and am fixing now.
Marie
Yes, you only use one cup of it 🙂
Lorann
Do you think this recipe will freeze well?
Marie
Yes definitely!
Lauren
Would you be able to make this like a lazy lasagna with other noodles or pasta?
Marie
I've never tried but I don't see why it wouldn't work yes 🙂
Kathi Phillips
This recipe sounds awesome! Do you think one could assemble it, say the day before, refrigerate, and bake it the next day? How long for bakin time would you advise? Thank you!
Marie
I've never tried but I think it would work fine, yes. I would bake it as written in the recipe.
Sera
Just a question...
When you say 4 cups of chicken stock, do you mean the liquid stock?
Sorry if this seems like a silly question just not sure as you mention about using 4 cups of water as well.
Marie
Hi Sera. There are no silly question 🙂 Yes, the liquid stock is what you need here. Enjoy
Trisha Dunnavan
Yum! My son loves alfredo sauce but I dont make it often because it's too heavy. But this was such a healthy but delish recipe. I loaded it up with lots of veggies and added extra chicken. Thank you so much for sharing !
Marie
Super glad you found a healthy + yummy alternative for your son Trisha, thanks for sharing! 🙂