This Chicken Lasagne Recipe is one of my kid’s favourite meals. Honestly my picky eaters eagerly clean their plates every time I serve this Chicken Lasagne. I make a big batch and enjoy stress and hassle free meal times for weeks.
Ingredients to Make Chicken Lasagne
- 1.8kg Chicken £7.98
- 650g Mushrooms £1.69
- 1 Bulb Garlic 22p
- 3 Pints (1.7 Litres) Milk £1.20
- 4 Cubes Chicken Stock 23p
- 100g Plain Flour 5p
- 250g Butter 43p
- 24 Lasagne Sheets 75p (1 Pack)
- 500g Cheese £2.70
Total = £15.25
Makes 24 servings = 64p per serving
This Chicken Lasagne recipe uses full packs of most of the ingredients. This means that there is absolutely zero food waste. No leftovers in the fridge to throw out later. No guilt. And no wasted money.
Look out for wonky or budget vegetables. They might be a bit misshapen or uneven but they are just as fresh and tasty as their premium counterparts. You won’t be able to tell the difference once they are cooked but you will notice the difference in your bank balance.
As with most recipes you can substitute butter for margarine. Real butter would taste better if your budget can accommodate it. I tend to opt for the fake butter which is a mix of butter and margarine.
Food purchased from Aldi. Prices correct at time of publishing.
Cooking Equipment You Will Need to Make Chicken Lasagne
You do not need a lot of equipment to batch cook. You can get started with tools you probably already have in your kitchen.
To make Chicken Lasagne you will need:
- Kitchen Knife
- Chopping Board
- Medium Pan
- Large Pan
- Oven Proof Dishes
There are some tools that will make batch cooking quicker and easier.
I like to use a garlic press but you can mince your garlic with a knife if you prefer.
A measuring jug isn’t absolutely essential as the quantities aren’t crucial but it certainly does make it quicker and easier to make this Chicken Lasagne on repeat.
Batch Cook Chicken Lasagne Recipe
You’re going to need two big pans. One for the chicken and one for the sauce.
Start by chopping up all the mushrooms and mining the garlic. Pop them into the larger pan and fry them in about 200g of butter. Once they are cooked put them to one side, we’ll add them back in later.
While the mushrooms are frying put the chicken into the other pan. Add about 3 pints of milk and four chicken stock cubes. Bring the pan to the boil and let it gently simmer away until the chicken is cooked to perfection.
I do like to make this Chicken Lasagne with homemade stock whenever I have some availible.
Chicken thighs are usually cheaper and juicier than chicken breasts. You can now get chicken leg fillets which are even cheaper. For recipes like this where you will be shredding the chicken there is no need to spend the extra money on chicken breasts.
While the chicken is cooking make the sauce. Into the same pan you’ve just fried the mushrooms in melt 4 table spoons of butter, that’s about 50g.
Add 3/4 of a cup of plain flour and mix it into the melted butter. It should be about 100g if your weighing out your flour.
Give it a really good mix and the flour and butter will form a smooth paste.
Add some of the milk in which the chicken is cooking. Keep adding more milk until it’s all been used.
Once the chicken is cooked remove it from the pan and shred it with a pair of forks.
Add the chicken and fried mushrooms to the empty pan. Pour in about half of the sauce.
Now it’s time to assemble the lasagnes. Start each layer with the sauce.
Then add some of the chicken and mushroom mixture.
Then add a sheet of lasagne and more sauce.
Keep layering sauce, chicken then lasagne, ending with a final layer of sauce.
Top the lasagnes with slices of cheese.
How to Cook Chicken Lasagne
Oven cook your Chicken Lasagne at gas mark 4-5 (180 – 200 oC / 300 oF) for about 40 minutes. The cheese should be melted with lovely bubbly brown bits and the lasagne fully cooked.
You can also cook this Chicken Lasagne in an air fryer. It cooks super quickly, in about 20 minutes. Great if you’re rushing out to your kids clubs and activities. But I find it an absolute nightmare to get the oven dish out of the air fryer. Even with an air fryer liner it’s really difficult to get hold of a boiling hot oven dish. I guess if you have one of the newer, bigger air fryers then it wouldn’t be an issue.
How to Store Chicken Lasagne
Store is Chicken Lasagne in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
How to Freeze Chicken Lasagne
Cover your oven dishes with either cling film or a plastic lid and leave them to cool.
I recently invested in a set of these glass oven dishes with reusable plastic lids.
I save on using cling film but they are also stackable even before they’re frozen which I find much more convenient. If I’m using cling film I have to find spaces in my freezer with nothing stacked on top until the dishes are fully frozen. With these plastic lids I can easily stack my dishes while they freeze.
Once your Chicken Lasagne has cooled down put the tubs into your fridge. Once they are chilled pop them in your freezer to freeze.
How to Defrost Chicken Lasagne
For best results (as they say) take your dish of Chicken Lasagne out of the freezer a day or two before you plan to eat it.
I like to plan my meals a few days in advance and choose from the defrosted meals on the day. That way there’s still some room for spontaneity.
But don’t worry if you forget, you can defrost your Chicken Lasagne in the microwave. Just pop it on defrost for about 10 minutes.
In a real pinch you could cook this Chicken Lasagne from frozen. It’ll take longer to cook from frozen and there’s a good chance that the cheese will burn before the lasagne cooks. To help stop that from happening cook your Chicken Lasagne at a lower temperature and keep it covered for all but the last 15 minutes of the cooking time.
How to Serve Chicken Lasagne
We love our Chicken Lasagne with Air Fried chips and whatever frozen veg the kids are tolerating that week.
It’s also amazing with a jacket potato and salad, especialy during the summer.
Take a look at this recipe and learn how to make perfect jacket potatoes, quickly and easily.
I do hope that my Batch Cook Chicken Lasagne Recipe has inspired you to have a go at making your own batch cook meals.
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A Note on Food Safety
Freezing and defrosting food really isn’t complicated. But it terrifies me how many people aren’t familiar with basic food hygiene so if you’re new to cooking from scratch and freezing please follow these safety guidlines.
The important things to remember are:
- Wash your hands and anything else that has been in contact with raw meat.
- Meals should last for about 3 days in the fridge.
- Do not defrost your meals at room temperature.
- Do not refreeze meals you have already defrosted.
- Consume food before the use by date.
A Little Bit About Me . . .
Hey there I’m Bridie, a busy mum to two amazing humans, a spirited border collie puppy and a pair of sweet guinea pigs. We homestead in a cherished Edwardian terrace in not so sunny Lancashire, England.
When I’m not spending time with my children and menagerie, I’m usually to be found in my craft room creating and blogging or in the kitchen cooking up a big batch of something tasty. I’m always looking for thrifty hacks to save money on my crafts and recipes. Crafting doesn’t have to cost a fortune!
I have been batch cooking for about 30 years (yikes that makes me feel old!) I’m sharing all my batch cook recipes, in depth batch cooking tutorials and all my tips and tricks to help you slash your food bills.
Each week I cook up a big batch of a single meal. Most of it goes in the freezer, then it’s just defrost and reheat or sling it in the oven. Even on busy school nights my family get to enjoy healthy home cooked meals that my kids actually eat.
Each week I share a new recipe on my blog. Most of my meals cost less than £1 per portion.
I really hope that my ideas can help you to stretch your budget.
I’ve included links to my favourite retailers for the products I’ve used to make my crafts. Click on any of the product images and links for full details. If you decide to buy any of these products I may get a small percentage of what you spend. There’s no cost to you at all.
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