Chicken Cordon Bleu Lasagna
A delicious, cheesy, creamy lasagna packed with all the delicious flavors of classic chicken cordon bleu. Amazing!
Seriously, I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of lasagna variations. It would have to take a stellarly weird combo for me to resist trying it (I won’t even go there with suggestions)…so of course when my sweet friend, Bonnie, told me she had a chicken cordon bleu lasagna her family loved, I texted her 43 times in a row until she gave me the recipe.
Cause I’m not an obnoxious, overbearing friend at all. Swear.
This cheesy, creamy lasagna is soooooo good. So good. So goooooood.
I’ve made it 3-4 times in the last month or so and it just hasn’t gotten old yet. It’s definitely right up there with my favorite lasagnas of all time (I’m not going to pick The Favorite so don’t make me; I’m a girl who loves lasagna, what can I say?).
Any time you make meals with ham, this chicken cordon bleu lasagna should be the very first thing on your list to make with the leftovers.
No leftovers? Chopped deli ham works great – just make sure to use a brand that, you know, tastes good (not all brands are created equal; my preference is the Hormel Natural lunch meat since it is nitrite/nitrate free and is delicious).
What to Serve With This
One Year Ago: Thai-Style Chicken and Quinoa Salad
Two Years Ago: Peanut Blossom Cookies
Three Years Ago: Kicked Up Ramen Noodles – Kung Pao Style
Lasagna Cordon Bleu
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup finely minced onion
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely minced
- ⅓ cup flour
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 ⅔ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese + 1/4 cup to sprinkle on top
- 3 cups broccoli florets, chopped
- 2 cups cooked diced chicken
- 1-2 cups chopped ham
- 4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 4 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded
- 12 no-boil lasagna noodles (see note)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9X13-inch baking dish and set aside.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring often, until the onion has softened, 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in the flour. The mixture will be crumbly – don’t fret! Continue to stir, cooking over medium heat, for 1-2 minutes.
- Very slowly, pour in the chicken broth while whisking constantly and quickly, letting each addition incorporate and thicken slightly before adding more. When the broth has been added, gradually pour in the milk, whisking constantly.
- Continue to cook the mixture until it simmers. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, until it thickens slightly, 5-10 minutes. Stir in the salt and pepper and 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese. Remove from the heat.
- To assemble, spread a little bit of the sauce (about 1/3 cup) on the bottom of the prepared pan. Add a layer of noodles. Top with half of the broccoli, chicken, and cheeses. Drizzle a cup or so of the sauce over the cheese followed by half of the ham.
- Add another layer of noodles over the ham and sprinkle the remaining broccoli, chicken and cheeses over the top. Add sauce (leaving about 1/2 cup or so for the top) followed by the remaining ham.
- Add the final layer of noodles and spread the remaining sauce on top. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese over the sauce.
- Cover the dish with lightly greased aluminum foil and bake for 30-35 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10-15 minutes longer, until bubbling and the noodles are tender.
- Remove the lasagna from the oven, tent with foil, and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from my friend, Bonnie (cut the butter down a bit, played around with the liquid-to-flour ratio, etc.)
Mel, what do you mean by “chopped ham”?
A piece of ham that’s been cut into small pieces (diced). Does that help?
Do you think I could make this ahead but not freeze? I want to prepare it today but feed it to the family tomorrow. Would that work?
Yes, that should work great!
I found this under your “freezable” section of recipes (I’m trying to stock up the freezer for my mom). Can’t wait to try it! However, I didn’t see any instructions for how to freeze this dish. Do you recommend I cook it fully before freezing? Thank you!
Hi Natalie – if you make and assemble the lasagna and freeze before it’s baked, you can bake it from frozen (or let it thaw in the fridge overnight and then bake). If frozen, bake covered for 1 1/2 hours, uncover and bake until hot and bubbly (about another 30 minutes). If thawed, bake for 45 minutes and then uncover and bake until hot and bubbly.
I was wondering at what temperature and how long you bake it for if frozen.
I use the same temperature.
Made the cordon Bleu Lasagna- didn’t have broccoli- used canned green beans- rinsed them….it was very good. I may try some blackening seasoning on the chicken next time. Something to punch the flavor up.
I made this for my mother’s birthday dinner last week and it was a HIT! I did just blanch the broccoli before I layered it up, but I’ve put uncooked broccoli in stuff before and I just prefer it cooked before being baked with everything else…personal thing. I probably used a lot more cheese than I should’ve as well, but hey…can you have too much cheese?!? It was fantastic, wonderful, delicious and there weren’t any leftovers. My picky kids ate it all and loved it. Another win for Mel! Thanks for the unique recipes and I’m truly not a big lasagna fan, but I will make this one a lot!
Does the broccoli need to br precooked at all? How small do you chop it?
Can’t wait to try this!
Karen – No, the broccoli doesn’t need to be precooked. I chop it pretty small – a bit smaller than bite-size pieces.
I made this. I ate this. I love, loved, loved this. I think it’s my favorite dish I’ve ever made with lasagna noodles. I ate it for leftovers for two days. Then I was sad it was gone. It is perfect. Light, creamy, cheesy, flavorful, and lots of broccoli to make you feel oh so healthy. It wasn’t overly saucy, but I liked that. It made it easier to cut and eat, and kept it feeling light.
Made this tonight and it was awesome. I halved it and added a little more chicken broth to the sauce to make sure it was saucy enough and it was wonderful.
I made this tonight and noticed you listed parmesan cheese twice and was wondering if that was a mistake. It was good but my noodles on top were a little dry and I even used more sauce than 1/2 cup. In fact they curled a little. I love trying your recipes. You are amazing!
Hi Colleen – thanks for the heads up on the Parmesan cheese. I’ve edited the recipe. I forgot to include that 1/2 cup of the Parmesan is stirred into the sauce and the remaining 1/4 cup sprinkles on top. If the top noodles are dry, you can reserve more sauce for the top layer or just eliminate those noodles altogether. I don’t mind a bit of toothsome quality to the top layer of noodles but understand if others want it a bit more tender.
Lindsay, I am trying it as a freezer meal tonight. Will freeze, thaw tomorrow and try for dinner. Will letcha know!
This looks fantastic! Going to have to put this on our dinner menu for later in the week 🙂
Do you think this would work well as a freezer meal?
Can’t wait to try this with Easter ham leftovers! I made your classic italian lasagna this weekend and it was amazing. Our guests loved it, and your unbelievable carrot cake recipe for dessert topped it all off. Thanks again for great recipes!
I am out of broccoli and was wondering if you thought that spinach would be an okay substitute?
Dee – I haven’t tried it, worth a try though. I have used spinach in THIS lasagna and it is delicious.
Mel. I think you are amazing. Thank you for sharing your talents.
mmm this looks great. I may try it as stuffed shells!
Oooh, I love this!!! it looks delicious!
Yum! My mother-in-law loves chicken cordon bleu, and I can’t wait to make this for her!
This sounds awesome!! I’ll definitely be trying it soon… I’m a sucker for all lasagna varieties, too. This one is super unique and has me drooling. 🙂
Oh my goodness!! At first glance my mouth was watering. Chicken cordon blue is amazing, but chicken cordon blue and a lasagna, I want to shake the hand of the genius that came up with this dish! I’m putting it down on my list of all time favorite meals. Thank you for all that you do! I love every single one of your recipes.
I am DYING over here. In all the best ways! I’ll admit, by internal alarm was triggered when I read that you “cut the butter way down” but I’m going to trust you 🙂
This sounds like next week’s Sunday Supper!
Thank you Mel and Bonnie! I just used from the freezer the last of my Christmas ham in your delicious ham and pasta skillet dinner. I’m thinking maybe I should just buy a very small ham and make this as the main course with salad, your whole wheat rolls, and a dessert. It’s so wonderful to have so many ideas for Easter dinner. No wonder you start your Easter dinner planning so early!
do you think I could assemble this a day in advance and then bake it off when I am ready to eat?