You may not think of chicken when you think of lasagna, but it’s a dish that’s made to be messed with. The “traditional” lasagna in the United States — the one with ricotta and mozzarella and tomato sauce — is just one of the many different versions that originated in Italy, where they don’t see lasagna recipes in such strict terms. Lasagna is basically any combination of sauce and meat or vegetables between flat pasta, with sauces ranging from creamy bechamel to lasagnas layered with meat broth. And once you open up your plate to the whole wide world of lasagna, chicken quickly makes itself at home due to how many flavors it pairs with. You just need to take one step to make sure it works: You need to make sure the chicken in your lasagna is shredded.
Like the crumbled pork and beef of a classic Bolognese sauce, meat in lasagna should be well integrated into the texture of the dish, creating a cohesive layer of perfect bites. Big chunks of sliced or chopped chicken don’t quite work as well in lasagna, as they’ll crowd out the other ingredients. Ground chicken on the other hand also doesn’t really work, because chicken is too mild a flavor to stand out and will get overpowered when it gets that small. Shredded chicken finds a nice middle ground, as it layers in nice and flat, and will absorb sauces and cling to other ingredients while still standing out enough to be tasted.
Shredded chicken brings the right balance of flavor and texture to lasagna recipes
Shredded chicken for lasagna can be easily produced in a number of ways. If you want to minimize your work while you prepare the rest of the dish, just buy a rotisserie chicken from your grocery store, and use that meat for shredding. You can make it using a slow cooker, but that will take a while. Instead, try poaching your chicken. Bring water to a boil, put a chicken breast in, take the pan off the heat, and let the chicken cook in the hot water for at least 20 minutes. After that bath, be sure the chicken is cooked through; it should be super juicy and easily fork-shreddable.
If you want a little more browning on your chicken you can combine a pan fry and poaching. Sear your chicken breast in oil over medium heat for five minutes, then add a cup of water or chicken stock to the pan and cover. Finish cooking in the liquid for 10 minutes, and you’ll get tender chicken breasts with plenty of flavor.
All of this can easily be done while you work on the rest of your recipes. A crowd-pleasing favorite is a creamy white chicken and spinach lasagna, but you have plenty of more creative options, like buffalo chicken lasagna. Or just add some shredded chicken to an old-school red sauce and cheese lasagna. It’s an easy and versatile protein that can fit almost anywhere.
