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The 25 Most Popular Recipes of 2021.
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A simple White Pesto Lasagna for these days in between Christmas and New Years…simply the BEST. Layers of creamy cheese bechamel sauce with basil pesto and spinach. This dinner is always a favorite with our family, who are all in town right now for the holidays. It’s a great meal for entertaining, just make it ahead of time, and bake it off before guests arrive. Serve with a big bright salad!
Hi guys! Hope you all had an awesome Christmas! Ours was snowy and amazing. We had one new addition this year with little baby Walker – who will be here (with his parents) through February! Always thankful for my big family and the adventures they bring with them!
Keeping all these posts pretty short this week in an attempt to take a little time away from the computer. And honestly, really just give my mom a break who proofs these posts every single day!
So jumping into recipe things!
The details
This lasagna consist of 3 layers of noodles, pasta bechamel, and basil pesto. And we’re using pesto instead of ricotta cheese, so it has even more flavor and color!
Layer the sauce, then the noodles, then the pesto…and repeat! It’s super simple!
I made a homemade broccoli and basil pesto, but any store-bought pesto works great too. Just make sure if it’s extra oily to drain away the excess oil.
For serving
I make this, along with my more traditional meat lasagna, every single year for my family over the Christmas break. The girls usually prefer the white, while the boys devour the red. I serve each with my favorite winter salad and bread.
Perfect family dinner to feed a crowd!
Looking for other easy dinner recipes? Here are my favorites:
Crispy Tomato Herb Cheese Pan Pizza
Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Chicken Pasta
My Family’s Favorite Pesto Pasta Bolognese
Lastly, if you make this White Pesto Lasagna, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
White Pesto Lasagna
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 683 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 shallot, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups shredded provolone
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cup basil pesto
- 2 packages (10 ounces) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 box no-boil lasagna noodles
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 375° F. Grease a 9×13 inch dish.2. In a medium saucepan, melt together the olive oil and butter. Add the shallots, garlic, thyme, rosemary, chili flakes, salt, and pepper. Cook 5 minutes or until fragrant. Remove the garlic cloves and discard. 3. Whisk in the flour and cook for about 1 minute. Add the milk and broth. Bring to a boil and stir for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the provolone and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. Stir until the cheese is fully melted and the sauce is smooth. 4. To assemble, spread 1/4 of the cheese sauce into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with 3-4 lasagna sheets. Spread with 1/2 the pesto and sprinkle over some spinach. Add another 1/4 of the cheese sauce. Place another 3-4 lasagna noodles on top, add the remaining pesto, spinach and then another 1/4 of the cheese sauce, sprinkle over the remaining spinach. Layer the remaining lasagna noodles and pour the remaining cheese sauce over top. Top with a 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. 5. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling. Uncover and bake another 15 minutes, until the cheese is browned. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
I just made this recipe last night and it was so delicious but I could not get the noodles to cook through. I followed the recipe to a T and tried to cook it even longer (put it in for an extra 20 minutes) but it didn’t work. Not sure what I’m doing wrong but would love to try this recipe again so I can actually eat it all! Any suggestions are appreciated, thanks!
When you cover the Lasagna first use a good plastic wrap, pulled taut over the pan and them cover that with foil. Bake at same temp for about 35 minutes and then remove both coverings and finish baking! Your pasta sheets will be perfectly done!
Hi Shyla,
Happy Friday!! Love hearing that you enjoy this recipe, I so appreciate you giving it a try! Did you use no boil noodles? xxT
I am really excited to try this recipe! Can it be assembled the day before and cooked before serving?
Hey Sue,
You bet! That will work well for you. I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
AMAZING recipe. So much flavor!! After reading the reviews, I made sure to superrrr dry out my store bought pesto with paper towels….. it was still a little oily, but nothing bad at all. Everyone loved it! My family is so worn out on classic lasagna, so were IN LOVE with this version. And the leftovers were actually an amazing breakfast 🙂 So easy, affordable, and quick! Thank you, Tieghan!!!
Hi Kari,
Wonderful! I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks a lot for making it. Have the best weekend! xT
Would love to try this, but don’t there are only two of us eating. Going to halve the recipe and let you know.
I hope you love the recipe! xTieghan
My husband and I each had two servings because we fed our toddler from our plates and couldn’t get enough of this amazing recipe. I added four chicken breasts to sauté with herbs, then removed them before adding flour. Can’t wait to eat the remaining tomorrow night.
Hey Cissy,
Awesome! Thanks a lot for making this recipe. I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy Thursday❄️ xxT
My husband and I each had two servings because we fed our toddler from our plates and couldn’t get enough of this amazing recipe. I added four chicken breasts to sauté with herbs, then removed them before adding flour. Can’t wait to eat the remaining tomorrow night.
Hey Ciasy,
Awesome! Thanks a lot for making this recipe. I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy Thursday❄️ xxT
Cannot wait to make this AGAIN! It was so yummy. Mine ended up pretty runny, maybe bc I accidentally bought noodles I had to boil first. I also missed the note about draining the pesto if it’s extra oily. Mine was! Next time, I will add the exact amount of spinach that’s listed. I added too little! The taste was amazing though.
Hey Jenny,
Awesome! Thanks a lot for making this recipe. I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy Thursday❄️ xxT
Can you substitute for fresh spinach? And would ricotta be a nice addition? Thanks 🙂
Hi Robyn,
Sure, I would just cook it down first and yes ricotta would also be yummy! I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Hi! I’m so excited to make this dish this week- I LOVE anything pesto! I’m curious if you can make the dish ahead of time (~12 hours-ish) before baking? I work late so I am always looking for ways to save time in the evenings 🙂 Thanks in advance!
Hey Shelby,
Totally! Just keep it in the fridge and then bake when you are ready to serve. I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you give it a try! xTieghan
Super delish! I made this yesterday and I have never made such a flavorful bechamel sauce. Like others, made a few changes. Using boiled noodles always works better for me for texture, fresh spinach (reduced), added turkey sausage and mixed mozzerella with the provolone in equal parts. Used jar pesto, but needed to strain off excess oil. Think I will make fresh next time, although I was able to use extra oil for sautéing.
So yum! Thank you!
Hey Lisa,
I love to hear that this recipe was a winner, thanks so much for testing it out! Thanks for sharing what worked well for you! Have a great week! xTieghan
This was so delicious for our meatless Friday last week. It tasted kind of like the most yummy creamed spinach mixed in with a cheesy pasta. So good. I did substitute par-boiled rigatoni with all the other ingredients just mixed in for the lasagna style bake in an attempt to entice my 1 year old to try it (no luck!). But it did turn out to be a great (although not as fancy looking) assembly shortcut! I used mostly homemade pesto and it was loved by the big kids and the adults. Certainly “a keeper.”
Hi Patti,
Thanks you so very much for trying this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! xxTieghan
I am about to cook this now but accidentally got regular lasanga noodles instead of no-boil. Is that okay? I assume it will just be another step to boil them first. Thank you!
Hey Raven,
Yes, you will just want to boil until al dente. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
This was delicious and definitely will make again. I used store bought pesto and agree with one who commented finished lasagna was oily/greasy. Will drain it off next time I make it.
Hi Deanna,
Awesome!! I love to hear that this recipe was enjoyed, thanks a lot for making it. Have the best week! xTieghan
Is each bag of spinach 10 oz? Or 10 oz in total?
Looks soooo good!!
Hey Emily,
You will want to use 2 packages that are each 10 ounces. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Omg so good!! But definitely DRAIN any oil of the basil pesto sauce if you’re buying it in the store, or use less! Mine ended up being very liquidy because of so much excess oil from the basil. I’m so mad at myself for missing that detail because the dish is SO GOOOD!!!!
Hey Jamie,
Fantastic! Thanks a lot for making this recipe, I love to hear that it was enjoyed! Happy New Year!? xxT