My Keto Pesto Chicken Lasagna recipe packs a TON of flavour - and greens! - into a tasty meal with very few carbs.
We’ve been indulging in all kinds of delicious keto soups and casseroles lately - it’s been lovely.
The recipe I’m sharing today has been a real stand-out recipe: keto chicken pesto lasagna!
As with my original Keto Lasagna Recipe, layers of noodles made from zucchini - rather than pasta - is the key to making the lasagna keto.
In this case, the pasta sauce is a spinach and basil pesto - bringing some color and bright flavour to the leftover rotisserie chicken.
That’s all stacked with layers of cheese and keto lasagna noodles to produce a delicious twist on classic lasagna.
It may just be my favorite keto recipe yet - my husband isn’t even on a low carb diet, and he’s requesting it in “heavy rotation” - to make it every 2 weeks or so!
So, you know - a great way to feed the whole family, while sticking to a keto diet!
Nutritional Information
This pesto chicken lasagna recipe is a perfect fit for most people on a ketogenic diet.
It’s got a much lower carb count than regular lasagna, coming in only 6 grams of net carbs!
Oh, and the best part - it’s loaded with protein - 36 grams.
Add that to all the additional nutrients you’re getting from having so many greens packed in, and I’m sure you’ll agree that this low carb recipe is WAY healthier than the real thing.
Tasty enough that you won’t feel like you’re missing out, also!
Ingredients
This keto friendly lasagna recipe uses really simple ingredients, you should have no trouble finding them in any larger grocery store.
A few notes for you:
Zucchini
As with my Keto Lasagna & my Keto Spinach Feta Lasagna [Spanakopita Lasagna] - and some more upcoming low-carb lasagnas! - I use zucchini in place of pasta for the lasagna noodles.
The thicker the zucchini, the wider the lasagne sheets.
These are quicker and prettier to lay out, BUT also more likely to break during the salting step, AND more likely to have big seeds in it.
I recommend using medium zucchini for your low carb noodles - as straight and uniform in thickness as you can find.
Rotisserie Chicken
I’ve been on a big “buy a precooked chicken, skip having to mess with cooking chicken myself” kick lately. It definitely makes for quicker food prep.
Also, for some reason, the price of rotisserie chickens hasn’t been jumping at the same rate as raw chicken breasts has been!
If you want to cook your own - or have leftovers to use up - you can use 4 cups of cooked chicken for this delicious keto lasagna.
This could be anywhere from 3-5 chicken breasts, depending on the size.
If you’d like to do shredded chicken breast, check out my recipe for Dutch Oven Pulled Chicken!
Also, a quick note: If you’re using leftover chicken, the age of the chicken at the time you cook it into the keto lasagna bake affects the longevity of this dish.
In general, chicken is good for 3-4 days after cooking. If it’s been in your fridge for a couple of days before making the pesto chicken lasagna, you’re going to want to eat this low carb lasagna quickly!
Baby Spinach
Because the spinach is being used to make a homemade pesto sauce - rather than being folded into ricotta, like you do in traditional lasagna - you’ll want to use fresh spinach.
The cells in spinach - like many plants - break down a bit in the freezing / thawing process, so previously frozen spinach doesn’t work as well for this particular use.
Almonds
I used almonds in this low carb lasagna recipe, as I had them on hand, and I’m too cheap for pine nuts, LOL.
You can use either, swap in walnuts, or just skip nuts altogether. It’s all good!
Everything Else
Rounding out this recipe, you will need:
Mozzarella Cheese
Ricotta Cheese
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Fresh Basil Leaves
Olive Oil
Heavy Cream
Fresh Italian Parsley
Large Eggs
Garlic Cloves
Salt and Ground Black Pepper
... I just don’t have anything to add, as far as these ingredients go!
How to Make Keto Pesto Chicken Lasagna
The full recipe is in the recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through:
Prepare the Zucchini “Noodles”
Cut the ends off your zucchini and discard.
Using a mandoline, slice the zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices - about ⅛" thick.
Once the time is up, lay the zucchini slices out on a double layer of paper towels, and cover with another layer of paper towel.
Gently press to absorb excess moisture, set zucchini aside.
Pesto Chicken
Measure spinach, and basil into the large bowl of a food processor, blitz until roughly chopped.
Use a rubber spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl, to get any stray pieces incorporated.
Add Parmesan cheese, almonds, olive oil and garlic cloves to the spinach mixture, blitz until greens and almonds are finely chopped.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Discard the carcass (or freeze to make soup later), chop the chicken meat into small pieces.
Reserve ¾ cup of the pesto in a small bowl or a glass measuring up, pour remaining pesto over the chicken, stir well to coat. Cover and set aside.
Ricotta Mixture
Add drained ricotta to a medium bowl, along with the Parmesan, and parsley. Use a wooden spoon to break the ricotta up. stir well to combine.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste, then mix in the eggs. Set aside.
Assembly
Preheat oven temperature to 350 degrees f, spray a 9 x 13" ovenproof dish with nonstick cooking spray, set aside.
Place a single layer of zucchini slices in the lasagna pan, overlapping the edges SLIGHTLY. You want the whole bottom of the pan covered.
Gently spread ½ of the pesto chicken over the first layer of zucchini noodles, scatter a third of the mozzarella over the sauce.
Add another layer of zucchini, blotting with paper towels as you go.
Gently spread ½ of the ricotta mixture, followed by another layer of zucchini. Place some paper towels over the surface, and gently press down to compress.
Discard paper towels.
Spread remaining ricotta cheese mixture , followed by the last layer of zucchini. Compress.
Whisk the remaining pesto with the cream, spread over the lasagna, getting all the way to the edge of the pan.
At this point, I like to place the pan on a large baking sheet, just in case of any boil-over. Much easier to clean a pan, than the oven!
Bake in the preheated oven - uncovered - for 45 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
If you’d like, you can broil it for 2-3 minutes at the end, if you like an extra crispy cheese topping.
Leftovers
Once lasagna is cooled to almost room temperature, it can be covered in plastic wrap (or kept in an airtight container) and stored in the fridge for up to 4 days.
More Keto Italian Recipes
Missing your dinners out at Italian restaurants? Here are a few easy keto recipes to make low carb versions at home!
Keto Mozzarella Sticks
Low Carb Chicken Piccata Zoodles
Pizza Stuffed Peppers
Keto Spinach Feta Lasagna [Spanakopita Lasagna]
Low Carb Chicken Parmesan
Keto Italian Wedding Soup
Low Carb Marinara Sauce
Portabello Mushroom Pizzas
Keto Lasagna
Low Carb Tiramisu
Keto Biscotti
Low Carb Spaghetti and Meatballs
Keto Stromboli Meatloaf
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Keto Pesto Chicken Lasagna [Zucchini Lasagna]
Equipment
- Mandoline slicer
- 9 x 13 baking dish
Ingredients
- 3 lbs Zucchini
- 1 ½ teaspoon Salt
Pesto Chicken
- 1 Rotisserie Chicken or 4 cups cooked chicken meat
- 312 g Baby Spinach Leaves
- 2 cups Packed Fresh Basil Leaves 80 g
- 1 cup Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
- ½ cup Almonds chopped
- ⅔ cup Olive Oil
- 8 Garlic Cloves peeled and pressed or finely chopped
- Salt and Pepper
Ricotta Layer:
- 1 lb Ricotta
- ½ cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
- ⅓ cup Finely Chopped Italian Parsley
- 2 Large Eggs
- Salt and Pepper
Assembly
- Pan spray
- 3 cups Mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup Heavy Cream
Instructions
Prepare the Zucchini “noodles”:
- Cut the ends off your zucchini and discard.
- Using a mandoline, slice the zucchini lengthwise into very thin slices - about ⅛" thick.
- Place the zucchini slices in a large bowl. Sprinkle with the 1 ½ teaspoon salt, and GENTLY toss to distribute the salt. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
- Once the time is up, lay the zucchini slices out on a double layer of paper towels, and cover with another layer of paper towel. Gently press to absorb excess moisture, set zucchini aside.
Pesto Chicken:
- Prepare the chicken: Remove the skin from the meat (discard or set aside for another use), pick the meat from the bones. Discard the carcass (or freeze to make soup later), chop the chicken meat into small pieces. Set aside.
- Measure spinach, and basil into the large bowl of a food processor, blitz until roughly chopped.
- Add Parmesan cheese, almonds, olive oil and garlic cloves, blitz until greens and almonds are finely chopped.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Reserve ¾ cup of the pesto, pour remaining pesto over the chicken, stir well to coat. Cover and set aside.
Ricotta Layer:
- Add drained ricotta to a large bowl, along with the Parmesan, and parsley, stir well to combine.
- Season with salt and pepper, to taste, then mix in the eggs. Set aside.
Assembly:
- Preheat oven to 350, grease a 9 x 13" baking pan with pan spray, set aside.
- Place a single layer of zucchini slices in the pan, overlapping the edges SLIGHTLY.
- Gently spread ½ of the pesto chicken over the noodles, scatter 1 cup of the mozzarella over the sauce.
- Add another layer of zucchini, blotting with paper towels as you go.
- Gently spread ½ of the ricotta filling, followed by another layer of zucchini. Place some paper towels over the surface, and gently press down to compress. Discard paper towels.
- Spread the remaining pesto chicken, then another cup of the mozzarella. Top with another layer of zucchini, again blotting and compressing.
- Spread remaining ricotta , followed by the last layer of zucchini. Compress.
- Whisk the reserved pesto with the cream, spread over the lasagna.
- Scatter remaining mozzarella over the top, as well as the Parmesan cheese.
- Bake uncovered for 45 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
- Remove baked lasagna from the oven and allow to rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving.
Notes
Nutrition
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