🏆Lasagna Dreams, One-Pot Reality: Your 30-Minute, Zero-Drama Dinner Solution

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This recipe has been fully refreshed and updated for 2025!

One-Pot Wonder: Easy Spinach Pesto Chicken Lasagna Recipe

Ah, lasagna. The messy, multi-layered, cheese-filled Italian classic that often requires more pots and pans than a small restaurant kitchen. If you’re like me and find yourself wanting a delicious lasagna without the hassle of a culinary attack on your kitchenware, then you’re in for a treat! I introduce to you: the One-Pot Spinach, Pesto & Chicken Lasagna. It’s everything you love about lasagna but without the drama. We're talking maximum flavour, minimum scrubbing.

Close-up of a serving of one-pot Spinach Pesto Chicken Lasagna on a spatula, showing layers of green pesto-spinach filling and gooey melted mozzarella cheese, fresh from an orange skillet.

The Magic Behind the Mess-Free Masterpiece

The Stats (For the Busy Chef):

⏱ Prep Time: 10 minutes (seriously, that's it)

🔥 Cook Time: 30 minutes (while you clean exactly one pan)

🍽 Serves: 4-6 hungry people

The Grocery List: What You Need for One-Pot Victory

Ingredients laid out for Spinach Pesto Chicken Lasagna in a skillet, including raw chicken pieces, lasagna noodles, a jar of pesto, fresh basil, garlic cloves, an onion, a can of diced tomatoes, and a glass measuring cup of chicken broth, next to a large terracotta-colored Dutch oven.

This is less a grocery list and more a collection of superstars for your single pan.

The Essentials:

🫒 1 tbsp olive oil
🧅½ white onion, finely chopped
🧄 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
🍅2 tsp tomato purée
🍗 chicken breast, cut into 2cm/¾in pieces

The Sauce & Starch:

🥫 ¼ x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
🌿 1½ tbsp basil pesto, plus extra to serve
🍝 65g/2¼oz fresh lasagna sheets, cut into 4cm/1½in squares (fresh is key!)
🐔 chicken stock (about 250ml/1 cup, needed to cook the pasta)

The Cheese & Finish:

🧀 75g ricotta
⚪ 50g/1¾oz fresh mozzarella, torn or diced
🧂 Salt and freshly ground black pepper

The Method: From Pantry to Pan in 3 Steps

Step 1: Build the Flavour Base

1. Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and sauté until softened (about 3 minutes).

2.  Add the garlic and tomato purée and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.

3.Add the chicken pieces and cook until browned on all sides.

Step 2: The Dump and Simmer

1. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and add enough chicken stock to cover the chicken and coat the pan generously (this liquid will cook your pasta!)

2. Stir in the pesto, season generously with salt and pepper, and bring the mixture to a simmer..

3. Stir in the squares of fresh lasagne sheets. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pan, and let it simmer for 10–12 minutes until the pasta is tender and the sauce has thickened.

Overhead view of lasagna noodles (broken into pieces), chicken chunks, spinach leaves, and chopped tomatoes simmering in a creamy green pesto sauce inside an orange cast-iron pot or skillet. A wooden spoon rests in the pot.

Step 3. The Creamy Finish:

1. Take the pan off the heat. Stir through the ricotta cheese - this is what will give your sauce an incredibly velvety texture.

2. Scatter the torn fresh mozzarella over the top. Put a lid back on (or transfer the oven-safe pot and put it under the broiler for a few minutes) until the cheese is beautifully melted and gooey.

Tips for One-Pot Victory (Don't Skip These!)

Fresh is Best:

Using fresh lasagne sheets is key for this quick method. They cook much faster than dry pasta and result in a silkier sauce.

Consistency Check:

If the sauce looks too thick before simmering, add a splash more stock. If it’s too thin after simmering, let it bubble, uncovered, for 5 more minutes.

Serve it Pretty:

Finish the dish with a small dollop of extra basil pesto right before serving for a pop of fresh flavour and colour.

One-pan Spinach Pesto Chicken Lasagna baked in a wide, rust-colored skillet/pot, topped with golden-brown melted cheese, sitting on a black placemat on a wooden table.

The Happy Ending

You did it. You created a rich, cheesy, multi-layered masterpiece using only one pan. You've earned that smug feeling (and maybe a glass of wine). Go on, dive in. Life is too short for a sink full of dirty dishes!