Love to eat lasagna but don’t want leftovers for days? This Buffalo Chicken Lasagna For Two is scaled down to feed two people and has all the flavors you love about buffalo chicken dip.
One of the challenges I face since I cook for myself is scaling down popular recipes so I don’t end up with leftovers for weeks. I don’t mind leftovers for lunch, but after a few days, I’m over it. I asked you on Facebook which recipes do you love to make but don’t because it makes too many servings? Several of you mentioned lasagna, and I totally agree. My spinach, mushroom, and carrot lasagna that I make when my mom requests it makes enough to feed a family of four twice. Sure, I could freeze it, but at my previous apartment, I had very little freezer space. I have a bigger freezer now, but space is still limited. That’s when I discovered that you can make lasagna in a loaf pan and have just enough to feed two people. Say what? I had this Buffalo Chicken Lasagna on my to-make list for quite some time as I love buffalo chicken recipes but been putting it off since I didn’t want a gazillion leftovers. Now I can make just enough for dinner and for lunch the next day.
I first heard about making a small scale lasagna back in October from Jessica of How Sweet Eats. She was doing a cooking demonstration to promote her cookbook when she scaled down her butternut squash lasagna to fit into a loaf pan. That is freaking genius! I never make lasagna because it’s always in a 13×9 pan, enough to feed a small army basically, and here all I had to do was switch to a smaller pan.
There are several components that every lasagna recipe must have – the noodles, the cheese, the filling, and the sauce. Since I was changing it up with buffalo chicken, I thought of all the components that go into buffalo chicken dip – chicken, hot sauce, ranch dressing, cream cheese, cheddar cheese. Then I added some green peppers (since I don’t eat celery) and carrots because you almost always serve buffalo chicken with carrot sticks. Instead of a traditional tomato sauce, I went with a Alfredo-type cream cheese sauce (it’s not quite Alfredo but close enough).
This lasagna technically makes four servings, but I find that most people eat two servings each. I’m not sure if buffalo chicken lasagna screams date night, but you can certainly have a date night in and serve this along with garlic toast and a small salad. Or you can just have a casual dinner together after a long day of work. Like most lasagnas, you can assemble this ahead of time (usually the day before) then throw in the oven when ready to bake. I don’t have experience freezing lasagnas, but after some research, it looks like you can assemble and freeze before cooking.
Yields 2
30 minPrep Time
35 minCook Time
1 hr, 5 Total Time
Save RecipeIngredients
- 3-6 traditional lasagna noodles* (see Note about noodle size)
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/2 cup chopped green pepper (roughly half of a medium bell pepper)
- 1/2 cup chopped carrot (roughly 2 large carrots)
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup hot sauce
- 1/2 cup ranch dressing
- 2 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken**
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (plus more for garnish)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/4 cup (2 ounces or 4 tablespoons) unsalted butter
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened and cut into 16 pieces
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Have a 9x5 loaf pan* ready (see Note about pan size).
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles and cook for 10 minutes. Drain.
- Meanwhile in a large skillet, melt the butter. Add the onion, green pepper, and carrots and cook for 5 minutes or until softened. Stir in the cheddar cheese, hot sauce, and ranch until the cheese has melted then mix in the cooked chicken and parsley.
- While the chicken mixture is cooking, make the sauce: In a large saucepan, melt the butter then add the cream cheese and melt until smooth. Slowly whisk in the milk and salt. Cook for another 3-5 minutes or until the sauce starts to boil and thickens (if the sauce thickens too much, add a little more milk).
- Spoon some of the sauce onto the bottom of the loaf pan. Add 1-2 noodles to cover the bottom. Sprinkle some of the mozzarella cheese on top then add half of the chicken mixture. Spoon some more sauce on top then cover with another 1-2 noodles. Add some more cheese, the rest of the chicken mixture, and some more sauce. Top it with the final 1-2 noodles, sauce, and cheese (cheese should be the last layer on top).
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted on top. Garnish with chopped parsley. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
*Depending on the size of your loaf pan and your noodles, you may end up only using one noodle per layer or two noodles per layer and overlapping them a bit. If the noodles are longer than the pan, you can cut off the extra then layer that little piece on top of the long noodle. Use your best judgement with your pan and noodle size.
*I did test this recipe with oven-ready lasagna noodles, but some of the brands were too small for my loaf pan. If you have a smaller loaf pan, they may work better for you. I highly recommend regular-sized traditional lasagna noodles (or regular sized oven-ready noodles and skip the boiling).
**I used one bone-in chicken breast that I cooked in boiling water for 30-45 minutes then tossed the bone and skin. Feel free to use your favorite chicken cut and your favorite chicken cooking method. You can even use rotisserie chicken.
More Buffalo Chicken Recipes
Stovetop Buffalo Chicken Macaroni and Cheese
Buffalo Chicken Dip Quesadillas
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