One Pot White Chicken Lasagna Soup

This easy White Chicken Lasagna Soup tastes just like white chicken lasagna with cheesy layers of noodles smothered in velvety Italian spiced Parmesan infused sauce without all the layering or dishes! Simply saute chicken and veggies and dump in all ingredients and simmer away for a pot of velvety, slurpilicoius flavor!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1/3 cup flour
• 9-11 cups low sodium chicken broth, divided
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 15 oz can canneli beans, rinsed and rained
• 1 tablespoon chicken bouillon
• 1 tsp EACH dried parsley, dried basil
• 1/2 tsp EACH dried oregano, dried thyme, salt, pepper
• 2 bay leaves
• dash- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 10 uncooked lasagna noodles broken into approx. 1-2 inch pieces*
• 2-3 cups half and half (may sub fat free evaporated milk)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 10 oz chopped frozen baby spinach, thawed
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Cheese Garnish

• shredded mozzarella cheese
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• ricotta cheese

Instructions:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large Dutch oven/soup pot over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until almost cooked through. Remove to a plate.
2. Melt butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil in the now empty pot and heat over medium high heat. Add onions and carrots and cook, while stirring, for 3 minutes. Add bell pepper and garlic and cook for 1 minute. Sprinkle in flour then cook, stirring constantly for 3 minutes (it will be thick).
3. Turn heat to low and gradually stir in 8 cups chicken broth. Whisk 3 tablespoons cornstarch with 1 cup additional chicken broth and add to soup. Stir in chicken, beans, chicken bouillon and all remaining herbs and spices. Stir in lasagna noodles.
4. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer until lasagna noodles are tender, stirring occasionally so noodles don’t stick to bottom (approximately 20-30 minutes).
5. Turn heat to low, discard bay leaf and stir in half and half, optional heavy cream and spinach and warm through. Stir in 1 cup Parmesan cheese until melted. Stir in additional half and half or broth if desired for a less “chunky” soup. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste. Garnish individual servings with desired amount of cheeses.

NOTES:

*I love lasagna noodles in this recipe - they are slurpilicious! Don't worry about them breaking evenly - you won't notice once they cook. You can also replace the noodles with 2 1/2 cups uncooked small shells if desired and simmer for less time.
**If you want to omit the heavy cream but still would like a thicker soup then I suggest whisking 2 teaspoons cornstarch with some of the chicken broth and adding to the soup to simmer and thicken.

Source: carlsbadcravings.com