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This extra cheesy Brown Butter Pesto Spinach Souffle Lasagna is a Christmas Eve favorite. It’s simply a white lasagna with layers of creamy brown butter cheese Béchamel sauce with golden mushrooms, garlic, basil pesto, spinach, and cheese. This creamy, cheesy lasagna is always a favorite on Christmas Eve. It’s a great meal for entertaining; simply make it ahead of time and bake it off before guests arrive. Perfect for December!
Whenever I’m asked what’s on my Christmas menu, my first choice is usually lasagna. Lasagna is great because you can assemble the dish ahead of time. Then, bake it slowly in the oven while you enjoy your evening with friends and family.
I love to make multiple lasagnas, one with meat and one without. Sometimes, if my crowd of people is especially large, I’ll even make 3! This way, everyone has a yummy holiday dinner they can enjoy whether they consume meat or prefer a vegetable-filled dish. This makes life so super easy. Just add a side salad and bread for all to share, and your meal is complete! No stress, no fuss.
I like to keep my cooking pretty traditional when it comes to Christmas. Dinner on Christmas Eve is usually a beef tenderloin roast. But over the years, we’ve switched up our Christmas Day dinner. My mom used to roast a turkey. But when we moved to Colorado, I began to make lasagna. And the last couple of years, we’ve actually done Mexican.
This year, I’m returning to my roots and making everyone lasagna. This will be the easiest on me, and of course, delicious too! I’m going to make my classic homemade meat lasagna that I know all the boys will love. It’s a favorite recipe of theirs, especially when I make it spicy.
But I’m also going to make this white lasagna. Inspired by my late Aunt Katie’s white chicken lasagna that she used to make at Christmastime. But I’ve made a few tweaks that I know she would approve of! Aunt Katie was my cousin’s (that you always hear me talk about) mom.
Here are the details
Step 1: the mushroom Béchamel sauce
I make my cheese Béchamel sauce with golden brown butter for even more flavor.
Start out by cooking the mushrooms in butter. Then, add yummy flavors like garlic, sage, and thyme. The key is to let the butter brown slowly around the mushrooms until they smell nutty and delicious.
Next, mix in flour, milk, and white wine – or use broth. The flour will thicken the Béchamel sauce and make it creamy.
Now mix in the provolone cheese.
Step 2: the spinach and pesto
I use frozen chopped spinach. Thaw the spinach, then squeeze out all the excess water. Once most of the water is removed, mix the spinach with store-bought basil pesto.
Step 3: assemble
Now it’s time to assemble. Layer cooked lasagna noodles with the Béchamel sauce, spinach/pesto mixture, and mozzarella cheese.
Continue to layer until all of the ingredients are gone!
Step 4: chill and save – or bake
At this point, you can cover the dish and keep it in the fridge for a few days before baking. Or, you can freeze it, then thaw it later and bake.
To bake, I like to bring the dish to room temperature first. Then cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Next, remove the foil and keep baking until the edges of the dish begin to crisp. So delicious!
It’s going to smell so wonderful!
A great dinner to entertain with over the holidays, from today through New Year’s!
Looking for other easy holiday dinners?? Here are my favorites:
Stuffed Spaghetti Squash 4 Cheese Pesto Lasagna
Crispy Prosciutto Cheesy White Lasagna
One Pot Creamy French Onion Pasta Bake
Creamy White Wine Mushroom Stuffed Shells
Lastly, if you make this Brown Butter Pesto Spinach Souffle 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!
Brown Butter Pesto Lasagna
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 693 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 box dry lasagna noodles
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) salted butter
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- salt and black pepper
- 8 cloves garlic, chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried sage
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme
- chili flakes
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups dry white wine or broth
- 2 cups shredded provolone
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 packages (10 ounces) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 cup basil pesto
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Lightly butter a 9×13 inch lasagna pan. Cook the noodles according to package directions. 2. Melt 2 tablespoon butter in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook undisturbed for 5 minutes or until golden. Add the remaining 6 tablespoons of butter. Allow the butter to brown lightly around the mushrooms for 5 minutes. 3. Add the garlic, sage, thyme, and chili flakes. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Add the milk and broth. Bring to a boil and stir for 1 minute. Remove from 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. Set the cheese sauce aside.4. In a bowl, combine the spinach and pesto.5. Spread 1/4 of the cheese sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with 3-4 lasagna sheets. Spread with 1/2 the spinach/pesto, then another 1/4 of the cheese sauce. Place another 3-4 lasagna noodles on top and then top with the remaining spinach/pesto, 1 cup mozzarella, and another 1/4 of the cheese sauce. Add the remaining lasagna noodles and pour the remaining cheese sauce over top. Top with 1 cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup of parmesan cheese. 6. Bake, covered for 30 minutes, then uncovered for 15 minutes more. Let sit 10 minutes before serving.
This post was originally published on December 18, 2023
Not sure what Molly’s talking about there. Hey ho. What I would like to know is, what makes this a souffle?? I was expecting some beaten egg whites? It sounds lovely and I’ll try it, I’m a big fan of your recipes, but I don’t see why it’s called a souffle?
How about the comment pre-approval feature your legitimate supporters have been begging you for for years now? This is literally SO easy to set up. Many other blogs have these quality controls, and it makes all the difference in the world in terms of the tone of your community. We are all pretty sick of what you are allowing this site to become, and having to see it every time we just want to look at a recipe. How are you ok with this? Why do you allow people to treat you and your life’s work this way? If you don’t even care about your business enough to safeguard it, it’s difficult to stand by and watch, and keep supporting you.
Hello! Could you clarify the “souffle” part of this recipe? I want to make sure I don’t miss a step. Thank you so much!
I don’t see Eggs is the ingredient list?
They’re mentally ill stalkers, Michelle. It’s the same couple of deranged people that post here almost daily using multiple fake screen names and emails who live solely to disrupt this site. They’re obsessed with harassing her, have no life outside of doing this, and it’s really sad and disturbing.
This does sound amazing and i am going to do this on Christmas eve, Thank you Tiegan!!!
Is the soufflé in the room with us right now?
Not sure why people are so caught up in the semantic blame game with this recipe. I made this last night for Christmas eve dinner. It was fantastic. No one cared to argue over the use of the word souffle, we did argue about clean up a wee bit tho. 😂😘
“A soufflé is a baked egg dish originating in France in the early 18th century.”
So what makes this a soufflé? There is no eggs in the recipe. It’s lasagna.
Great idea! Thanks!
Take another donkey dong in your pooper, Cathy.
Yeah, i see “lasagna” in the name.
Good eyes, great tasting dish. Cheers!
How in the world is this a soufflé? Lol.
5 cups cheese, a stick of butter and 2 cups whole milk?????? My arteries may not make it to 2024!!!!!! But sounds delish if you do that ❤️
What makes this “soufflé” lasagna??
Can you freeze this and reheat?
Hi Krista. She did say you could freeze. Just freeze it after you assemble and then to cook it defrost and set it out to come to room temp. After which your proceed to bake.
Yes, you could definitely freeze and reheat! xT
Do you have any suggestions to substitute for the mushrooms?
Hi Amanda! Maybe some zucchini would work well as a sub! xT
Great idea! Thanks!
I am allergic to mushrooms. Is there something else that would work to sub for this?
I can’t read the ingredients or instructions for this recipe due to giant ads taking over the entire screen and covering the instructions up, I’ve tried many times and no matter what the same issue keeps happening.
I use the Brave browser. It removes all the ads and pop up’s and makes the experience so much better. FYI
I am not a sage lover. Can you sub another spice?
Sounds amazing, My family is not mushroom fans is there something I can substitute? I really want to make this!
Thank you and Merry Christmas to you and your family!!!!!!
Can you substitute fresh spinach? I only as because I have SO MUCH spinach in my fridge lol. This looks delicious! Making it this week for sure 🙂
Hi Jennifer! Yes spinach should work well in this! xT