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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
Best white lasagna out there! The mushrooms were a nice touch. 🙂
Aw thank you Mara! 🙂 xT
Lasagna isn’t my first choice, because I usually find it a bit soggy and bland. Not awful…just not my thing.
I am now converted, haha. This was THE BOMB. My wife wanted to make this and urged me to try it, and I thought it would be “ok” and I’d just get through it. We used a boatload of extra garlic, but otherwise kept the recipe as is.
WRONG. This is seriously good. Now we are combing your blog for more ideas. 🙂
Hey Emmit! Thank you SOOO much for giving this recipe a try! I so appreciate it! xT
Hi Tieghan!
Ok, wow. I made this for a pre-holiday dinner party with neighbors, and it was a huge, delicious, savory hit. It was also super easy to make which appreciated, because we had 14 people to feed. This was a great entree, as 4 people in the group are vegetarian.
I had no spinach, which I think would have been great, but I used grated zucchini instead, and it was perfect! Served with crusty bread and a big salad for a perfect meal.
Merry Christmas and thanks for the great recipe inspiration. <3
Thank you so much for this kind comment Debi! I’m so so happy that you enjoyed this recipe! Have a lovely Christmas! xT
You too, thank you!
How many days would you say is ok to make ahead? Would freezing be OK?
Hi Emilee! Yes, you can freeze this! xT
Wondering about freezing, or e eve en just making ahead… would you make it all the way to the end of the recipe or stop at some point, then finish when thawed… ? Or freeze before baking? I want to make this for Christmas day but don’t want to make it ON Christmas day. Can you advise me? Thanks so much for all the recipes! My daughter and I make at least one or two of them every week! Making one of your tortilla soups for Christmas Eve. Made the Carbonara on Tuesday! Anyway, just thanks. 😊
This was so good! The mushrooms and spinach were really a nice touch. Thank you for all the great content, and have a great Christmas, Tieghan!
Thank you so much for giving this recipe a try! So glad to hear you enjoyed it! xT
This was the best lasagna I have ever tried – and I usually like the red sauce and meat based ones. I didn’t expect to like this as much as I did, but it was a slam dunk. Call it whatever you want. I call it BRILLIANT. <3
Thank you so so much Kevin! xT
I made this for supper last night and my cheese sauce split. Any tips for improving the next time around?
To note, I followed the recipe as written.
Hi Marianne! I would maybe let the ingredients come to room temp so that they get incorporated better! xT
The description is definitely correct when it says this smells great, and it doesn’t taste bad either, but it turned out very greasy and curdled, and for some reason the sauce just melted out of the lasagne sheets, so the sheets in the middle just stuck together in one un-sauced mass. I’m not sure if I missed an un-written shuffle step but as written this is not the best lasagne recipe out there, though it’s pretty tasty!
Sorry, “shuffle” should have been “soufflé”! Thanks for your patience.
So sorry this recipe didn’t turn out for you! Is there anything else I can do to help? xT
This looks delish. Has anyone tried this using gluten free flour and gluten free lasagna noodles?
Hi Kari! I haven’t personally tried GF noodles with this but let me know if you give it a try! xT
This looks amazing! Can you use fresh spinach vs frozen? If so, how much would you recommend?
I used frozen spinach and it came out amazing. A 250 gram box did the trick. 🙂
Oooh, this was delicious! Kids loved it, had leftovers for lunch the next day and it was just as good. Yum!
Thank you so so much Jamie! xT
I’m going to make this for Christmas dinner but would like to use fresh made pasta. How will that change the cook time?
The word souffle in the recipe was an obvious mistake. Follow do to about the ingredients list word is omitted.Says brown butter pesto lasagna. Which looks delicious and a different type other than the traditional red sauce. Most people do not watch calories during the holidays.They want to enjoy all the different types of dishes . That’s saved for after new years . honestly folks if you do not like this blog there’s is so many others that may suit your needs .Other than a weekly bashing T takes. keep up the good work T and I always enjoy what you create. Merry Christmas. Debbie
Hey Debbie! So sorry for any confusion about this recipe! I grew up eating spinach souffle and this recipe is inspired by that! Hope that makes sense! xT
I was just in Paris over thanksgiving and had some AMAMZING soufflé so I was thrilled to see this recipe pop up! Which step does the soufflé portion of the recipe take place? It might be missing?
Thanks in advance for clarifying and/or editing team HBH!
Hey Danielle!! Hope you’re having a great holiday season! I grew up eating spinach soufflé as a side dish, so it felt comforting and cozy to call this a spinach soufflé lasagna with all the frozen spinach in the recipe! Apologies if that has created any confusion!! Have a lovely Christmas! xT
Ah ok, I’ve just seen some rude messages, I guess that’s what you were referring to Molly! My bad. But my souffle question does stand.
She’s talking about the people who come to this site daily looking for something to harass Tieghan about. She has a couple of weird stalkers that make up fake drama constantly for reasons unknown. Like this souffle rubbish. Well adjusted, normal people are tired of having to see it and wish she would moderate the comments.