Chicken Faghita Lasagne

Sounds weird doesn't it? Well it's not. It's actually bloomin' delicious and I just thought I would share the recipe with you all because it's a firm favourite in our house, keeps really well if you want it to last more than one day, and it couldn't be easier to make. It's also fairly healthy. Do I have your attention? I give you, Chicken Faghita Lasagne. 

I first saw this recipe when I was following Slimming World and I found it on Instagram. I think the girl referred to it as 'Slimming World Enchiladas' based on the principle that pasta is a 'free' food on Slimming World, whereas Tortilla Wraps wouldn't be, but I don't want to confuse anyone. To me it is more like a lasagne, and it has all the flavourings of a Faghita mixture so that's where the name came from. God I'm clever! 

This dish is great for lots of reasons but the best part is honestly the taste. It's gorgeous! I usually have mine with salad but it would also work well with any kind of vegetables, rice or chips. Carbs on carbs I know, but lots of people serve those items with a regular lasagne. Salad works really nicely in my opinion! It's also probably even nicer the next day. This recipe makes four decent portions so we get two days out of it and anything that makes life easier is a good thing in my book. It's a great feeling when you've had a busy day and you don't have to cook. 

It's also a fairly healthy dish if you think about it. You can make it with wholemeal lasagne sheets and it tastes just as good and is much better for you due to all the fibre in the wholemeal pasta. You can make it with any vegetables of your choice and it genuinely works well with any veg. I've even made it with root vegatables like carrots. I never plan what veg I'm putting in it, it's more a case of what is in the fridge or freezer. Today I ended up throwing in half a punnet of mushrooms, 6 cherry tomatoes, the end of a bag of frozen peas, and some leftover peppers. It's a great way of using up any odds and ends of vegetables that are lying around and crying out to be used before they end up in the bin. What a waste. 

So as always it's never really just a quick post with me is it? A quick idea to 'pop up a quick recipe' ends up with me ranting about the emotional wellbeing of your vegetables, but such is life. I'll get to the point and tell you how to make this bad boy. 

As always I would love to hear from you if you decide to make this. I guarantee you it will be a dish you make again and again. On Slimming World it would be totally syn free apart from the seasoning mix but even at that it's really low. You would also need to allocate your Healthy Extra A for the cheese. 

You will need : 

4-5 chicken fillets 
A tin of chopped tomatoes 
Some water (fill up the tin from the tomatoes) 
Whatever veg you like. Today I used mushrooms, cherry tomatoes and peppers. 
6-8 Lasagne sheets, depending on the size or your lasagne dish.
About 200g of cheese. Most cheeses work well but I used grated mozerella and it worked beautifully. 
A sachet of Faghita Seasoning Mix. You know the one that you get in the Faghita making kits? One of those. Yep, you can buy those seperately for only €1 or so. I have made this with the good old fashioned Faghita flavoured spice mix but I've also tried other flavours such as smokey BBQ and it worked out gorgeously, so pick whatever takes your fancy. You'll find the sachets in the same section as the Faghita kits. Olde Paso make them but there are cheaper brands that work just as well. I got mine in Aldi this time round! 

Method - 

1. Spray some 'fry lite' in a frying pan, or olive oil or coconut oil! Whatever you normally use to fry with. 
2. Chop the chicken fillets in to small pieces. Do the same with the vegetables, whatever you decide to use. Add the chicken and vegetables to the pan and sauté together stirring throughout. If using frozen veg just throw it in the saucepan frozen. 
3. When the chicken is cooked add in your seasoning mix and ensure all meat and vegetables are coated. Continue to stir and ensure it doesn't stick to the pan too much. 
4. Add in the tin of chopped tomatoes.
5. Give it a good stir and let it bubble away for 5 minutes. Fill the chopped tomato tin up with water and add to the saucepan and let summer for another 5 minutes. 
6. Add in any further seasoning or herbs that you fancy. I usually add smoked paprika as it works really well. 
7. Line your lasagne dish with a layer or lasagne sheets. 
8. Spoon about 1/3 of the mixture from the saucepan on to the layer of lasagne pasta trying to evenly disperse the chicken and vegatables etc. 
9. Add another layer of lasagne sheets.
10. Add the remaining contents of the saucepan on top of the pasta and spread evenly. 
11. Place the lasagne in a preheated oven at 200'C and bake for 25 minutes until pasta has cooked. Take it out and sprinkle on the cheese before returning to the oven for a further 5 minutes until the cheese melts.
12. Serve with salad and enjoy! 


This is what it looks like after the 25 minutes and as you can see I had started to sprinkle the cheese on top. 


And finally on my plate, not exactly Michelin star presentation but it was far too late and I was absolutely starving. It was devoured in about two minutes. 

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