Buffalo Chicken Lasagna

Yes, it is football season and that mean buffalo EVERYTHING....My obsession has leaked over to my friend  Karen who made these delish buffalo sliders. This is a nice meal to get your Buffalo wing fix while having a hearty meal..

I love this lasagna especially cooking it in the crockpot!

1 Box Whole Wheat lasagna noodles

7 oz skim ricotta cheese (I had to) 

1 cup Greek Yogurt (non-fat) 

1 packet ranch dressing mix or crumbled blue cheese (w/ oregano, basil & garlic powder added to the yogurt/ricotta mixture...) 

1/2 cup Red hot Buffalo Sauce (the plain.. this one has about 4-5 ingredients)

2 precooked chicken breasts shredded

2 bell peppers

1 jar tomato pasta sauce

or  

homemade tomato sauce

• 2 cans crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tbsp Basil 
• Pinch of Salt and pepper to taste 
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• Simmer and stir frequently for 15 mins. and more seasoning to taste 

There are two ways to make this, the old school boil the pasta, layer your oven safe baking dish with the lasagna ingredients the bake in the oven at 350 for about 30-45 mins or crockpot it...  

I love crockpotting lasagna especially when making it for a small group..All of the flavors really cook into the pasta once you crockpot lasagna you'll never go back... 

 Crock Pot directions:  

1. Combine your sauce (jarred or homemade) with the red hot and shredded chicken in a bowl. Set aside 

2. Mix together your Greek yogurt, ricotta cheese and Ranch Packet or your greek yogurt, ricotta cheese blue cheese crumbles and oregano etc. (They are both really good options its just a matter of what is lying around.) 

3.Cut up the bell peppers and set aside. 

4. Assemble.....Spoon a little sauce on the bottom of the crock pot, lay down your UNCOOKED lasagna noodles (trust me.) The hardest part about this recipe (and its not even hard) is getting the lasagna noodle to fit in the crock pot. I typically have one long noodle in the middle and the side ones are noodles broken in half, fit however it works for you. The key to crockpot lasagna is that the noodle must be sandwiched between sauce. Layer: Sauce, noodles, sauce, ricotta cheese mixture, bell peppers, sauce, noodles, sauce and so on...repeat.. once you are done, take less than  a 1/4 cup of water and pour over lasagna.  For the top layer I place more sauce, bell peppers and  I like to plop spoonfuls of the cheese/yogurt mixture to give the finishing effect of slices of fresh mozerella!

This is a picture of the finished product mid-serving....

I typically have 4 noodle layers, so it becomes a thick lasagna. Depending on what kind of crock-pot you have cook on your low setting for about 3 hours, checking on the lasagna( I have Warm, Low & High, I cook on Low for 3 hours or warm for 6) 

About two and half hours in stick a knife in the middle of the lasagna and if goes through smoothly and there is no dry noodle cracking sound you are good to go. Turn off the crock-pot take off the lid and let this sit for about 30 mins. Do not skip or else you'll have a  sloppy lasagna.

Ps Soon I will make a mexican lasagna and show the layering in the crockpot...I am new to this recording every step while cooking, sorry!