King Ranch Chicken Casserole! This cheesy casserole is basically a Texan lasagna! Layers of crispy corn tortillas, cheese, and a creamy chicken mixture loaded with bell peppers, tomatoes, green chiles, chili powder and cumin! Perfect for potlucks or family get togethers!
King Ranch Chicken Casserole is on the menu for today! Who’s coming over?! This King Ranch Chicken Casserole is a classic Texan dish. It didn’t take long once I moved here to be introduced to this dish. It turns up at pretty much any get together or potluck. I find it perfect for feeding my large family. It’s one of the few meals that I make that I can count on some leftovers to see us through to another day.
This dish is basically like a lasagna. A few more steps involved than my Texas Lasagna though. Mostly just because we’re going to take a little time to make our own sauce. Most recipes will use a version using cream of mushroom and some cream of chicken condensed soups. Nothing against those ingredients, but I decided to make my version with a homemade sauce instead.
Some butter, flour, and chicken stock cooked together create the base to our sauce. It’s the same method used in the King Ranch Chicken Soup that is such a huge hit! We also use some bell peppers, diced tomatoes, green chiles, and sour cream to make the sauce extra creamy.
I have shared this recipe with you before, in case you have forgotten. And most likely you have. Why? Well…the pictures I took of it were horrendous. So bad I didn’t even really want to share it or make the dish myself. Yikes. I do believe i have improved slightly in the photography department in the 3 years I have been doing this. But it’s possible I have some of those ugly food pics below for you to reminisce about with me!
By the way..if you’re a fan of casserole dishes I have to share a fun site with you that I have come to enjoy. Allfreecasseroles.com. They’ve shared some of my recipes before, including this Funeral Sandwich Casserole, my Cuban Sliders recipe. They basically collect the best casserole recipes online for every day cooking and offer them all in one place. So make sure you check them out. The site is run by amazing people who love to share the work of bloggers and I know I personally have experienced a lot of growth and new followers and lots of love from them.
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King Ranch Chicken Casserole! This cheesy casserole is basically a Texan lasagna! Layers of crispy corn tortillas, cheese, and a creamy chicken mixture loaded with bell peppers, tomatoes, green chiles, chili powder and cumin! Perfect for potlucks or family get togethers!
Ingredients
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 cup diced yellow onion (about 1/2 medium sized onion)
- 1 cup diced red bell pepper (approx. 1 medium bell pepper)
- 1 cup diced green bell pepper (approx. 1 medium bell pepper)
- 3 minced garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1 and 3/4 cup chicken broth (can sub with mushroom broth or veggie broth)
- 1–10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles (drained)
- 1 and 1/2 cups sour cream
- 2 lbs shredded chicken
- 4 cups shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
- 18 corn tortillas (can use white or yellow)
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- Optional Topping
- cilantro
- sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 3 quart baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large skillet over medium heat melt the butter. Once melted add the onion, and bell peppers. Allow to cook for several minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned.
- Add in the garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt, and black pepper. Stir to coat the veggies in the seasonings.
- Sprinkle the flour into the skillet. Stir to coat the veggies in the flour, will end up with a thick paste.
- Pour in the broth and stir. Bring mixture to a boil while stirring and let simmer while stirring for about 2-3 minutes until thick. Remove from heat, allow to cool for about 2 minutes and stir in the diced tomatoes with green chiles and the sour cream. Stir to combine. Add the shredded chicken and stir until mixed. Set aside.
- Pour the canola oil into a large skillet and heat over medium heat. Once the oil is heated carefully lay the tortillas in the oil in batches, cooking until just browned on each side. Remove from oil and place onto a plate lined with paper towels to catch the remaining oil.
- Once all tortillas are browned layer 6 tortillas on the bottom of the baking dish. Layer the tortillas to cover as much of the dish as possible. Top with half of the chicken mixture then one third of the cheese. Repeat by layering 6 more tortillas, the remaining half of the chicken mixture, and .one third of the cheese. Top with the remaining tortillas and the rest of the cheese.
- Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes.
- Remove from the oven allow to cool for several minutes then serve warm. Can serve with additional sour cream and fresh cilantro.
- Enjoy some traditional Mexican Rice and Beans as a side dish! Serve and enjoy!
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Marie Gregg says
March 1, 2018 at 1:13 PMThis is not the original King Ranch Casserole . I was looking for the original recipe. Original does not have sour cream.
Serene says
March 5, 2018 at 2:23 PMHi Marie. You’re right, this is not THE original. This is my version. The original uses canned of cream soups which I avoid in my home cooking. So the recipe I made has to take that into consideration, which is where the sour cream comes in.
Danielle says
May 1, 2018 at 5:23 AMWonderful!!!! This was my first time making King Ranch and my whole family loved it. They said it a keeper. I also appreciate there is not canned cream soups! Thank you for sharing this great recipe.
Serene says
May 1, 2018 at 6:19 PMSo glad you enjoyed! Thanks!
BRYAN PAZ says
June 14, 2018 at 12:42 AMSerene gracias por tu aportacion saludos desde ECUADOR…
SIGO GASTRONOMIA 🙂
Natalia says
September 14, 2018 at 3:30 PMI made this dish for a potluck and it was delicious! Got so many compliments and I didn’t have to bring back leftovers. I made a tiny modification, however, instead of placing it in the oven, I layered it in a crockpot instead and I ripped the tortillas into smaller pieces so it would be easier to serve. I’ll definitely make this again!
★★★★★
Serene says
September 14, 2018 at 6:41 PMLove that idea! So glad that you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for sharing your tips 🙂
Mark Melton says
May 17, 2019 at 5:50 PMThanks for the recipe. I searched online for King Ranch Chicken Casserole, and none of them “floated my boat”. I liked the looks of yours, easy. I followed your directions mostly, but I spread refried beans on each corn tortilla to add more protein and substance, I also added a cup of shredded mozzarella to the chicken mixture and mixed it all together.
Everything else remained the same, it turned out very well, my Ladies expressed their approval, so we’re good!
Kelly neidholt says
June 29, 2019 at 12:05 PMI’m a Texan and I’ve made several versions of this recipe but I must say this one is my favorite and definitely one that I will make again and again thank you so much for sharing