I grew up in Texas and remember eating this ALL the time as a kid. My mom's recipe is almost identical, although we do a few things different. First, add a couple of cloves of garlic to the onion and bell pepper and saute for 5 minutes or so to soften. I also buy a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from my grocery store and debone the meat and use that instead of chicken breasts - easy and fast :). Use only 1 cup (1/2 can) of broth, heat that in the microwave and dip the corn tortillas in this (which we tear into strips) before adding to casserole. Lastly, our recipe has 3 cups of cheese, but we toss that with 3 teaspoons of chili powder and 1 tsp of cayenne pepper. In a 13X9 pan, layer in this order, 1/2 the chicken, 1/2 the sauteed veggies, 1/2 the dipped tortillas, 1/3 of the cheese mixture, remaining chicken, remaining veggies, remaining tortillas, 1/3 of cheese. Add the leftover broth (from dipping the tortillas) to the soups and Rotel mixture and pour this over the top. 10 minutes before baking is finished, top with the remaining cheese mixture. Yummy, yummy, yummy. If you like more/less spice, you can adjust the cayenne pepper and/or add Tobasco sauce and now-a-days, you can buy the Extra Hot or Mild brands of Rotel. :)
Wonderful! My mom had this recipe for years, and now I have it online. :) Her steps are MUCH easier though, and you DON'T add the broth to the mixture (would make it too soggy, as others have noted). First, mix the onion, bell pepper, and chicken together. Layer half of it in a 13x9x2" pan. Second, heat one can of chicken broth, and dip half the tortillas in (to soften them), one at a time, then layer them on top of the chicken mixture. Third, add the remaining chicken mixture, then the remaining tortillas (again, dipped in chicken broth first). Fourth, add the layer of cheese, and sprinkle with chili powder and garlic salt. Fifth, combine the soups and tomatoes, then add that layer. Done! (One tip: I saute' the onions and bell pepper a little bit before mixing with the chicken - I found that if I don't, they aren't quite done enough, even after baking.) Thanks for the recipe!
Made this using a few of the changes in other comments; cut tortillas into strips decreased chicken broth to 1 cup and only used to dip tortilla strips added 2 cloves of fresh garlic pressed and sauted with onion and bell pepper until onion was translucent and tossed chili powder into cheese before sprinkling on layers. It was sooooooo excellent! Made one for my family and 1 for another and everyone wants more!!!! Next time I will use 2-3 whole chicken breasts and up the cheese to 12 ounces. Still it was EXCELLENT the way it turned out just trying to tweak it a little more.
Being from Texas I've tried many recipes for King Ranch chicken casserole but this is by far the best my family and I have ever tasted. I did saute the pepper and onion before adding them to the cassserole so they wouldn't be hard. I also dipped the tortillas in the chicken broth and only used 1 can of chicken broth to the casserole and it came out PERFECT. The family is already asking when I will make this again.
I love this recipe! My family has been making a similar recipe for years. In my recipe, I use 2 cans of cream of chicken and no cream o mushrooms, & I go ahead and mix the chicken with the sauce rather than layering seperate (saves a step). I also save some diced chiles and tomates to put on top layer for color. I hope everyone enjoys this recipe as much as my family does. It is super easy and quick but wows dinner guest.
This recipe has been in my family for years but we do not do two layers - just tortillas in strips topped with chicken topped with shredded cheese (we use 1 lb. Velveeta or mexican Velveeta is even better and so creamy melting)and then pour the soup mixture over all. I usually make it a few hours before I bake it and the soup mixture always makes its way through the entire casserole and is never too dry at the bottom. This also allows the flavors to blend well. It also freezes or keeps in the fridge well this way if you want to bake it the next day or later. A total fave of all my boys!
This recipe is very much like mine. The differences: I use 2 cans of cream of chicken soup and 2 cans of diced tomatoes with green chilies (Rotel). I use garlic powder instead of garlic salt; I also sprinkle ground cumin in addition to the chili powder. My family loves this dish.
I prefer to leave out the broth use 3 cups of cheddar and add about 1/4 cup coursely chopped cilantro and 1 large chopped fresh jalapeno. Delicious!
Easy and satisfying. A keeper!
Folowed advice of other reviewers and only used on e cup of broth. This as a good recipe but we did not like the corn tortillas. Wil def try again Maybe use flour tortillas? The sauce was great!
