King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Okay so this is not a baked good, but it makes a wonderful meal, and I just had to post about it!

The other day I was talking about chicken with my best friend. I could eat chicken every day and be perfectly content. It’s a versatile meat and can be eaten in any genre of food – Italian, Chinese, American, Thai, Mexican, etc… We were discussing chicken recipes and she passed along one of her mom’s recipes. Last night I made it for dinner, and it was delicious! We can’t wait to eat the leftovers throughout this week!

The recipe calls for two cups of cooked chicken, so I began by cooking my meat. I picked up chicken cutlets because they were on sale and cook a little faster than whole chicken breasts. I greased a large pan and placed it over medium-high heat. While it heated up, I put some salt and pepper on both sides of my chicken. Once it was warm, I placed the chicken in the pan and set a timer for 7 minutes. Then I turned them and let them cook on the other side for another 5. They were perfectly golden and cooked through, and I then cut them into bite-sized pieces and set them aside.

Next, I chopped up a yellow onion and green bell pepper. The recipe calls for a ½ cup of each, but I cut up the whole onion and pepper and saved the leftover vegetables for future salads.

I washed out my pan from the chicken and put it back over medium heat, with a half stick of margarine in it. While it melted, I preheat my oven and greased a pan. Then I cooked the onion and pepper. Once they were done, I added the tomatoes, soups, and chicken.

Finally, it was time to layer! Broken up corn tortillas went down first, followed by the chicken goodness, followed with shredded cheddar cheese. This was repeated twice more, until all the chicken was in the pan. It cooked for 40 minutes in the oven and then was enjoyed!

King Ranch Chicken Casserole
From the Kitchens of Laura and Jan 🙂

Ingredients:
¼ c (half stick) of margarine
½ c green bell pepper, diced
½ c onion, diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can RoTel Original (diced tomatoes and green onion), undrained
2 c cooked chicken breast, chopped
12 corn tortillas, torn into bite-sized pieces
2 c shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a 13×9 inch pan with cooking spray.

Melt margarine in a large pan over medium heat. Add bell pepper and onion and cook for about five minutes. Add in the soup, RoTel, and chicken, and stir.

In a baking pan, layer the following (1/3 of each): tortillas, chicken mixture, cheddar cheese. Do this three times! Cook for 40 minutes. Bon appétit!