King Ranch Chicken - Nothing says comfort food like an EASY casserole recipe with shredded chicken, cheese, salsa, sour cream, layered with tortillas, and seasoned to perfection! Use rotisserie chicken to save time making this a great family-friendly weeknight dinner recipe!
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time30 minutesmins
Total Time45 minutesmins
Course: Chicken
Cuisine: American
Servings: 10
Calories: 730kcal
Author: Averie Sunshine
Ingredients
6tablespoonsunsalted butter
1medium white or yellow onionsdiced small
2poblano chile peppersseeded and diced small (two very large green bell peppers may be substituted)
1red bell pepperseeded and diced small
1jalapeno pepperseeded and finely diced*
3 to 5clovesgarlicfinely minced
5cupsshredded or chopped cooked chickenrotisserie highly recommended
¼cupvegetable or canola oiloptional for frying but recommended; divided
10street taco size or 4 to 5-inch diameter corn tortillascut in half (20 halves)
4cupsshredded Mexican blend cheeseplus a little extra if desired
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375F and spray a 9x13-inch baking dish or 3-quart casserole dish or similar with cooking spray; set aside.
To a large skillet, add the butter, onions, poblano, red pepper, jalapeno, and saute over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are beginning to soften. Stir nearly constantly.
Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Stir constantly.
Transfer the chile and onion mixture to a large bowl and add the chicken, sour cream, salsa, cumin, smoked paprika, salt, pepper, 3/4 cup cilantro, and stir well to combine; set aside.
Optionally but recommended, add 1 to 2 teaspoons of the oil to a large nonstick skillet, add about 4 tortilla halves, and fry for 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until crispy. Allow fried tortillas to rest on paper towels. Repeat until you've fried all of the tortillas. If you're not frying them, skip this step and simply layer them in the baking dish as directed in the next step.
Line the bottom of the baking dish with about 6 to 8 tortilla halves. They can be touching, but not overlapping too much. The goal is to line the base of the pan.
Top with 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Then evenly sprinkle 1/3 of the shredded cheese. Repeat this process two more times starting with layering the tortilla halves, chicken mixture, cheese. Again, tortillas, chicken, cheese. Tip - For an extra golden and extra cheesy top, I like to sprinkle a bit more cheese on the final layer.
Cover the pan tightly with foil. Tips - If you want to prep this dish as a make-ahead recipe, after covering with foil, stop here, and refrigerate for up to 24-36 hours before baking. Take the baking dish out of the fridge at least 30-45 minutes before you plan to bake it so it has time to come up to room temp if you're making it this way.
Bake covered for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake uncovered for about 10 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and is as golden browned as desired.
Allow the casserole to rest for about 5 minutes before sprinkling the final reserved 1/4 cilantro as a garnish, slicing, and serving. Optionally, you can also add shredded lettuce on top, diced tomatoes, avocado, guacamole, more salsa, or whatever garnishes you enjoy. Leftovers will keep airtight in the fridge for up to 5 days and in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Notes
*Notes About Spiciness - This isn't a very spicy dish despite the fair amount of chile peppers.However, to make it spicier:
Use canned green chiles (especially fire-roasted) instead of poblano peppers.
Keep the seeds and membranes of the jalapeno.
Seek out a green salsa which indicates it’s spicy
Tip: If you want to make sure this stays a normal/average spicy level, don’t confuse a serrano chile pepper with a jalapeno pepper. Serranos are thinner and leaner looking than jalapenos which are shorter and plumper looking. The color of the flesh is very similar, a nice “grass green” shade. However, serranos are much hotter than jalapenos and unless you want this dish to read pretty spicy, don’t get confused.