When it comes to covered dish suppers, potlucks, or even busy weeknights, Southerners know that King Ranch Chicken reigns supreme. The familiar combination of pulled chicken, spicy green chiles, corn tortillas, and creamy canned soup takes us back to a dining table, surrounded by our loved ones. While the King Ranch Chicken recipe has roots in the Lone Star State, it's beloved by savvy home cooks around the South and beyond. Variations on the casserole (dare we say the best chicken casserole, ever?) appear in Junior League cookbooks across our region. Next time you're craving comfort food, pull out your 13x9 casserole dish and whip up a little taste of Texas. One cheesy, creamy bite and you'll be hooked. 

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

green bell pepper

chopped onion

vegetable oil

chicken

cream of chicken soup

cream of mushroom soup

tomato and green chiles

chili powder

salt

garlic powder

pepper

corn tortillas,

cheddar cheese

In a large skilled over medium-high heat, sauté bell pepper and onion 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in chicken and next 7 ingredients; remove from heat.


Layer one-third of torn tortillas in bottom of a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Top with one-third of chicken mixture and 2/3 cup cheese. Repeat layers twice. Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes.


SL also has a slow cooker version of this recipe that people like. What is strange is that - even though all of the other ingredients are the same, and in the same quantities - this recipe calls for 2 cups of chicken, while the other one calls for 4 cups - an entirely different ratio of protein to cheese/starch. The truth is that you can put as much chicken as you want in this - a wide variation will work, to your taste. But still a puzzling discrepancy.(giving 5 stars - I haven't made this exact recipe but don't want to bring the rating down due to my comment. It's obviously a great little recipe, and one that begs to be riffed on in various ways to keep it interesting, while still practically idiot-proof. You could add broccoli, stronger peppers (a tablespoon of mashed-up chipotle in adobe sauce could be transformative), beans, cilantro... Often with home cooks, the difference between mediocre and good is simply having the confidence to go off script a little)

don't see the need for garlic.  I make this quite often because it's a real flavor explosion; the sauce, the taco seasoning,  can of Rotel and cheese, really one of the best casseroles ever.  It's hard to coax people into it at times, because it sounds like a "clean out your cupboard" type of recipe, but it's delicious.  I would point out that quality is very important, no poor quality cheese, tortillas, chicken, etc.

I've made this many times. I love this recipe. As a new homemaker, this is very easy and gives me the impression that I know what I'm doing. Thank you! I will be making this for many years to come for my new family.

After one bite of this creamy, cheesy casserole we bet you'll be hooked.

king ranch chicken casserole

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total: 1 hours, 10 minutes

Servings: 7

Author : Southern Living Editors

Ingredients

Instructions

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