What am I doing over here cooking a casserole on one of the hottest days of the summer? Crazy, perhaps, but the stomach wants what the stomach wants, and mine wants King Ranch Chicken Casserole! This creamy cheesy chicken casserole recipe is pure comfort food heaven and I guess that’s just what I need after months of eating nothing but summery refrigerator salads. 😅
What is King Ranch Chicken Casserole?
King Ranch Chicken Casserole is a classic Texan casserole, with layers of chicken, cheese, tortillas, and a rich creamy gravy (read about the purported history of the casserole here). Like a lot of casseroles, King Ranch Casserole is usually made with canned condensed soups. But if you know me, you know that I can’t get down with that. So I made a from-scratch version of this classic recipe, with a quick and easy homemade creamy chicken gravy.
King Ranch Chicken Casserole, My Way
This is one of those recipes where there are as many versions as there are small towns in America. My interpretation of Kinch Ranch Chicken Casserole has a little less “sauce” and a little more texture. I did this by using crunchy tortilla chip strips (the thick rectangular chips) instead of raw corn tortillas, and used a little less of that creamy gravy than you might normally find in a King Ranch Casserole. It’s still creamy, cheesy, and good, just less gloopy.
No Cream of Chicken Soup, Please!
I’m just not a fan of using condensed soup in my recipes. I’d rather just mix up a quick roux in the skillet and thicken the recipe that way. It’s not complicated and there are no mystery ingredients that way. :) Make sure to scroll down to the step by step photos below the recipe to see how it’s done!
The Rotisserie Chicken Short Cut
If you want to make your King Ranch Chicken Casserole a little easier, you can skip cooking the raw chicken breasts below and use pulled meat from a rotisserie chicken. You’ll need 2-3 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken to replace the chicken breasts. You can start the recipe with the step where you add butter, onion, and bell pepper to the skillet, modifying by adding the 1 Tbsp chili powder to the vegetables instead of to the raw chicken.
How Spicy is This King Ranch Chicken Casserole?
My casserole’s spice level was virtually non-detectable. The heat level will vary based on two ingredients: the chili powder and the diced tomatoes with green chiles (Rotel). Chili powder (which is a chili seasoning, not ground red chiles) can vary in heat from brand to brand and the one I have right now (a grocery store generic) has zero heat. The same is true for canned diced tomatoes with green chiles. Some brands are spicy, some are mild. Some label them as spicy or mild, some do not. So just be aware of these two ingredients if you’re trying to control the heat.
Love casseroles? Check out these other canned-soup-free casseroles: Creamiest Green Bean Casserole, Cheesy Chicken Vegetable and Rice Casserole, Wild Rice and Vegetable Casserole, and Cheesy Cottage Pie.
King Ranch Chicken Casserole
Servings 6 About 1.5 cups eachIngredients
- 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast ($5.79)
- 1 Tbsp chili powder ($0.30)
- 1 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.04)
- 2 Tbsp butter ($0.26)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.21)
- 1 green bell pepper ($0.63)
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour ($0.02)
- 1 cup chicken broth ($0.13)
- 1 10oz. can diced tomatoes with green chiles (Rotel) ($0.45)
- 1/2 cup sour cream ($0.22)
- 8 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded ($1.69)
- 5 cups tortilla chip strips* ($1.00)
- 2 green onions ($0.23)
Instructions
- Place the chicken breasts on a cutting board, cover with plastic wrap, and use a mallet or rolling pin to pound the chicken to an even thickness, about 3/4 to 1-inch thick. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with chili powder.
- Heat the cooking oil in a large skillet over medium. Once hot, swirl the oil to coat the surface of the skillet, then add the seasoned chicken breast. Cook the chicken until browned on each side and cooked through, about 5 minutes each side. Remove the chicken to a clean cutting board to cool.
- While the chicken is cooking, finely dice the onion and bell pepper, and shred the cheddar cheese. Begin to preheat the oven to 375ºF.
- After removing the chicken from the skillet, add the butter, onion, and bell pepper. Sauté the onion and bell pepper in the butter over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Add the flour to the skillet with the onion and bell pepper. Continue to sauté for about one minute more, or until the flour coats the bottom of the skillet and turns golden brown.
- Add the chicken broth to the skillet and stir to dissolve the flour and any browned bits of chicken from the bottom of the skillet. Allow the broth come up to a simmer, at which point it will thicken to a gravy. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Drain the can of diced tomatoes with green chiles well. Dice the cooked chicken. Stir the chicken and tomatoes into the gravy.
- After stirring the chicken and tomatoes into the gravy, add the sour cream and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheddar, and stir until combined.
- Layer a few handfuls of the tortilla chip strips into the bottom of a 9×13-inch or 3 quart casserole dish. Spoon half of the chicken mixture on top of the chips. Layer more tortilla chip strips on top (about half as much as before), then spoon the remaining chicken mixture on top. Finally, add the remaining 1.5 cups of shredded cheddar.
- Bake the casserole in the preheated 375ºF oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the casserole bubbles around the edges. Sprinkle sliced green onions on top after baking, then serve hot.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for step by step photos!
How to Make King Ranch Chicken Casserole – Step by Step Photos
Begin by pounding two boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 lb. total) to an even thickness, about 3/4 to 1-inch thick. This will help it cook quickly and evenly without drying out. Season the chicken breasts on both sides with about 1 Tbsp chili powder.
Add 1 Tbsp cooking oil to a large skillet and preheat it over medium. Once hot, swirl to coat the skillet in oil, then add the chicken breasts. Cook the chicken until browned on both sides and cooked through (about 5 minutes per side). While the chicken cooks, dice one yellow onion and one bell pepper. Shred 8 oz. cheddar cheese.
Remove the cooked chicken to a clean cutting board to cool. Begin to preheat the oven to 375ºF. Add the diced onion and bell pepper to the skillet along with 2 Tbsp butter. Sauté the onion and bell pepper in the butter over medium heat until the onion are soft and translucent (about 5 minutes).
Add 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour to the skillet and continue to stir and cook over medium heat, for about one minute more, or until the flour begins to coat the bottom of the skillet and turn golden brown (you’re essentially making a roux here with the leftover fat in the skillet and the flour).
Add 1 cup chicken broth to the skillet and stir to dissolve the flour and any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet. Allow the skillet to come up to a simmer, at which point the broth will thicken into a gravy. Remove the skillet from the heat.
Dice the cooked chicken and drain one 10 oz. can of diced tomatoes with green chiles. Add the chicken and tomatoes to the skillet and stir to combine.
Add 1/2 cup sour cream and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheddar to the skillet and stir to combine.
Lay a few handfuls of tortilla chip strips in the bottom of a 9×13-inch or 3 quart casserole dish. Spoon 1/2 of the chicken mixture over the chips (it will not cover in a solid layer).
Add a couple more handfuls of chips on top (about half as many as before), then spoon the rest of the chicken mixture over top. Lastly, add the remaining 1.5 cups of shredded cheddar on top.
Bake the King Ranch Chicken Casserole in the preheated 375ºF oven for 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the casserole is bubbling around the edges. Sprinkle sliced green onions on top after baking. Serve hot.
Cheeeeeeeeesy chicken and tortillas!
This dish is phenomenal. The entire family loves it. I haven’t experimented with adding it to the chicken mixture yet, but when reheating, I’ve added a little bit of Hidden Valley Spicy Ranch (I usually use in burritos and fajitas) and it is out of this world. Will likely add some to the skillet next time around!
Oh wow! I’ll have to try that addition!
Yummy! I had a Dr. Pepper to drink with this. Perfect Texas nostalgia. It was of course different from the traditional recipe, but the flavor was right on, and I loved the crunch from the tortilla chips.
So my husband and I were trying to figure out somewhere to go that we’ve never been to eat or something I could cook at home that we hadn’t overdosed on. Never been on your website before and became immediatly obsessed with all your recipes so much I ran out to the store with a compiled list of ingredients to match countless recipes of yours! Filled my fridge with fresh veggies on top of getting some high ticket items like the grape leaves and tahini for $150 :) . I just happened to have more black beans and cans of chickpeas in my cupboard than I could shake a stick at because I can never think of ways to use them. Anyways I made this dinner for my husband and dad at 4 am 😂 and it was soooooo easy and freaking amazing! Looking forward to making batches of hummus, dolmas, medeteranian bowls, roasted vegetable couscous, freezer ready breakfast burritos, homemade falafel, beef kofta meatballs & veggies, lentil & veggie stew, cilantro lime chicken, roasted cauliflower salad, lemon tahini dressing, cucumber and black bean salad, teriyaki chicken and rice, creamy spinach artichoke chicken, broccoli pesto pizza, oven baked tilapia, salsa chicken meal prep bowls, cajun salmon burgers, giant meatballs, Mediterranean hummus bowls, seeded oats and more! NO SERIOUSLY I HAVE ENOUGH TO MAKE ALLLL THOSE MEALS for $150!
You Beth, are the S**t! 😍
THANK YOU!!!
WOW!! That is so awesome!! And you’re in luck, black beans and chickpeas are my two favorite ingredients, so you’ll find plenty of ways to use them here. :) And kudos to you for cooking at 4am! Haha!
Just made this (university student)- so easy and absolutely amazing. Doubled the recipes for leftovers and have a feeling it is going to be amazing after a bit in the fridge. Thank you for this!
Wahoo! Happy to hear it Harry!
I made this for dinner and stepped out to a meeting while my family ate dinner. I came home and my husband and kids told me it was the BEST thing I have ever cooked!! Instead of dicing fresh veggies, I used a frozen mixed of red and green bell peppers and onions. I also omitted the flour as we somehow ran out so I used bread crumbs instead. I used Colby jack cheese instead of cheddar.
Now that’s a rave review! :)
Hi Beth – Any suggestions for cook time if I make this ahead and am cooking from a refrigerated state? Thanks!
Unfortunately I haven’t tried that method so I don’t know how long it will take, but this one is very flexible and you can just keep an eye on it and test to see when it’s heated through. Everything is already “cooked” so there’s no real danger of undercooking it in the oven. :)
Looks delicious and I can’t wait to make it now that it’s cooling down where I live. Does the casserole absolutely NEED the tortilla chips baked into it? I ask because I usually prepare things on the weekend to eat for lunch at work throughout the week and I read a previous comment about sogginess. I’m thinking about just having tortilla chips on the side.
You can totally leave the chips on the side and dip them. :) If you do that, you won’t even really need to do the baking step. The baking is only to heat everything through once assembled and to melt the cheese on top, everything cooks when it’s in the skillet.
My husband and 10yo son (who doesn’t eat anything except chicken nuggets and hamburgers) DEVOURED this! I swapped out regular flour for GF rice flour for my celiac husband and it was soooo good!! THANK YOU!
Wahoo! Happy to hear about another win with the family. And that you were able to make the GF swap.
Ok, I made this on the 20th and we liked it so much that I made it again today! I am really happy I signed up to get emails or I never would have seen the recipe or tried it. We aren’t particularly a “casserole” loving family, but this is too good not to eat.
Happy you decided to give it a try!
Just made this, the baking pan is still cooling off as I type! This was so much fun to make, and EASY too. Those two adjectives are a crucial part of any recipe I dare to try as a new cook lol. Thank you so much for posting this!! It’s delicious and I love that I’m not using canned soups packed with sodium.
Thanks Raven!
What side would you serve with this dish?
Maybe a big green spinach salad?
Going on my list for next week (if it cools off in Denver – it was almost 100 here yesterday). My husband will go nuts for this!
Yes not fun for hot days! But perfect for the cooler months ahead.
Do you think I could make this on a Sunday and have lunches/dinners for a few days? I realize the tortilla chips will probably get soggier by the day but I’m not sure I’d mind too much. Looks delicious!
Most definitely!
You know all those broken bits of chips at the bottom of the bag? Save those to sprinkle on leftovers. That’s what I did, and I enjoyed the leftovers more with a bit of crunch.
Thanks for this, it is excellent! I doubled the recipe – one for my family, and the other I am dropping off tomorrow for a friend who recently had twin babies. For hers, I did all the steps except for the baking, so fingers crossed it stays good overnight and bakes up well for her tomorrow!
It’s a great dish to share with others!
Currently bubbling in my oven. The filling mix was delicious and I’m sure my family is about to devour it!! This kinda comfort food is exactly what I needed today.
I’ve wanted to make this casserole for years but was turned off by all the gloopy recipes. So glad you budget bytes-ified it!
Love to hear it!