My friend, Stephanie, introduced this meal to me a few years ago. She mentioned King Ranch Chicken is a Texas staple, which is where she is from. There are many variations of this dish, but I have found this one to be the easiest while it’s very delicious! This is a simple casserole for those busy weeknights when you’re looking to make something where you don’t need to run to the store. And, topped with crushed Doritos? How can you beat that?? 🙂
I typically half this recipe since it is just the two of us. This is one of those meals where the leftovers just aren’t as good because the Doritos become soggy overnight in the fridge. However, if you want to make the entire batch and know you will have leftovers, then I suggest only covering half the casserole with the crushed chips, then adding them on the next day while reheating in the oven.
Stephanie makes this into two layers, but I just keep it at one. You can also make this with leftover Thanksgiving turkey, so make sure you bookmark this for the end of the month!
Easy King Ranch Chicken
Yields: 6 – 8 servings
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or cubed
1 can cream of mushroom
1 can cream of chicken
1 can (10 oz) Rotel (diced tomatoes with green chiles)
1 can (15.25 oz) whole kernel corn, well drained
1 cup crushed Doritos, cheese flavor preferred
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese (just Monterrey Jack or Cheddar works, too)
Preheat oven to 350˚F. Spray 9″ x 13″ baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, soups, Rotel and corn. Pour mixture into the baking dish and top with the cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
After 20 minutes, take the casserole out of the oven and layer with the crushed Doritos. Bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the chips are toasted. Let set 5 minutes before serving.
Source: Stephanie, friend of Pennies on a Platter
lapiattini says
November 6, 2010 at 11:18 AMThis sounds delicious and I love the simplicity of it. Thanks for the idea!
Pessa says
November 8, 2010 at 11:33 AMWe made this last night and it was wonderful! Instead of shredding the chicken, we bought two boxes of the Perdue chicken that is already cooked and cut into strips. Thank you for sharing such a great recipe!
Allie says
January 6, 2011 at 5:54 PMWhen I read the ingredients I laughed out loud! I have *almost all* of these ingredients on hand, but we use them for what we call Chicken Tortilla Soup! We don’t use cream of mushroom, but we do use tomato and nacho cheese soups. Throw everything in a pot or crock-pot (drain the corn), include the necessary cans of water for the three soups, heat thoroughly, and serve with the chips and cheese (and some fresh chopped cilantro) as garnish. YUMMY!! Thanks for this great idea, too!!
Andrea says
September 14, 2011 at 1:24 PMMy Mother made this growing up and it was always a favorite of my family. She made it with velvetta cheese and a medium sweet onion chopped, and left out the canned corn!! It is delicious!!!