King Ranch chicken tastes like a cross between a creamy chicken pot pie and an enchilada casserole; rich, cheesy, and savory with a little bit of a smoky Tex-Mex kick. It’s warm, gooey, rich; vintage weeknight comfort food.
Ingredients
- ▢ — 4 Large chicken breasts
- ▢ — 2 celery ribs, cut into 3 pieces each
- ▢ — 2 carrots
- ▢ — 3 tsp. salt
- ▢ — 2 Tbsp. butter
- ▢ — 1 medium onion, chopped
- ▢ — 1 medium-size bell pepper, chopped
- ▢ — 1 garlic clove, pressed
- ▢ — 1 (10 ¾ oz) can cream of mushroom soup
- ▢ — 1 can cream of chicken soup
- ▢ — 2 (10 oz) cans diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained
- ▢ — 1 tsp. dried oregano
- ▢ — 1 tsp. ground cumin
- ▢ — 1 tsp Mexican-style chili powder *
- ▢ — 3 cups grated Cheddar cheese
- ▢ — 12 ( 6-inch) fajita-size corn tortillas, cut into ½ inch strips
Instructions
- ▢ — Place chicken, celery, carrots and salt in a large pot or Dutch oven with water to cover.
- ▢ — Bring to a boil over medium heat; reduce heat to low.
- ▢ — Cover and simmer 50 minutes to 1 hour or until chicken is done.
- ▢ — Remove from heat.
- ▢ — Remove chicken from broth: cool 30 minutes.
- ▢ — Remove and reserve ¾ cooking liquid.
- ▢ — Strain any remaining cooking liquid and reserve for another use.
- ▢ — Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- ▢ — Melt butter in a large skillet over medium to high heat.
- ▢ — Add onion and saute 6 to 7 minutes or until tender.
- ▢ — Add bell pepper and garlic and saute 3 to 4 minutes.
- ▢ — Stir in reserved ¾ cup cooking liquid, cream of mushroom soup and next 5 ingredients, stirring occasionally, 8 minutes.
- ▢ — Skin and bone chicken; Shred meat into bite size pieces.
- ▢ — Layer half of chicken in a lightly greased 13 X 9 inch baking pan.
- ▢ — Top with soup mixture and 1 cup Cheddar cheese.
- ▢ — Cover with half of corn tortilla strips.
- ▢ — Repeat layers once.
- ▢ — Top with remaining 1 cup cheese.
- ▢ — Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes to 1 hour or until bubbly.
- ▢ — Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
- ▢ — * 1 tsp. chili powder and ⅛ tsp. ground red pepper may be substituted for Mexican style chili powder.
