King Ranch Casserole

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King Ranch Casserole

King Ranch Casserole
SERVES
6
COOK TIME
45 Min

This stick-to-your-ribs Tex-Mex casserole gets its name from the biggest ranch in Texas (and the world!) -- King Ranch! Our recipe for King Ranch Casserole is big on taste and sure to satisfy your gang's big appetites. With chicken, cheese, tomatoes, and more, there's no way you could pass on this Texas favorite!

What You'll Need

  • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 large green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 (10-3/4-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 (14-1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 12 corn tortillas, cut into 1/2-inch strips
  • 4 cups diced cooked chicken
  • 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

What to Do

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9- x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
     
  2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat oil. Saute bell pepper, onion, and garlic 4 to 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in soup, diced tomatoes, and chili powder. Cook just until warmed.
     
  3. Line bottom of prepared baking dish with half the tortilla strips. Sprinkle half the chicken over tortilla strips, top with half the sauce, and half the cheese. Repeat layers.
     
  4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until bubbly and hot.

Notes

  • Find even more great Texas dishes like this King Ranch Casserole recipe, in our collection of 8 Easy Texas Recipes.
  • Hey, you can have a King Ranch Casserole for breakfast, too! Just check out our recipe for King Ranch Breakfast Bake
  • Looking for more make-ahead casseroles? Check out this collection!

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In deep south Texas we make this with sour cream and jack cheese. Toasted corn tortillas or cheat with tortilla chips...skip the condensed soups. Rotel is a must but any brand tomato with green chiles will do. In a pinch, diced tomatoes a can of diced green chiles will work.

Delicious! A real Texas Classic!

maybe a redundant question... if using ground beef, should it be browned first?

Yes. Add it to Step 2 when you are sauteing the vegies.

Will someone please tell me what "Rotel" is? I live in Canada and am not sure if I have heard of it. It may be sold under a different name here./ Thanks

Rotel is a version of canned tomatoes, but it has lots of other stuff in there too, vegies and etc. It can be used as salsa, or in any recipe that calls for canned tomatoes. )

Many things American are the biggest and the best, but Australia can't let you claim this one! Anna Creek Station is the world's largest working cattle station. It is located in the Australian state of South Australia. Its area is roughly 6,000,000 acres (24,000km2 9,400sqmi) which is slightly larger than Israel. It is 1,977,000 acres (8,000km2 3,089sqmi) larger than its nearest rival, Alexandria Station in the country's Northern Territory and over seven times the size of the United States' biggest ranch, King Ranch in Texas, which is 825,000 acres (3,340km2 1,289sqmi). From Wikipedia

Thanks for that info Travellingirl. What dish would you name after Anna Creek Station? Since it's a cattle ranch, something beefy? Is there a classic Australian.beef stew or beans with beef ?

I'm a native Texan and I've been making KRC for decades, but this recipe seems odd to me. I use whole chicken breasts to cover the bottom of my dish, usually 4 or 5. Crisscross 2 or 3 layers of flour tortilla strips, covering the chicken. Sprinkle with the diced onion and green pepper. Mix a can of cream of mushroom and a can of cream of chicken soup with a can of Rotel, pour over the veggies. Cover the entire dish with sharp shredded Cheddar, bake uncovered at 350 for an hour. This just seems much easier. The first time I made it for my mother I thought she would devour the entire pan herself! This is a family favorite and always a hit. Hope this helps someone else!

DELICIOUS!!! Great recipe, made as is, only regret should of made two pans of it. Boyfriend could of ate one 9 x 13 pan himself. Thank you for whoever submitted this, a real winner. I just love recipes like this, keep them coming.

This sounds soooo good.

What size tortillas? Can I use flour tortillas instead?

We used 5-inch sized tortillas. You could use flour tortillas, but they do get gummier since they are all flour. Corn tortillas will stay together better. Enjoy!

I used seasoned ground beef with onion and garlic powder, salt and pepper. I doubled the cream of chicken soup and added a little salsa with the rotel. I added extra cheese as well. This was awesome and everyone loved it! I definitely added it to my repertoire! Thanks!

The King raises Beef. How come a chicken recipe?

I think that beef would do justice to this recipe, I am going to try it, looks good.

Love this recipe! I usually have all the ingredients on hand so it is easy to put them all together to have a great meal. I have made it with both hamburger and left-over pulled pork. My family loves it no matter what meat I put it in it.

I spice it up just a little bit more by using 1 can of hot rotel instead of just tomatoes and green chiles.We love this dish and it is really fool proof and quick to make

I love this recipe! I used two cans of drained canned chicken breast and added sliced black olives since I was pressed for time on a visit with family. It was a real hit and a breeze to put together.

we liked this!

I have been making this casserole since It's a fattening HIT Many have asked me for the recipe But I've always made it with either Doritos or Tostitos any flavor and used cans of soup and can of chopped green chilis The only tomatoes I use is to add cup of salsa to the mixture I use no onions or bell pepper Tex-Mex typically does not use bell pepper And NO chili powder Put soups green chilis garlic powder or fresh into a bowl and stir Add salsa and continue to mix Add the - cups of chopped cooked chicken I use a rotisserie chick Put a layer of chips in a x greased pan and using your flat hand smash the chips Top with cheese Add the chicken mixture and top with more chips and shredded cheese Bake at for minutes YUM Pass the sour cream and more salsa ServeRead More with Ranch Beans or Black Beans and Spanish Rice What a meal

STUPID ?? HOW WOULD I SERVE THIS IF I DIDN'T WANT TO USE THE TORTILLAS?

Do you soft corn tortillas are hard ones

As a born and raised Texan, I've been making this recipe for years. My recipe varies slightly from this one, but I always use flour tortillas. I use a pizza cutter and quickly slice-up 4 large tortillas into 1/2" strips.

how many frozen chicken breasts is 4 cups? I'm just trying to get an idea of how many I should cook.

Tht's depends on the size of yr CB's & how U chop yr CB's. Bt 5 or 6 of med size (from base of yr fingers to the base of yr thumb).

King Ranch Chicken never had green beans, maybe this is something you family does.

It looks good, however, I think it needs a few spriggs of chopped cilantro ahd some green beans. Then , your tortillas should have been crisp-fried to take out the water in them so they can absorb all the flavors in the mix. (There's a rule in physics that says:NO TWO BODIES CAN OCCUPY THE SAME PLACE AT THE SAME TIME". If the tortilla has water, it wont absorb the flavers, and will detract from the flavors of the rest of the dish,that's why not everybody can make good Mexican Chilaquiles). I give it a good rating, though, because it follows the advice of HIPOCRATES, the FATHER OF MEDICINE:" MAKE YOUR FOOD YOUR MEDICINE, AND YOR MEDICINE-YOUR FOOD" BYE

Great taste. Finally a Chicken recipe my husband likes. I omitted the green chiles and used garlic powder instead of chopped garlic. Recipe worked perfectly and served well. YUM!

MMMM,,,-Good-----It is very nutrishious and yummy ' November 2, 2012--LoMarcenzo

I fixed this last night and my husband loved it!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can this be made using flour tortillas?

I've been making this for years....love especially serving KRC when my in-laws come in from Kansas City....gotta serve them a little bit of Texas!

This is very good! My kitchen smells like a Mexican Restaurant. I baked mine in a 12x9 glass dish. I also served it with a spoonful of sour cream. I will definitely be making this a lot!!!

Made this last night. This goes in my meals notebook! Only two leftover servings. I brought one for lunch and I am sure the other will be gone by the time I get home from work.

Will this freeze well?

They said yesterday that you can freeze before cooking ingredients. I guess you can make two; cook one and freeze the other uncooked.

Tred this today, and we loved it. great with a dollop of sour cream on top. Quick and easy, and easier when using frozen then thawed chunks of chicken. Great for last minute and pot lucks.

LeeJuve: I'm trying the recipe tonight, however, with more then layer you need more sauce mixture. The amount would have fine for a 9 X 9 bake pan, then all you would have to is cut back on the chicken,2 1/2 cups. I looking forward to baking, I hope it will not be too dry.

Almost everyday, someone wants to know the nutritional values of a recipe. This is very important. You can go to www.nutritionaldata.com a free website that allows you to enter your recipe information and will calculate the information for you. Bottom line, most of the recipes on this site are high fat, high carb, high calorie. They taste great, but to be healthy, you need to make substitutions.

going to try it soon,sounds good,can't wait.

Lots!

Anyone know how many calories or nutritional value this might be?

THIS RECIPE SOUNDS DELICIOUS! IF YOU ARE WORRIED ABOUT CALORIES HOWEVER, THIS MIGHT BE A RECIPE YOU SHOULD NOT MAKE. OF COURSE, YOU MIGHT WANT TO USE LOW FAT CHEESE, AND SOUP TO HELP WITH THE CALORIES.

The spices and veggies in this are very good for you if you feel like you must use low fat versions of the cheese and soup and your Golden.

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