King Ranch Chicken

King Ranch Chicken

When you want something yummy, filling, cheesy and/or all of the above, this is a great dish for that. I even prepped everything ahead of time and then let it sit in the fridge until a hour before we were ready to eat. I love recipes like this since I can do so much while little ones are sleeping or otherwise occupied.

I adapted this recipe from a few different ones and omitted a lot of the “cream-of” whatevers soups. It still has that great creamy taste, but with none of the weird, hard to pronounce ingredients!

We gobbled this right up and had hardly any left over. This dish is also one that can be easily doubled and frozen. Just defrost overnight in the fridge and bake as you would with the other version! Enjoy!!

 

King Ranch Chicken

6-8 chicken thighs
1 TBL chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 onion
1 each, red and green pepper
3 cloves garlic
2 roma tomatoes
3 TBL flour
2 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and chilies
12 flour tortillas
8 oz grated cheese
1 TBL chopped cilantro

King Ranch Chicken- Ingredients

Lay out chicken thighs on baking sheet and season with salt, pepper and spices on both sides and brush with olive oil. Put in oven to broil for 4-5 min per side until browned. (You could also use already cooked chicken, just add seasoning and spices.)

King Ranch Chicken- Spice Mix

King Ranch Chicken- Chicken Thighs

Remove chicken from tray and reserve 1/4 cup of liquid from chicken. (Use 3 TBL of butter if using cooked chicken.) Allow chicken to cool and chop/shred into bite-size peices. (I usually do this in the dish its to be cooked in, less dirty dishes, right!?)

Warm reserved liquid in skillet or saute pan and heat to bubbling. Add flour and cook 1-2 min until flour is moistened. Add chicken broth and bring to boiling. Reduce and cook for 5-10 min. Pour into another container (I used my measuring cup).

King Ranch Chicken- 2 cups broth

Chop all veggies and mince garlic.

King Ranch Chicken- Green Pepper, Onion, Red Pepper, Garlic

Using the same pan, add veggies and saute on medium low for 5 min until soft.

King Ranch Chicken- Sautee Veggies

Chop tomatoes and add fresh tomatoes and Rotel to pan.

King Ranch Chicken- Tomatos diced

Slice tortillas into triangles

King Ranch Chicken- Tortilla Triangles

Now time to start layering! I set up an assembly line: tortillas, veggies, chicken, cheese. First, layer tortillas on bottom of a large oven-proof pan. (If you don’t have the chicken liquid in your dish, make sure to spray the bottom.)

King Ranch Chicken- Cover the bottom

Next, comes 1/3 of the veggies, then 1/3 of the chicken.King Ranch Chicken- Layering

Add cheese and keep layering, tortillas, veggies, and chicken until all is used, holding off on last 1/3 of cheese. Pour soup mixture then add cheese and sprinkle cilantro on top.

King Ranch Chicken- Ready for the oven

At this point you could put in oven at 325 for 40 minutes or cover and refrigerate or freeze. If refrigerated, I put it in my oven for 1 hour at 325. If frozen, you can defrost in fridge and then follow refrigerator instructions.

FInished Product! King Ranch Chicken

We served it with some sour cream to top it off, yummmm!

King Ranch Chicken
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Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 6-8 servings
 
A home made make ahead update to the classic King Ranch Chicken. No soups here!
Ingredients
  • 6-8 chicken thighs
  • 1 TBL chili powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 onion
  • 1 each, red and green pepper
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2 roma tomatoes
  • 3 TBL flour
  • 2½ cups chicken broth
  • 1 can Rotel diced tomatoes and chilies
  • 12 flour tortillas
  • 8 oz grated cheese
  • 1 TBL chopped cilantro
Instructions
  1. Lay out chicken thighs on baking sheet and season with salt, pepper and spices on both sides and brush with olive oil. Put in oven and broil for 4-5 minutes per side until browned. (You can use already cooked chicken, just add seasoning and spices).
  2. Remove chicken from tray and reserve ¼ cup of liquid from chicken. (Use 3 TBL of butter if using cooked chicken.) Allow chicken to cool and chop/shred into bite size pieces. (Can be done in dish used it will all be cooked in.
  3. Warm reserved liquid (or butter) in skillet or saute pan and heat until bubbling. Add flour and cook 1-2 minutes until flour is moistened. Add chicken broth and bring to boiling. Reduce and cook for 5-10 minutes. Pour into another container.
  4. Chop all veggies and mince garlic. Using same pan, add veggies and saute on medium low for 5 minutes until soft.
  5. Chop tomatoes and add to pan with Rotel as well.
  6. Slice tortillas into triangles.
  7. Start layers in 9x13 casserole, covering bottom with tortillas first then ⅓ of veggies, ⅓ of chicken, cheese. Keep layering until all is used, holding off on last ⅓ of cheese. Pour soup mixture first then add cheese.
  8. *Can be refrigerated or frozen after covering at this point. Place in oven for 1 hour at 325. If frozen, defrost in fridge overnight and then heated in oven as above.
  9. Serve with sour cream on top!
Please let me know what you thought of the King Ranch Chicken! I would love to hear from you!

 

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