King Ranch Chicken Casserole with Green Chiles
Shredded chicken and corn tortillas layered into a spiced sour cream sauce and baked under a blanket of melted cheddar — a Texas potluck fixture, not a can of soup in sight.
- Serves
- 8
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 40 min
- Written
Method
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Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and cook the onion and bell pepper until soft, about 7 minutes.
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Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds, then sprinkle in the flour and stir until no dry patches remain.
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Whisk in the broth and bring to a simmer, whisking often, until slightly thickened, about 3 minutes.
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Off the heat, stir in the sour cream, diced tomatoes with green chiles, cumin, and chili powder until smooth. Fold in the shredded chicken.
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Spread a thin layer of the sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish, then layer a third of the torn tortillas over it.
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Top with a third of the chicken mixture and a third of the cheddar. Repeat the layers twice more, finishing with cheese on top.
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Bake at 375°F until bubbling at the edges and the cheese is deeply browned in spots, 30-35 minutes.
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Rest 10 minutes before scattering with scallions and serving.
Notes
The from-scratch sour cream sauce does what a can of cream-of-something soup would, but it actually tastes like something — the roux gives it body, and the sour cream keeps it from turning gluey in the oven. Torn tortillas are correct here, not cut: ragged edges soak up more sauce than a clean strip does, and the dish is meant to fall apart in the scoop, not slice like a lasagna.
Rotisserie chicken keeps this to twenty minutes of prep, but leftover poached or grilled chicken breast works the same. It holds and reheats well, which makes it a fair make-ahead casserole to build the night before and bake straight from the fridge — add five minutes to the covered bake time if it’s still cold in the middle.