This King Ranch chicken is a casserole made with layers of corn tortillas, creamy chicken, vegetables and cheese, all baked to bubbly perfection. An easy dinner option that’s perfect for feeding a crowd!
There’s nothing better than a comfort food casserole, my family always requests chicken and rice casserole, beef noodle casserole and this zesty King Ranch chicken. This casserole is a great way to use up leftover chicken!
You can never go wrong with a cheesy casserole, am I right? This King Ranch chicken is a Mexican style casserole with plenty of chicken, creamy sauce, tortillas and of course, a healthy amount of cheese. This is an amazing dish to bring to a potluck!
Make this dish a meal with amazing side dishes like sauteed green beans, succotash and carrot salad.
Table of Contents
King Ranch Chicken Ingredients
When you make this King Ranch chicken recipe make sure you have olive oil, an onion, bell peppers, garlic, chili powder, cumin, cream of chicken soup, a can of diced tomatoes with green chiles, cooked chicken, corn tortillas, shredded cheese, Roma tomatoes, cilantro leaves, salt and black pepper. See the recipe below for amounts and details.
How Do You Make King Ranch Chicken?
The first step in this King Ranch chicken recipe is to preheat your oven. Next make the filling by cooking diced onion and bell pepper in a large pan. Add garlic, salt and pepper to the veggies in the pan. Finish the filling by placing seasonings, cream of chicken soup, cooked chicken and a can of tomatoes in the pan and cooking everything together.
Make the casserole by layering a prepared baking dish with tortillas, filling, and shredded cheese. The whole thing bakes in the oven. Take it out and add fresh garnishes like diced tomatoes and cilantro. Cut into squares and enjoy!
Tips For The Perfect King Ranch Chicken
- I use a blend of red, yellow and green bell peppers because it looks the nicest, but you can stick to one color if you like.
- You can use any type of shredded cheese that you like. I typically use cheddar and Monterey jack, but other great options are pepper jack or colby jack.
- The classic King Ranch casserole is made with diced corn tortillas, but if you’re not a corn tortilla fan you can use flour tortillas.
- This King Ranch chicken recipe can be halved and baked in a 9″ x 9″ square pan for a smaller group.
- This casserole can be assembled up to 6 hours before you plan to bake it. You may need to add more time in the oven to compensate for starting with a cold casserole.
Quick Tip
Any cooked, diced chicken will work, including roasted chicken breast, chicken thighs, leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken.
What Is King Ranch Chicken?
King Ranch chicken is a layered dish that’s named after one of the biggest ranches in the United States. There’s no proven correlation between the actual place King Ranch in Texas and King Ranch chicken, but the name has stuck regardless.
What is King Ranch Chicken Made Of?
There are different variations of this casserole, but they all include chicken, cream soup and tortillas as ingredients.
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Flavor Variations
This King Ranch chicken casserole is fantastic; however, you can change the recipe to suit your own taste.
- Toppings: Feel free to add a dollop of sour cream or some diced avocado. You could also add pickled jalapenos, green onions, diced green chiles, sliced olives or even shredded lettuce.
- Soup: For a different flavor you can try cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup.
- Beans: This casserole is hearty enough to serve as a stand alone meal, but sometimes I like to complete the Tex-Mex theme by adding a side of pinto beans and rice. You could also add some cooked pinto beans to the casserole.
Ready to give this one a try? The casserole with the funny name is sure to win you over! It’s like a cross between a creamy chicken casserole and enchiladas, and that’s always a good thing in my opinion!
More Great Casserole Recipes
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Please leave a 5-star 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 rating in the recipe card below & a review in the comments section further down the page.
King Ranch Chicken
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 1/2 cups bell peppers finely diced – can use any color of a combination of colors
- 2 teaspoons garlic minced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 2 10 ounce cans cream of chicken soup
- 1 10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chiles do not drain
- 4 cups diced cooked chicken
- 16 corn tortillas cut into squares
- 4 cups shredded cheese cheddar, Monterey jack, or a blend
- 2 Roma tomatoes seeded and diced
- 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves chopped
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9″x13″ pan with cooking spray.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the onion and bell peppers to the pan. Cook for 5-6 minutes or until tender.
- Add the garlic to the pan and cook for one more minute. Season the vegetables with salt and pepper.
- Add the chili powder, ground cumin, cream of chicken soup, can of tomatoes and chicken to the pan. Stir until everything is combined and heated through.
- Line the bottom of the dish with 1/3 of the tortillas. Spoon 1/3 of the chicken mixture over the tortillas and sprinkle 1/3 of the cheese over the chicken mixture.
- Add another layer of tortillas and continue until all the layers have been added, ending with the remaining shredded cheese.
- Bake covered for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and starting to brown.
- Let sit for 5-10 minutes, then top with tomatoes and cilantro. Cut into squares and serve.
Notes
- Any cooked, diced chicken will work, including roasted chicken breast, chicken thighs, leftover chicken or rotisserie chicken.
- I use a blend of red, yellow and green bell peppers because it looks the nicest, but you can stick to one color if you like.
- You can use any type of shredded cheese that you like. I typically use cheddar and Monterey jack, but other great options are pepper jack or Colby jack.
- This recipe can be halved and baked in a 9″ x 9″ square pan for a smaller group.
I love how lean chicken is added into this casserole, look super delicious and not too hard to make at all as the prep time is only 10 mins.
Yummy! This dish is so colorful and looks amazing! Chicken is such a versatile meat to include in so many dishes. King ranch chicken would be delicious comfort food for a cold winter day.
What a delicious and easy dish for dinner! I’ll have to add this to my rotation!
I actually have some chicken chilling in the fridge that I need to use up right now. I wanted to make something new with it. I’m liking this recipe!
I like chicken, you have a number of recipes on Chicken; they are unique and delicious as always.
I love finding a new chicken recipe to try. I’m always so scared I am going to mess it up somehow. This looks easy enough for me though. Thanks!
I must try this recipe. It so delicious and look so easy to make and I am sure my husband and my kids will give me a warmer hug because of this dish.
I love the tortilla in this recipe because I am a huge fan of tacos. This is a great dish I can see it being used as a platter for game night as well.
Looks amazing! Never heard of this before – thanks for sharing!
I don’t eat meat anymore but I’m going to have to make this for my family. I know they would definitely love it!
This looks nice and simple to put together but so delicious! Perfect for a midweek pick me up dinner or nice warm comfort food on a weekend.
I love chicken. The pictures alone sealed the deal for me. This looks and sounds incredibly tasty.
I am literally drooling over this awesome recipe, looks sooo delicious. 5 STARS!!!!