Until I moved to Texas I didn't eat a lot of casseroles, I'm gonna be honest. Excluding baked ziti and lasagna, I don't think my mom just ever made any. Turns out, I was missing out on some pretty awesome, easy to make, fantastic casseroles.

Another thing I had missed out on, but have since converted to the church of, is the crock pot. So truthfully, when I find a recipe that uses the crock pot and is a casserole, I pretty feel like I knocked it out of the park. That's exactly what this King Ranch Chicken recipe is.

Truthfully, I also didn't know what King Ranch Chicken was before I moved to Texas. If I had tried to guess from the name I would have though it was some kind of giant chicken breast, seasoned with a packet of Ranch dressing. But I was introduced to this amazing Texan Lasagna when I was the Curriculum Coordinator at a preschool in Round Rock and our super talented chef, Kathryn, would make the kids King Ranch Chicken. She fed it to me once, when I was dying of morning sickness and it was my savior.

Kathryn's recipe, however, would not be easy for me to replicate since we are a family of 4, not 140, so the proportions might be off. Also, I'm not particularly a fan of using cans of condensed soup for the base of recipes. They can be very high in sodium and I'm not really a fan of the taste. So when I came across a recipe for a completely from scratch version on Five Heart Home and gave it a shot and liked it a lot. This is my tweaked, crock-pot-added, mushroom-optional version.

Print Recipe

King Ranch Chicken Casserole

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

For the Chicken:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3-4 cups chicken broth
2 tbs. garlic powder
2 tbs. adobo seasoning
1 tsp. chipotle powder
1 tsp. cumin
Salt & pepper

For the Sauce:

6 tbs. butter
4-6 oz. baby portabella mushrooms, diced small (optional)
6 tbs. flour
2 cups of chicken cooking liquid from crock pot
2 cups milk
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. adobo seasoning
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chipotle powder
Salt & pepper

For the Casserole:

10 small corn tortillas
4 cups shredded cheddar cheese, or jack blend
1 cup of chicken cooking liquid from crock pot
1 small can Rotel
Diced jalapenos (optional)
Fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped (optional)

In the bowl of your crock pot, cover the chicken with the chicken broth and add the seasoning. Stir to coat the chicken and cook on high for 4-6 hours, until the chicken comes apart easily with a fork. Once the chicken comes apart easily, roughly break apart the chicken breasts into smaller pieces to cook for 15 more minutes on high (I feel like the smaller the pieces the moister the chicken).

Remove the chicken from the crock pot with a slotted spoon and set aside to cool. Turn off the crock pot, allow the remaining broth to cool and set aside.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. If you are using the mushrooms, sautee the mushrooms in the melted butter for 3-5 minutes, until cooked. If omitting the mushrooms, just skip ahead. Add the flour to the butter and whisk until blended. Do not allow this to burn.

Add the milk and 2 cups of broth (from the crock pot) to the sauce and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the seasoning and bring to a boil, then remove from heat and set aside.

Using two forks, shred the chicken as fine as possible. Pour the sauce over the chicken and mix together. Set aside.

Butter a rectangular baking dish. Pre-heat an oven to 350 degrees. Assemble all the components of the casserole within easy reach (tortillas, chicken mix, remaining chicken broth, shredded cheese, drained Rotel and optional toppings).

Spread half of the chicken mix in the baking dish, top with shredded cheese, some Rotel and jalapenos. Cover with a layer of tortillas. I tear mine in half to make sure they cover every inch, overlapping is fine. Drizzle some of the chicken broth over the tortillas, making sure to get the edges.