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Traditional King Ranch Casserole

The King Ranch Casserole is as much a part of Texas history as the Alamo. So imagine when Crystal—originally from Georgia—marched into Sandy’s kitchen with some ideas on how to improve the dish. Yep, you guessed it. Disaster. You just can’t mess with Texas. Our recipe hasn’t budged from the original, which has been in Sandy’s family for as long as she can remember. Our fellow Austinites share the same love for this traditional recipe and have made the King Ranch one of our most popular menu items. Enjoy!

Recipe information

  • Yield

    makes 8 servings

Ingredients

1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of chicken soup, or 1 1/2 cups homemade Cream of Chicken Soup (page 202)
1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup, or 1 1/2 cups homemade Cream of Mushroom Soup (page 203)
1 cup chicken broth (see page 200)
1 (10-ounce) can Rotel tomatoes or diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 teaspoon garlic salt
Cooking spray
12 (8-inch) corn tortillas, cut into quarters
1 (3-pound) roasted chicken, boned and shredded (see page 204)
1 medium onion, diced
2 cups store-bought grated Mexican-blend cheese (8 ounces)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat the oven to 350°F.

    Step 2

    In a large saucepan set over medium-high heat, combine the cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, chicken broth, tomatoes, and garlic salt. Stir until warm, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.

    Step 3

    Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Put half of the tortillas in the bottom of the pan. Layer in half each of the chicken meat and onion, then sprinkle with one-third of the cheese mix. Pour half of the soup mixture over the top, then repeat the layers. Top the casserole with the remaining third of the cheese.

    Step 4

    Bake for 45 minutes or until the cheese has melted and browned slightly.

  2. note

    Step 5

    Great for freezing! See our Freezer Tips on pages 23–27.

From The Casserole Queens Cookbook by Crystal Cook & Sandy Pollock. Copyright © 2011 by Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock; Food photographs copyright © 2011 by Ben Fink. Published by Clarkson Potter/Publishers. Crystal Cook and Sandy Pollock, the Casserole Queens, have been delivering casseroles in Austin, Texas, since 2006; they also teach cooking classes at Whole Foods stores in the area. They have been featured on Food Network's Throwdown! with Bobby Flay and Bobby Flay Radio on Sirius XM, as well as on television news and radio talk shows.
TagsCasseroleTex-MexAmericanCanned TomatoTomatoVegetableChickenPoultryCheeseDairyMainDinnerNut FreeEasyOven BakeCookbooks
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