King Ranch Casserole

I went scouring the big binder last week to find a recipe that would use our chicken leftovers that we froze about 2 weeks ago. I had made a delicious roast chicken and what was left over would be great in a casserole.  This was a recipe that we have had but hadn't made in quite sometime.  So, we dropped our son off at his basketball practice on Wednesday we went to the store and picked up the small list of ingredients that we did not have on hand.  Everything was ready to throw this together after work the following night.  And it worked out well having the ingredients handy and the chicken already cooked.   

It is casserole season, cold winter evenings where you want something hot and hearty.  Hubby and I had tickets to see Matilda, so a nice hot casserole was perfect to head back out in the cold after dinner. This chicken casserole fits the plan with the corn tortillas and the cheese.  It can be made with fat free soups and a reduced fat cheese for a light version.  Either why it is a great dish. 

King Ranch Casserole

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped 

1 large green bell pepper, chopped 

Vegetable cooking spray 

2 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts 

1 (10-ounce) can cream of chicken soup, undiluted 

1 (10-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup, undiluted 

1 (10-ounce) can diced tomato and green chiles 

1 teaspoon chili powder 

1/2 teaspoon pepper 

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 

12 (6-inch) corn tortillas 

1 (8-ounce) block Cheddar cheese, shredded 

Preparation

Sauté onion and bell pepper in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender.

Stir in chicken and next 6 ingredients; remove from heat.

Tear tortillas into 1-inch pieces; layer one-third tortilla pieces in bottom of a 13- x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with one-third chicken mixture and one-third cheese. Repeat layers twice.

Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly.