King Ranch chicken is one of the greatest things on earth. If you don’t like it, I am pretty sure you should be kicked out of Texas. I cannot believe my sister has always hated it.  One of the favorite things my mom always made when I was a kid.

Recently featured on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives when Matthew McCoughney and Guy Fieri went to Monument Cafe in Georgetown (down the street from Dan’s office) and learned how to make King Ranch Chicken.  Their recipe and method was very different!  Sounded good, but not gluten free or waistline friendly.

King Ranch Chicken is legendary in Texas.  I’ve blogged it before Here.

I’d been craving it for over a week (since I saw it on DDD on Food Network), but my schedule and other plans didn’t allow me to make it.  I put it together on Sunday, to toss in the oven on Monday evening.  Leftovers planned for Tuesday night, since I don’t have time to cook after LUNA.

KING RANCH CHICKEN

Serves – 6

10 oz. cooked, cubed chicken breast
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel tomatoes (I use extra spicy)
8 corn tortillas, cut into fourths
1 cup shredded cheddar (regular, sharp, or jack)
1 small onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup celery, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Methods/steps

Saute onion, garlic and celery in a nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray until tender. Add soups, Rotel tomatoes and chicken; heat and mix thoroughly. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spray 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Layer 1/2 of tortillas in bottom of dish. Pour 1/2 of soup mixture over tortillas. Sprinkle 1/2 of shredded cheese over soup mixture. Repeat layers ending with cheese. Cover with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. Uncover and cook additional 10 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Tips, notes, suggestions

• I use Pacific Naturals soups, because they are GF. Campbells, store brand, or others work fine if you don’t have food intolerance.
• You can certainly reduce the amount of cheese or use reduced fat.  Or mix the cheese types.  I used sharp cheddar and Monterrey jack this go-round.
• Dan’s mom likes to use flour tortillas.  I’m not a fan of that method, the traditional way is with corn.  Some people even use tortilla chips.  I like the oven to make the edges and tortillas sticking out crispy, so I don’t do the chips thing either.
• I cooked a whole chicken in the crockpot on Sunday and used most of it for this.
• You can put it together the day/night before and just cover with foil and bake when you want to eat it.  I’d recommend baking a little longer if you do that, because the sauce will be cold before you bake it and it may need a little extra time to heat throughout.  It you make it and bake it all at the same time, the sauce will be hot before you put it in the oven.
• Good with mexican rice, salad, beans, or just about anything!
• Weight Watchers Points will vary on the type/brand tortillas, soup, and cheese you use.  As I made it, for 6 servings, it was 6 P+ each.