Healthy King Ranch Chicken Recipes

KING RANCH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
• Make the soup/tomato mixture, which is very bizarre and might scare you off. But please: Be brave and stick with me through this challenging time. You won't be sorry! In a large bowl, combine the soups and diced tomatoes and chiles. Add the chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and chicken broth. Then--this is the time to be strong--stir it all together. Trust me!
• Line the bottom of the baking dish with half of the torn tortillas. Layer on half the chicken. Add half the onion, bell pepper and jalapeno. Sprinkle on half the cheese and pour on half the wacky soup mixture. Then repeat the layers, beginning with the rest of the tortillas, and ending with the rest of the you-know-what.
• Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes, then uncover and bake until bubbling, another 15 minutes.
• Look at that! Serve it with a salad and a dang hearty appetite.
• To make ahead and freeze: Fold foil over the unbaked casserole and freeze until solid. Then, lift the foil-topped casserole out of the pan, wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap and freeze until needed. When ready to bake, remove the plastic wrap, put the foiled-topped casserole back into a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and thaw. Bake at 350 degrees F following the baking instructions above.

BEST KING RANCH EVER

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Mix chicken, cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, diced tomatoes with green chiles and juice, chicken broth, onion, and canned green chiles together in a bowl, stirring until thoroughly combined.
• Place 1/3 of the tortilla strips in a layer into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish; top with 1/3 of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers twice more; sprinkle Monterey Jack cheese on top of the casserole.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cheese is golden brown and casserole is bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes. If casserole is still slightly runny, let stand 5 to 10 minutes until firm.

ORIGINAL KING RANCH CHICKEN

Steps:

• 1. Boil chicken, remove meat from skin and bones. (save broth).
• 2. Sometimes I will use 6-8 chicken breasts instead of whole chicken when I'm in a hurry.
• 3. Saute onions and green pepper.
• 4. Mix with soups, tomatoes, cubed chicken, and chicken broth.
• 5. Line bottom of Pyrex casserole with six corn tortillas.
• 6. Add 1/2 of chicken/soup mixture; spread over tortillas. Sprinkle grated cheese over mixture.
• 7. Then make another layer of six tortillas, chicken/soup mixture, and cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 250-300 F 1 hour until cheese is bubbly.
• 8. Please note that you can make this recipe much lower in fat by using the fat free soups and fat free chicken broth. It turns out just as tasty.
• 9. I've also substituted Cheddar Cheese, as well as Lite Velveeta in place of the Monterey Jack cheese and it was all good.
• 10. The original recipe uses corn tortillas, although some people prefer the flour. I believe the corn gives it a better flavor myself. For variety, you can also omit the tortillas and use tortilla chips, or even noodles/pasta, in their place. At one time or another, I've tried every variation - they are all good, although I am partial to the corn tortillas.
• 11. Adding a can of black beans or corn, also takes it to another level and adding a few slicked black olives and a dollop of sour cream before serving makes a nice presentation.

KING RANCH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat 11 by 7 by 2-inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. Sauce: Melt butter in medium heavy skillet over moderate heat. Add garlic, red pepper, and cumin and stir-fry 1 minute. Blend in flour, add broth and milk, and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth - about 3 minutes. Stir in sour cream, salt, and black pepper to taste; set aside. Filling: Melt butter in large heavy skillet, over moderate heat. Add onion, green pepper, green chilies, mushrooms, tomatoes, and pimiento, and cook, stirring often, until vegetables soften and flavors meld-10 to 15 minutes. Tortillas: Pour oil to depth of 1/2 inch in small heavy skillet, set over moderate heat, and heat until ripples appear on skillet bottom. Holding tortillas by tongs, dip one by one into oil just long enough to soften, 5 to 10 seconds. Drain on paper towels.
• To Layer: Arrange half of tortillas in bottom of prepared baking dish, then build up layers this way, distributing each evenly: 1/2 chicken and 1/3 sauce; 1/2 each filling, cheese, olives, and scallions, and 1/2 remaining tortillas, chicken, filling, cheese, olives, scallions, and finally, remaining sauce. Bake, uncovered, until bubbly- about 30 to 35 minutes. Serve at once.

HEALTHY KING RANCH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Saute pepper and onion in skillet with Pam.
• Add soup, Rotel, and chicken.
• Alternate layers of tortillas and soup mix.
• Sprinkle cheese on top.
• Bake at 325 for 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

HEALTHY KING RANCH CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Bring broth to a simmer in a medium saucepan. Whisk milk and flour in a small bowl until smooth. Add to the broth and cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and smooth, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in yogurt, tomatoes, chiles, cilantro (or parsley), chili powder, oregano and cumin. Season with salt and pepper.
• Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender-crisp, about 3 minutes.
• Line the bottom of a shallow 3-quart baking dish with half the tortillas. Top with half the chicken and half the onion mixture. Spoon half of the sauce evenly over the top. Repeat layers with remaining tortillas, chicken, onion mixture and sauce. Sprinkle with Cheddar. Bake until bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.