King Ranch Chicken From Scratch Food

THE BEST KING RANCH CHICKEN EVER

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375.
• Dice chicken into small bite size cubes and cook in pan with oil, ground cumin, and chili powder.
• Pour a light layer of chicken broth at bottom of casserole dish to line.
• In a medium size bowl, add chicken, rotel, cream of mushroom, and chicken broth and mix.
• Line bottom of pan with corn tortillas
• Add chicken and soup mixture over the tortillas.
• Add a light layer of diced onion over soup mixture.
• Top with layered mixture between both kinds of cheeses.
• Repeat last 3 directions until casserole dish is filled and topped with cheese (usually only 2 layers).
• Cover with foil and bake for about 45 minute.

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 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.

KING RANCH CHICKEN- FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish or 3-quart casserole.
• A cast iron dutch oven is best.
• Make the Sauce: Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over medium-low heat.
• Add the garlic and chili powder, and sauté for a minute or two.
• Raise the heat to medium.
• Quickly sprinkle in the flour and stir to mix.
• Pour in a small amount of the chicken broth, stirring constantly to remove lumps and allowing the flour to"cook" briefly.
• Gradually add the remaining chicken broth, add the buttermilk and continue stirring until sauce has thickened, 3 or 4 minutes.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Sauce may be prepared in advance and refrigerated.
• Make the Filling: Warm a heavy skillet over medium heat, add the butter or olive oil, and sauté the chopped onion, green pepper, poblano, mushrooms, tomatoes and pimientos until onion is transparent, about 4 or 5 minutes.
• Fold into the mixture the diced chicken, olives and green onions, combining well.
• Remove from heat.
• Assembling the Dish: In a small skillet, heat about about half an inch of canola oil.
• Using tongs, dip the tortillas in the hot oil one at a time, for just a few seconds, so that they are softened.
• Cover the bottom of your baking dish with 4 of the softened tortillas.
• Layer the remaining ingredients in the following order: Half of the chicken/vegetable mixture Half of the grated cheese Half of the sauce The remaining 4 softened tortillas The remaining chicken/vegetable mixture The remaining grated cheese The remaining sauce Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F until casserole is heated through and bubbly.
• Makes 6 to 8 servings.

MY FAVORITE KING RANCH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Steam or boil the chicken breasts until cooked through (I use my steamer and find it makes the chicken perfectly moist and tender).
• When cool, dice into bite-size pieces.
• In a large saucepan over medium heat, mix the soups, onion, Ro-tel tomatoes and Cheez Whiz until blended.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.
• Layer the bottom of a greased 9x12 casserole dish with crushed chips.
• Next, layer half the chicken pieces.
• Top with half the sauce.
• Sprinkle with half the cheddar cheese.
• Repeat the layers, but top with the Cheddar and Mozzarella.
• Sprinkle paprika over the top to garnish.
• Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

KING RANCH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Cut chicken breasts into cubes. Cook the pieces in a frying pan with water. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine soup, tomatoes and chiles, cheese, onion, celery, corn, mushrooms, and pepper. Add Mrs. Dash seasoning to your taste. Add chicken to mix.
• Spray a 13X9 Corning Ware dish with cooking spray. Layer two to three tortillas on the bottom of the pan. Add half of the vegetable/soup/chicken mix. Create another layer of tortillas. Spread the rest of the vegetable/soup/chicken mix on the top.
• Bake at 350-degrees for 25-30 minutes. Let stand for five minutes and serve.

KING RANCH CHICKEN

Steps:

• Soak tortillas in chicken stock just until wilted.
• Cut chicken into bite size pieces.
• Alternate the following layers into a 9x13 pan.
• tortillas, chicken, onion and cheese.
• Sprinkle chili powder and garlic salt over top.
• Spread undiluted soups over top of chicken, tortilla layers.
• Spread Ro-Tel tomatoes over top of soups.
• Bake at 350°F for 30 to 40 minutes.