Easy Mexican Chicken Casserole

By msippigrl

Spicy, cheesy Mexican casserole with cooked chicken, cream of chicken soup, Rotel tomatoes, canned green chiles, cheese, and tortilla chips.

Ingredients

• 2 to 2 1/2 cups cooked chicken*, chopped or shredded
• 1 (10 1/2 oz) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 (10 oz) can Original Rotel tomatoes with green chilies
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1 (4 oz) can chopped green chiles
• 1 - 2 teaspoons dry taco seasoning*
• 2 cups (7-8 ozs) package shredded mild cheddar or Mexican blend cheese, divided
• Half of a (13 oz) bag of corn tortilla chips (I used Tostitos Restaurant Style)

Preparation

Step 1

Cook and chop/shred the chicken or use Traditional rotisserie chicken. (*I pan cooked 7 chicken tenders). Lightly grease or spray a 2-qt. baking dish. (I used an 11x7") Set aside. Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a medium skillet or saucepan, combine the soup, Rotel tomatoes, sour cream, green chiles, and taco seasoning and heat on medium setting just until mixture is heated through (not bubbling). Stir in the chicken and 1 cup of the cheese until melted.

Put a generous layer of tortilla chips in the bottom of the baking dish, overlapping the edges. Spoon half the chicken mixture over the chips. Repeat layers one more time, ending with chicken mixture on top. Sprinkle top with the remaining 1 cup cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, just until heated through and cheese is melted. Serve hot over Mexican rice and additional sour cream, taco sauce, and green onions on top, if desired.


*Notes
I pan cooked 7 frozen (thawed) chicken tenders by spraying them lightly with cooking oil and seasoning with a little homemade chili seasoning (recipe follows) then cooked, covered, about 3 minutes on each side. Then removed from skillet and roughly chopped. To the little pan drippings left in the skillet, I added the other ingredients as stated above and proceeded with the recipe.

I used cheddar cheese on one casserole and Mexican Blend on the other one.

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Homemade Chili Seasoning

2 Tbls. plus 1 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. ground oregano
2 tsp. ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1 1/4 tsp. onion salt (or 3/4 tsp. onion powder plus 1/2 tsp. salt)
1/4 t. ground hot pepper, optional

Stir all ingredients together and store in an airtight bottle.