King Ranch Chicken

It's a family favorite for a reason. It's just damn good. Good for you? No. But these are the times of self-quarantine and social distancing, so we eat our feeling, right? Right! My recipe has a few twists, not so many "cream of" soups and we use flour tortillas since my oldest kiddo is allergic to corn, but it still has all the yummy flavor of the original, I promise.

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken, deboned and cut up into bite-size pieces (see Extras for more options)

4 TBSP butter

1 medium onion, diced

4 stalks of celery, diced

4 cloves of garlic, minced

2, 4oz can diced green chilis

1, 14.5oz can fire roasted tomatoes, drained

1, 12oz carton cream of mushroom soup (I use Pacific Foods)

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 heaping TBSP of flour

1 cup vegetable stock, unsalted

salt and pepper to taste

12 flour tortillas, cut into quarters (triangles)

1 1/2 cups shredded Colby Jack or Mexican blend cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Melt butter in a large skillet or sauté pan and sauté onions and celery over medium high heat. Add garlic when onions and celery are almost cooked through, sauté until fragrant.

2. Add flour and stir to incorporate. Cook flour for 30 seconds to 1 minute. Add vegetable stock, mixture will thicken quickly. Add cream, green chilis, tomatoes and cream of mushroom soup.

3. Allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes and remove from heat. Salt and pepper to your personal taste.

4. Oil the bottom of a 13x9" casserole dish. layer evenly with tortilla quarters. Spoon half of the chicken mixture onto the tortillas, spreading evenly. Sprinkle evenly with half of the cheese. Add another even layer of tortilla quarters and spoon the rest of the chicken mixture on top, spreading to cover. Layer the rest of the tortillas and top with the remaining cheese.

5. Cover with foil and bake for 4o minutes, remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes, or until lightly browned and bubbly. Enjoy!

Extras

1. Don't want to use a rotisserie chicken? No problem! You can use 4 boiled or roasted chicken breasts or 6 boiled or roasted chicken thighs. You can also substitute turkey bread. I don't recommend using ground turkey or chicken as it changes the texture, but if you'r tin a pinch it'll do fine.

2. Traditionally, this recipe calls for corn tortillas. MY son is allergic to corn so that's a no-go in our house but I think the recipe is equally good with either.

3. Just add a green salad to the side for a complete dinner... my mom's go-to for a green side dish.