Ingredients
- Chicken Seasoning:
- 4 cups of cooked chopped or shredded chicken
- 2 teaspoons of chili powder
- 1/2 tablespoon of cumin powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon of Cajun seasoning or cayenne
- Sauce:
- 1/4 cup (1/2 a stick) of unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour
- 1 cup of chopped onion
- 1/2 cup of chopped red, yellow or orange bell pepper
- 1 cup of chopped poblano pepper
- 1 can of mild Rotel tomatoes with green chilies, drained
- 1 cup of chicken stock or broth
- 1/2 cup of heavy cream
- 1/2 cup of sour cream
- 2 teaspoons of lime zest
- 1/8 cup of chopped fresh cilantro
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
- For Layering:
- 12 corn tortillas
- 2 cups of shredded jack cheese or pepper jack
- 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
- Additional sour cream and cilantro, for garnis
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish with non-stick spray; set aside. Place the chicken in a bowl and add the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and cayenne. Toss well and set aside.
Melt the butter in a large skillet and stir in the flour. Cook and stir for about 3 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the chopped onion and peppers; cook and stir just until tender, but not browned. Add the drained tomatoes, cook and stir another 2 minutes. Slowly add in the chicken broth, then the cream, stirring until fully incorporated and heated through. Remove and set aside 1/3 cup of the sauce. Add the chicken to the skillet, stir to heat through, add the sour cream, lime zest, cilantro, and salt and pepper; mix well and remove from heat. Taste and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
Add the reserved 1/3 cup of sauce to the bottom of the prepared baking dish and spread out. Add 6 whole corn tortillas to the bottom of the dish, overlapping them. Spoon the chicken mixture over the top of that. Mix the two shredded cheeses together; sprinkle 2 cups of the cheese on top of the chicken mixture. Repeat layers of corn tortillas, chicken mixture and ending with the remaining 2 cups of cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned on top. For nice layered slices, let the casserole rest at least 5 to 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with a dab of sour cream and a sprinkle of freshly chopped cilantro, if desired.
~Cook's Notes~
I used meat from a roasted chicken that I had previously cooked and frozen, broth made from Better than Bouillon, a chipotle chili powder, smoked cumin, and sweet onion. This casserole can be assembled and refrigerated or frozen. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, bring to room temperature and bake.
Variations: Shortcut the process by using canned cream soups. Skip the butter and flour roux and homemade sauce (broth, cream, and sour cream) and substitute a family sized can of cream of mushroom, or a combination of two regular sized cans, one cream of chicken, the other cream of mushroom. Adjust or eliminate salt as needed. Instead of corn tortillas, you can also roughly crumble in some plain tortilla chips, though you'll need to consider the sodium level and likely eliminate the salt. Can also shred the tortillas, but you'll need more of them. For a different taste, switch to 2 pounds of cooked and drained ground beef and flour tortillas.