Summer is a great time for quick recipes, so why not give this Mexican chicken casserole with tortilla chips a try? It’s a great way to revamp grilled chicken breasts!
Hey everyone! It’s The Cookie Writer here again with a delicious and fulfilling recipe that utilizes leftovers (much like my leftover ham pizza recipe!) We are big Mexican cuisine fans, and I knew there would come a time when I created a recipe that featured tortilla chips for dinner. My husband LOVES tortilla chips, and while I enjoy nachos and such, I do not eat them nearly as often as he does. Today’s Mexican chicken casserole with tortilla chips is all about him! Layers of cheesy goodness, leftover chicken, and of course, tortilla chips.
There are a couple of things to think about when it comes to this Mexican chicken casserole. Your leftover chicken can come from anywhere: Think grilled chicken, roasted chicken, etc. It doesn’t even have to be chicken breasts! Any cut will do. Secondly, you don’t technically have to use leftover chicken. Just bake some chicken in the oven until fully cooked and follow the rest of the instructions accordingly. Since I have been making a ton of chicken recipes lately (check out my BBQ whole chicken with rhubarb BBQ sauce), we tend to have a lot of extra chicken hanging around. I have no complaints about revisiting this recipe the next time we have leftovers!
A smaller casserole dish is better here so that all the chips can be completely covered in cheese and sauce. However, you don’t want to go too small or you will have a hard time fitting all those ingredients in there! (I used a 1-1/2 quart dish, but 2 quart would have been better.) Additionally, this casserole with tortilla chips can be easily customized to suit your family’s needs and wants (so if you don’t like mushrooms, don’t add them)! :)
Mexican Chicken Casserole Recipe with Tortilla Chips
Dive into this Mexican Chicken Casserole loaded with cheese, tomatillos, and tortilla chips! This tasty recipe is great for using leftover chicken.
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups leftover chicken (about 2 chicken breasts fully cooked and chopped)
- 1/2 pound tortilla chips
- 2 cups cheddar cheese grated
- 15 ounces canned tomatillos drained and diced
- 1/2 red pepper diced (optional)
- 1/4 cup button mushrooms diced (optional)
- 3 ounces chipotles in adobo sauce (about half a 6.5 ounce can)
- 10 ounces canned cheddar cheese soup
- 1 medium onion peeled and halved
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon milk
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a baking dish (I used a 1 1/2 quart dish but a 2 quart dish would have been perfect!) and set aside.
- Combine all the sauce ingredients into a food processor. Puree until smooth.
- Layer the bottom of the pan with half the chips. Top with half the chicken, half the sauce, half the cheese, and half the tomatillos. Repeat again, but finish off with pepper and mushrooms if using.
- Bake, uncovered, for 25 minutes, or until cheese is nicely melted and dish is heated through.
Notes
This recipe calls for leftover chicken to create a quick and easy meal! However, feel free to cook up a couple of chicken breasts at 350F for 20 minutes or so if you have no leftovers on hand!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 25
- Category: Casseroles, Dinner, Poultry
- Cuisine: Mexican
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MoinIdaho says
Made this tonight for hubby and me and we both loved it! So nice to have that bit of crunch from the chips for a change instead of using the usual corn tortillas in similar recipes. Obviously, leftovers will have lost the crunch but that won’t matter. I took your suggestion using the 2 qt. casserole and you’re right, it was perfect. I added the chopped red pepper on top as well. Also, this was my first time ever purchasing tomatillos. How is that possible?! I’ve been missing out. The market I went to only had the 28 oz. size but I saved the 5 or 6 toms. for another use. I will definitely be incorporating tomatillos into my Mexican dishes whenever I can.
We’ve become addicted to your recipes, Andi. Can’t thank you enough for them and your beautiful, mouthwatering photos, too!
Andi - The Weary Chef says
I have to give Kacey all the credit here because it’s her recipe! Be sure to pay her a visit to find more dishes you’ll like on her site. She’s at thecookiewriter.com :)