Chicken Tortilla Casserole

I have many, MANY casserole recipes. The problem is I'm not a leftover fan, AND casseroles often make a ton of food. So when I'm having several people over for nothing fancy I like to make casseroles.

Last night I made this Chicken Tortilla Casserole.  It was shockingly good.  Why do I say "shockingly"? Well for starters, I like chipotle, but often it over powers a dish.  I am tempted to cut back on it because of that. This time I didn't cut back and *gasp* followed the recipe.  The flavor would have been missing had I cut back. And there was just enough heat to make you realize there was some extra kick there without it burning your lips off.

Very flavorful and VERY easy. Try it! It'll feed a crowd.

Photo by Jenn Wraspir

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Recipe from Cover and Bake

Serves 6-8 easily

• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, chopped fine
• 2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and diced medium (Yah, I so didn't add this ingredient - blech)
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 2 T flour
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• 2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, chopped, with 2 tsp sauce (I removed some of the seeds too - just in case it was too hot)
• 2 (14.5oz) cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed (I didn't have any pinto beans, but I had black beans - used them instead)
• 1 (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in small bite size chunks
• 1/4 c plus 2 T chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 T lime juice
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 18 6" corn tortillas
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese shredded

Adjust your oven rack to the middle position. Preheat your oven to 300F.

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add the onion, bell pepper, cumin, chili powder and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft and the onions are golden, about 10 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add flour and cook, stirring constantly for about 1 minute.  Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and bring to a simmer.  Add the chipotles and adobo sauce, beans, and tomatoes, simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is no longer pink, about 4 minutes.  Stir in 1/4 cup cilantro, the lime juice and pepper.

Taste your mixture and adjust seasoning.

Meanwhile, spray both sides of the tortillas with cooking spray and lay on two baking sheets, some overlapping is fine. Bake until the tortillas are soft and pliable, about 5 minutes. Remove tortillas from oven. Increase oven temp to 450F.

Jenn Note: I didn't do that to the tortillas. I just used the straight out of the package and I'm not sure there would have been any difference. Because they were corn tortillas they weren't gummy or anything like that.

Toss the cheeses together and mix.

Assembling the casserole:  Spread 1/3 of the chicken mixture on the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish.  Layer with 6 tortillas, overlapping and covering the entire dish.  Cover with 1 1/2 cups cheese.  Repeat with a second layer.

For your third layer, pour the remaining chicken mixture over the cheese of the second layer. Cut the remaining 6 tortillas in quarters (Jenn Note: I have no idea why they did this. It makes no sense to me and when I make this again I won't cut them in quarters). Spread the tortilla quarters over the chicken mixture. Cover with remaining cheese.

Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the casserole is bubbling.  Hint - put the casserole on a baking sheet so if it flows over your oven will be saved. When it's done, cool for 10 minutes and sprinkle with the remaining cilantro before serving.