Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Green Chile and Chicken Casserole

Green Chile and Chicken Casserole



This casserole was my first introduction to the wonderful flavors of green chile. It's always a favorite at gatherings (family dinner, "food day" at work, etc.); you can choose how zesty the flavor is by the heat of the chile you select, although if all you have available is the canned variety in your grocery store you'll probably have to stick with mild.

Campbell's Cream of Mushroom is a real hero in this recipe! If I really made an effort I could make a homemade variety and keep frozen to use for this, but – well, maybe some day. Life is short. You could also use leftover chicken from your freezer, boneless chicken breasts/thighs, or even canned chicken with good results.

4 large chicken breasts - Boil in chicken broth and shred into bite size pieces
12 small size corn tortillas, cut into 1" strips
1 cup chopped green chile (mild or hot; thawed and drained if you are using frozen)
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack or Colby cheese (or combo)
1 10-ounce can cream of mushroom
1 16 oz tub of sour cream
1 jar salsa verde
Healthy dash of salt and pepper

Chop cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces and cut the tortillas into 1" strips. Divide each of the ingredients into two parts, reserving 5-6 of the tortilla strips for garnish. Layer first half of the ingredients in casserole as follows: tortilla strips, chicken, green chile, cheese, soup mixture. Make a second layer of each and top with the reserved tortilla strips.

Bake at 350 degrees; for 40 minutes with a sheet of tin foil on top. Take off the tin foil and let brown for 20 minutes. Tortilla strips on top should be crisp and mixture should be boiling. Let cool before serving. That baby is hot!

2 comments:

rocco family said...

HI melissa, i cook with green chiles all the time. they are my favorite. If you want any recipes, i made Chile Reallano casserole, stuffed pork chops, and filet del monte. they are all pretty simple, since the chiles do most of the seasoning.

Anonymous said...

My family makes this! yum