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This Crockpot King Ranch Chicken casserole is perfect if you love Tex-Mex! We have saved even more time by making this a slow cooker recipe.
Crockpot King Ranch Chicken Casserole
If you’ve never heard of King Ranch Chicken before the best way to describe it is a Tex-Mex version of lasagna. We make this one in the crockpot, but there are several recipes where you can make this in a traditional casserole pan.
Both prep instructions pretty much blend the ingredients together making this this turn into the KING Ranch Chicken – HA! It does taste so, soooo good! Making this in crockpot helps you save time. Just one of the many reasons I love using Mrs. Potts!
🍴TIP: You can find this recipe in week 7 of our Slow Cooker Menu Plans Made Easy!
Why is this called King Ranch Chicken?
Glad you asked!
Apparently, this was created on the King Ranch (one of the largest ranches in the US). It’s a popular Tex-Mex casserole so I can see how that would be popular on a ranch, feeding all the hungry cowboys!
Many of the recipes vary, but generally it has a sauce made of canned diced tomatoes (commonly the Ro-Tel brand) with green chiles, cream of mushroom soup, cream of chicken soup, diced bell pepper, onion, and chunks or shreds of chicken. The bottom of the casserole is lined with corn tortillas or tortilla chips, then layered with sauce and topped with cheese.
This version may be less spicy than most Tex-Mex dishes, it has long been a favorite dish in Texas club cookbooks and lunchrooms. It’s most definitely a comfort food and it’s SO good!
How to Make King Ranch Chicken:
King Ranch Casserole is typically cooked in the oven in a casserole dish, but is perfect for the crockpot too! To make it super easy we used shredded rotisserie chicken for this recipe. You’re welcome! 🙂
First, mix 4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken with 1 large chopped yellow onion, 1 large chopped green pepper, 1 can cream of chicken soup, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can Rotel tomatoes and 1 minced garlic clove. Tear about 12 fajita size corn tortillas into 1-inch strips.
Give your slow cooker a good spray with some non-stick cooking spray. Then place ⅓ of the tortilla pieces into the greased slow cooker. Add ⅓ of the chicken mixture and ⅔ cups of cheese. Repeat those layers twice.
Let this one cook on low for around 3 1/2 hours. Remove lid and continue to cook another 30 minutes uncovered. Now, get in my tummy!! 🙂
What to Serve with Crockpot King Ranch Chicken
I like to serve a nice big salad and maybe a few tortilla chips on the side when I make this.
Here are a few other suggestions:
Can you freeze King Ranch Chicken?
Yes! It freezes beautifully. Assemble the casserole as directed, wrap it tightly with aluminum foil, and freeze the casserole up to one month. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then follow the slow cooker instructions.
You can also choose to freeze after it’s cooked. Cool and freeze up to three months. Thaw and reheat leftovers. 🙂
King Ranch Chicken
Equipment
- slow cooker
Ingredients
- 4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
- 1 large yellow onion, chopped
- 1 large green pepper, chopped
- 10.5 oz can cream of chicken soup
- 10.5 oz can cream of mushroom soup
- 10 oz can Rotel tomatoes
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 12 fajita size corn tortillas
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Mix together first 7 ingredients.
- Tear tortillas into 1-inch strips.
- Place ⅓ tortilla pieces into a greased slow cooker.
- Add ⅓ chicken mixture and ⅔ cup cheese. Repeat layers twice.
- Cover and cook on low 3 ½ hours.
- Uncover and continue to cook on low for another 30 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
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Looking for more yummy meals? This recipe is from week seven of our slow cooker menu plans, including this meal + 59 other AMAZING recipes (and 12 desserts too)! You’ll also get lifetime membership in our private Facebook group, full of other families encouraging one another to make dinner each night together too.
Well I’ll be ! I was the lady that asked. Sorry about that. I’ll wait for the answer
A lady asked if the tortillas were soggy
After cooked and she was never answered and I was wondering same thing. Are they?
Hi Ann ~ So sorry for the delay in replying! Yes, the tortillas in the casserole will naturally soften during baking (enchilada-like texture). The best tortillas to use is corn tortillas. I hope this helps! 🙂
I haven’t tried this king ranch recipe yet. I’m wondering if it’s fixed in the crockpot do the torn tortillas get soggy when cooked? Could you make it without the tortillas or maybe wrap up like a burrito or such?
I’m interested in purchasing your recipe boxes, do you include nutrition information with each recipe?
Hi Steph! We include calorie counts with each one, and net macros are included as well on the low cal cards. Hope that helps! 🙂
Laurie You had posted a recipe this recipe somewhere for I think it is called Mexican casserole…sorry not sure. I’ve liked Oliver for it and just cannot find it could you help please?
Hi Shawna, I’m not sure which one that is but if you email us at shop@passionatepennypincher.com and describe it, we will do our best to help you find it!!
what would you do different to bake as casserole?
Thank youfor a quick and easy recipe that even my picky eater liked. Your crock pot recipes have been a blessing while waiting for a part to fix our oven.
Yayyy ~ so glad it was a hit Daisy! 🙂 Super happy to hear the recipes have been a blessing!
This may be a silly question…but do you have any substitution suggestions for someone who can’t use the cream of whatever soups?
I use gluten free cream soups , they are awesome!
I saw this in Southern Living and tried it the other day before I saw your blog. Its super easy and cheap to make!! We loved it!!
Jennifer – I couldn’t believe how easy it was – we really liked it (I had the leftovers today for lunch!)
Thanks for blogging about our new King Ranch Chicken slow cooker recipe!
You can find this recipe and others from our October issue here:
http://www.southernliving.com/food/kitchen-assistant/southern-living-october-2010-recipes-00417000069068/
Thanks for pointing this one out. I have not gotten to my magazine yet! I have made Kings Ranch chicken for years, but had never seen a recipe for the crockpot. Mine is baked in the oven.
I haven’t had to look through my Southern Living either, but when I saw “crock pot” on the cover I knew there would be a few to try out! (Several more looked good, but this one was all in the pantry!)