Fun Food Friday- Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Growing up we would have a Chicken Tortilla Casserole that I thought was pretty good.  Then a while back Trisha Yearwood made a Chicken Tortilla Casserole on her show that had this homemade sauce that looked amazing.  So I decided to kind of merge the two together and I really like the result.  It's best if you make it the night before so the sauce can really soak into the tortillas.  You start the sauce by making a chicken gravy (which I want to try sometime on top of a piece of chicken because it always smells so delicious).  In the recipe below I start of with already shredded chicken. To make that I just boil some chicken breasts for 30 minutes and then shredded right away.  It would also work great with a shredded Rotisserie chicken.  You need about 3 cups of chicken.  It makes a lot of casserole and I don't know that this one would work great to freeze so we just eat it two nights in a row :).  Enjoy!

Ingredients: Corn Tortillas, Shredded Chicken, Onion, Garlic, Salt & Pepper, Cumin, Butter, Shredded Cheese (I used Colby Jack), Milk, Chicken Broth, Sour Cream, Green Chilies, Flour

Measure out 1 cup of broth...

And 1 cup of milk (I like to do this first so as soon as that roux is ready I can pour the liquid in, it goes fast)

Melt 6 TBS of butter in a large pan

Add 6 TBS of flour...

And stir.  Bring it to a boil and let boil 1 minute, stirring constantly so it doesn't burn (this is your roux)

Add the liquid...

And stir.  Then let it come to a boil, stirring constantly.  It will thicken pretty quickly

Then add some salt...

And pepper

Dice up a medium onion...

And one clove of garlic

Now to the chicken gravy add 1 1/2 cups more of chicken broth...

an 8 oz can of green chilies

The onions and garlic...

 

1 cup of sour cream...

And 1/2 a tsp of cumin

 

Very carefully (that's a pretty full pan) stir it all together and let it come to a boil

In the mean time cut up the corn tortillas into little squares

And now you are all ready to assemble

Start of by taking 1 cup of the sauce...

And pouring it into the bottom of a greased 9x13 dish

then layer 6 cut up tortillas...

then 1/3 of the shredded chicken...

then some cheese

and then repeat those steps 2 more times

(sauce, tortillas, chicken, cheese)

Finish off by pouring the remaining sauce on top of the cheese and spread it around

And there you go, 3 layers of deliciousness :)

Cover and refrigerate overnight or for a few hours

Then bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour

I left it covered for 45 minutes and then removed the foil for the last 15 minutes

Oh, that is some good stuff :)

 

Jonathan approved

As did David

Jonathan didn't have the patience finally to use his fork

And neither did David :)

 

He's just too cute I thought you'd want to see more of him eating :)

And there goes the plate

And there goes the other plate :)

But at least they waited until they were almost done with their dinner

 

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

6 TBS Butter

6 TBS Flour

1 cup + 1 1/2 cup chicken stock

1 cup milk

salt & pepper

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup sour cream

1 8oz can green chiles

1/2 tsp cumin

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

18 6-inch corn tortillas

3 cups shredded cheese (I use Colby Jack)

 

Melt the butter in a large saucepan.  Add flour and whisk together, bring to a boil and boil 1 minute.  Add 1 cup chicken stock and milk.  Stir constantly until it thickens and comes to a boil.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Then add the rest of the chicken stock, onions, garlic, sour cream, chiles and cumin.  Mix together and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat.  Cut the tortillas into little pieces.  Spread 1 cup of sauce into a greased 9x13 pan.  Then layer 6 cut up tortillas, 1/3 of the chicken and 1 cup of cheese.  Repeat 2 more times (starting with 1 cup of sauce).  Spread any remaining sauce over the cheese.  Cover and refrigerate overnight or for a few hours.  Bake covered at 350 degrees for 1 hour, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes.