George Strait Casserole–a seasoned creamy, cheesy chicken mixture spooned over tortilla chips. Make it in the Instant Pot or Crockpot.
George Strait Casserole
Today’s recipe is an easy take on King Ranch Chicken. Instead of using layered corn tortillas we just are going to ladle the chicken mixture over the top of corn tortilla chips. It makes it more fun to eat and since my son is not a fan of “soggy” tortillas he was happy to eat this version.
This is an easy dump and go recipe. You can use frozen chicken (yay!) and it stays good on the keep warm setting for up to 3 hours. The saucy chicken is so good you’ll want to lick your plate.
This recipe is adapted from George Strait’s King Ranch Chicken Recipe As the Spur Stirs (2015), a 272-page cookbook compiled by Jacqueline Skeens Cavender, of the Cavender’s Western Wear family. The book is filled with 450 delicious dishes from the kitchens and cupboards of family friends and celebrity supporters, including Ty Murray, George Strait, and Tuff Hedeman.
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs–frozen is fine. Chicken breasts can also be used.
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Chili powder
- Cumin
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Smoked paprika
- Rotel tomatoes with green chiles–I used mild
- Cream of chicken soup–or cream of mushroom
- Cheddar cheese–I used sharp
Steps
Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add the chicken evenly into the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle the chicken with the onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and paprika.
Dump the Rotel and cream of chicken soup on top of the chicken.
Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
Place chicken on a cutting board and shred or chop. Add the chicken back into the pot and stir.
Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch with 2 Tbsp of cold water until smooth. Stir the slurry into the pot to thicken the sauce. Once thickened turn off the pot.
Stir in the cheese.
Place a pile of tortilla chips on a plate then ladle the chicken mixture on top. Enjoy!
Notes/Tips
- Serve with mexican rice, guacamole, sour cream, pico de gallo, cornbread, refried beans, corn or tossed green salad.
- Instead of ladling the chicken mixture on top of chips you can reverse it and crunch up chips on top of the chicken mixture.
- We love Don Julio’s lightly seasoned tortilla chips.
- You can also wrap the chicken up in a flour tortilla and serve like tacos.
- This recipe can be gluten free. Use gluten free cream of chicken soup.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3 or 8 quart pot.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- Other recipes you can make with smoked paprika are Ohio Casserole and Kansas Casserole.
Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for.
George Strait Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 12 minutes (plus 10 minute NPR)
- Total Time: 27 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
A seasoned creamy, cheesy chicken mixture spooned over tortilla chips. Make it in the Instant Pot or Crockpot.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 (10 oz) can Rotel tomatoes with green chiles
- 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup
- 1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Tortilla chips
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions:
- Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add the chicken evenly into the bottom of the pot. Sprinkle the chicken with the onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper and paprika. Dump the Rotel and cream of chicken soup on top of the chicken.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 12 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Place chicken on a cutting board and shred or chop. Add the chicken back into the pot and stir.
- Turn Instant Pot to saute setting. In a small bowl stir together the cornstarch with 2 Tbsp of cold water until smooth. Stir the slurry into the pot to thicken the sauce. Once thickened turn off the pot.
- Stir in the cheese.
- Place a pile of tortilla chips on a plate then ladle the chicken mixture on top. Enjoy!
Slow Cooker Instructions:
- Add broth, chicken, onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, salt, pepper, paprika, Rotel and cream of chicken soup into slow cooker. Stir.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
- Place chicken on a cutting board and shred or chop. Add the chicken back into the slow cooker and stir. Stir in the cheese.
- Place a pile of tortilla chips on a plate then ladle the chicken mixture on top. Enjoy!
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot or Slow Cooker
More Tex-Mex Chicken Recipes…
Copycat Chipotle Chicken
Instant Pot or Crockpot chicken recipe with lots of flavor from chipotles, garlic and seasonings.
New Mexico Casserole
Green chile chicken and rice casserole with melty cheese and a creamy sauce. Made with the help of your Instant Pot!
Texas Casserole
Chicken and rice with a creamy tomatillo, sweet pepper and green chile sauce and then topped with cheddar cheese.
Instant Pot Pollo Loco Mexican Chicken
Yellow spanish-style rice with tender bites of chicken, carrots and white queso.
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
Great surprise. I’m not normally a cumin fan but didn’t think too far ahead when I planned to make this. Yummy!! I didn’t have chips but served it over pasta. Very good. Will make excellent leftovers!
over pasta is a good plan!
This was great! I have been sick with a cold so I got my hubby to help and it was super easy and very tasty! I used skinless boneless chicken breasts. Followed the recipe to a “t”. We did top it with shredded lettuce and a bit more cheese. Next time, we will top it with a spicy queso we get at Publix. We like spicy and I was afraid it wouldn’t be spicy enough but it did have some kick. Thank you for another great recipe! BTW, he dipped chips in it and I poured it over my chips. Tasty either way and not soggy.
Is there a substitute for the can of cream of chicken soup?
I would use 4 ounces of cream cheese.
how can you make this in a crockpot or stove top? Don’t have an instant pot and many of us ,don’t
Hi Diane, the crockpot instructions are listed in the recipe card.
This looks really good. Is there any way to cut the cholesterol?
Chicken breasts have less cholesterol than thighs so you could do that instead.
Thank you.
If you substitute chicken beasts for the thighs how many breasts would you use?
I wish I could save these recipes in a group
I save them to a bookmark on my browser I have a whole folder just for instant pot recipes
At what point do you put the cornstarch in when using the slow cooker?
if you feel like it needs to be thickened up you can make a cornstarch slurry at the end of the cooking time and stir it into the pot. Remove the lid and cook on high for 10-20 more minutes until it has thickened.
I made this for my boyfriend and he loved it and asked me to make it again soon. I served it with corn chips and lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, and sour cream. Another Winner!
Sounds like a perfect dinner to me Rebecca!
My husband would probably love it this way because he doesn’t like the soggy tortillas. Definitely gonna try.