Texas King Ranch Chicken Casserole has the flavors from king ranch chicken but it’s got a few twists from the original recipe. This version has chicken, rice, rotel, sour cream and cream of chicken soup with lots of cheese on top.

Texas King Ranch Chicken Casserole
King ranch chicken is a layered dish with corn tortillas. I happen to love it but my son doesn’t like the texture of corn tortillas. So for this casserole version of king ranch chicken I decided to forego the tortillas and use rice instead. The result was a tasty chicken, rice and cheesy casserole dish that was a hit! (If you’d like to make the “normal” king ranch chicken try this recipe instead.)
Ingredients/Substitution Ideas
- Chicken broth–or water and Better than Bouillon Chicken Base
- Converted–or long grain rice
- Chicken tenderloins—they can be frozen or fresh (use same cooking time). You can also use breasts or thighs cut into the size of tenders
- Chili powder
- Cumin
- Dehydrated onions–I buy the big container from Costco
- Salt
- Sour cream–you can also use plain yogurt
- Cream of chicken soup–I like using Campbells. You can also make your own from scratch.
- Rotel–I like using mild best.
- Shredded cheddar cheese–medium or sharp or you can use a Mexican blend
- Cilantro–for garnish
Steps
- Cook the chicken and rice: Add broth, rice, chicken and seasonings into Instant Pot. Pressure cook for 4 minutes with a 5-10 minute natural pressure release.
- Shred chicken: Move chicken to a cutting board and shred.
- Layer ingredients in a casserole dish: Heat oven to 350° F. Spread the rice into a 9×9 inch square baking dish. Top the rice with chicken. Evenly spread the Rotel over the top. In a mixing bowl stir together the sour cream and cream of chicken soup. Spread the mixture over the top of the Rotel. Sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake and serve: Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve garnished with chopped cilantro.


Notes/Tips
- Can I make this with my air fryer lid instead of the oven? Yes you can. Follow steps 1-3 as stated in the recipe card. Then for step 4 layer the ingredients in the Instant Pot liner instead of a baking dish. Then use your air fryer lid at 350° F for 10 minutes.
- What can I use instead of cream of chicken soup? If you’re not a fan of cream of chicken soup you can make your own from scratch. You can also use another type of cream of soup like cream of mushroom, cream of celery, condensed cheddar soup, etc.
- What is Rotel? Rotel is canned, diced tomatoes and diced chili peppers. It is an ingredient often used in soups, sauces, queso, and casseroles. It’s a convenient way to add extra flavor to recipes that require diced tomatoes. You can usually find it by other diced tomatoes or in the aisle next to Mexican foods. I buy mild version since we don’t love too much spice.
- What is converted rice and why use it? Converted rice is also called parboiled rice has been processed in its husk by soaking, steaming, and drying. As a result, all the nutrients from the husk are absorbed into the grain before it’s removed. The starch content alters in the process, making cooked parboiled rice less sticky than regular white rice. The rice kernels aren’t clumpy and glued together instead they are more separated. I found a bag of parboiled rice at Walmart next to the normal long grain white rice. I also find it in the bulk section at Winco. Look for the Ben’s brand in the orange box as well. Don’t confuse parboiled rice with pre-cooked or minute rice.
- I used my 6 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in an 8 or 3 quart pot.
- To double the recipe double all ingredients and keep the cooking time the same. Bake in a 9×13 inch baking dish instead of 9×9 inch.
More Chicken Casserole Recipes…
- Instant Pot Chicken Surprise
- Instant Pot Smoky Mountain Casserole
- Instant Pot “Stole My Boyfriend” Tetrazzini
- Instant Pot Firecracker Casserole
- Instant Pot Creamy 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.

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Texas King Ranch Chicken Casserole (Instant Pot)
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
Texas King Ranch Chicken Casserole has the flavors from king ranch chicken but it’s got a few twists from the original recipe. This version has chicken, rice, rotel, sour cream and cream of chicken soup with lots of cheese on top.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup uncooked converted or long grain rice
- 12 ounces chicken tenderloins (or breasts or thighs cut into the size of tenders)
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp dehydrated onions
- Pinch of salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 (10.5 oz) can cream of chicken soup
- 1 (10 oz) can Rotel
- 1 cup (4 oz) shredded cheddar cheese
- Cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
- Pour broth into Instant Pot. Sprinkle the rice into the pot. Place chicken on top. Sprinkle the chicken with chili powder, cumin, onions and salt.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.
- Move chicken to a cutting board and shred.
- Heat oven to 350° F. Spread the rice into a 9×9 inch square baking dish. Top the rice with chicken. Evenly spread the Rotel over the top. In a mixing bowl stir together the sour cream and cream of chicken soup. Spread the mixture over the top of the Rotel. Sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes. Serve garnished with chopped cilantro.
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot and Oven
*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.
What if I made brown rice for like 20 minutes, can I throw the chicken on top of the brown rice w spices? Or instead of water used chicken stock? I want the flavors of the spices in the rice…
The chicken tenderloins would be way overdone at 20 minutes. However if you use bone-in chicken pieces or even boneless thighs or frozen breasts that would work well.
I keep asking for crockpot recipes and all I see is instapot recipes if that continues I. Am cancelling my subscription.don’t need the headache. First thing that comes up when I go on the website or click on a recipe is an instapot recipe. I am not looking for instapot. I am looking for crockpot and I clicked on that.right now I am giving this a 2 as it is hard to find the crockpot receipts I requested.
If you go to the recipe card you’ll usually see instructions for both instant pot and slow cooker. This particular recipe doesn’t have a slow cooker version.
My daughter has digestive problems with rice but tolerates cauliflower rice well, can it be substituted in the Insta pot recipes?
You can cook it separately and add it into the recipes. The problem with cooking it in the Instant Pot is that is will get overcooked. Another issue is the recipes are written assuming that the rice will soak up the liquid in the recipes. With cauliflower rice that doesn’t happen…so you’d just have soup in many cases.
Could this be made in oven?
I currently have all of this food on my counter ready to put in the pot but don’t have converted rice. I have enriched and jasmine. Also instant. I could cry lol as I have no idea how to switch and substitute and the cooking times freak me out. Help 😩 lol
I made this last night, didn’t have converted rice either. Ended up using chicken rice a roni, prepared as intended on stove and not in the pot. Cooked the chicken and did all other ingredients as stated in recipe in the IP. Moved the rice to the casserole dish, placed the shredded chicken on top. Just used a liiittle bit of the liquid from the pot since it wasn’t absorbed from cooking the rice in the dish. Topped the rest of the way and baked as instructed. It was FANTASTIC.
Good to know!!
Just use the long grain white rice or jasmine. Will work the same.
Sounds amazing! Could this be made in the crock pot or oven? I haven’t caved and bought an Instant Pot yet ;). Thanks!
if you had already cooked chicken and rice you could make it in the oven. Just make sure to add in the seasonings and skip to step 4.