Spicy Chicken Tortilla Casserole

This post has been sponsored by Frito-Lay. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Game day comfort food is my favorite part of the weekends during winter. All you want to do is stay in your sweats and flannel, huddle around with TV with your family and watch the game. This spicy chicken tortilla casserole is the perfect winter dinner to make this year for Super Bowl LII!

Whether you’re like me and just love to make game day food for the family, or love to throw parties, this is a great dish to bring to a watch party, especially with Super Bowl LII around the corner, your batch of chicken tortilla casserole will be 2nd to the halftime show!

Putting together this recipe is relatively easy. For the tortillas, I went with TOSTITOS® Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips. They have great flavor, and I love their restaurant style chip because they’re perfectly thin, and super crisp and crunchy. Perfect for dipping in salsa, or in my case, using as a topping, lining, and even part of the filling for a chicken tortilla casserole.

Think of this recipe as chicken tortilla soup, meets casserole. It’s got everything you’d expect in a chicken tortilla soup, but it’s thick, creamy, loaded with cheese, and soo comforting. I start with cooking down onion and garlic in some chicken broth and heavy cream. While that is simmering, I roast a poblano pepper.

It gives this recipe an added kick of spicy flavor and bold smokey flavor from the roasted skin. Then I add the roasted poblano pepper, some salsa, black beans, shredded chicken and some cheese.

Ok not some cheese. All the cheese.

If you’re making this spicy chicken tortilla casserole recipe for a smaller bunch, for instance when I make it for my family and a few friends. I like to add a little flair and cook them in coqettes.

It gives it a little personal touch, plus the serving portion is perfect to allow them to munch on some of the extra TOSTITOS® Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips and salsa you’ll have leftover.

Find more delicious Frito-Lay recipes on their Pinterest page!

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Print Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 medium yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
• 12 oz Heavy Cream
• 16 oz chicken stock low sodium
• 18 oz canned salsa
• 15 oz black beans
• 1 large poblano pepper
• 20 oz shredded cheese cheddar jack mix recommended
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 15 oz TOSTITOS® Original Restaurant Style Tortilla Chips
• 1 cup shredded chicken.

Instructions

• Preheat Oven to 400 F. In a dutch oven, melt butter. Added chopped onion, and garlic. Cook for about 3 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add flour, cumin, oregano, paprika, cayenne pepper and stir for about 1 minute. Slowly stir in chicken broth, followed by heavy whipping cream. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes, then turn off heat. Stir about 2 cups of cheese.
• Roast a poblano pepper over stove flame, then place in a bag for about 5 minutes. scrape off the burn skin with a knife, then chop into 1/4 inch pieces (leave the seed if you want the dish spicier.
• Stir in poblano pepper, salsa beans, cilantro and chicken into soup mixture. Set aside.
• In a non-stick baking dish, add crushed tortilla chips to the bottom, and line some chips on the sides. Pour in about half of the soup mixture, followed by a layer of cheese, and more crushed chips. Repeat this process once more.
• Cover baking dish with tin foil and place in the oven for about 30 minutes. Remove tin foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until cheese is browned. Let cool for about 5 minutes. Top with a little cilantro and some avocado and enjoy!