When we were looking for another recipe from my mom’s collection for this past weekend’s camping trip, I decided we had to do some sort of casserole. I’ve done a few casseroles in the Dutch oven before and they always turn out great. Not to mention, they are usually pretty low maintenance. After some initial prep work, you can pile everything into the Dutch oven and literally, set it and forget it.
This recipe for Chicken Enchilada Casserole is exactly one of those and was pretty easy to assemble at camp. We made several modifications to make it Dutch oven friendly including cutting the ingredients down by about 1/3, sautéing the chicken (didn’t want to mess with boiling it), and not refrigerating the assembled casserole before cooking.
I’d definitely recommend this as a main dish, whether at the campsite or in your kitchen. It’s a delicious take on enchiladas, is super easy to put together, and feeds a crowd.
Below is the original recipe from our family cookbook and the Dutch oven version below that.
Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Serves: 6 (Dutch oven version)
Active Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
- 12 corn tortillas
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- 1 large can diced green chiles (mild Ortega chiles work great)
- 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
- 1 small can sliced olives
- 1/2 lb sharp cheddar cheese, grated
- 1/2 lb monterey jack cheese, grated
- Salt and pepper
- Oil or oil spray
- Cilantro
Directions:
- Preheat Dutch oven over coals till hot.
- Add a little oil to the Dutch oven and chopped onion. Sauté until transparent. Remove and set aside in a medium size bowl (you want the bowl big enough to add the soup mixture, so you don’t have to clean a bunch of dishes).
- Cube chicken breasts into 1″ pieces and season with salt and pepper.
- Add chicken to Dutch oven and cook until no longer pink on the outside.
- Meanwhile, start prepping the rest of your ingredients.
- Cut the tortillas into quarters, set aside.
- In the bowl with the sautéed onion, combine the cream of chicken soup, chicken broth, green chiles, and olives.
- Once the chicken is done cooking, remove from Dutch oven and set aside.
- Add a little oil to the bottom of the Dutch oven and begin making your casserole.
- Arrange half the tortillas to cover the bottom, then half the chicken, half the soup mixture, and half the cheese.
- Repeat layers with the remaining ingredients, tortillas, chicken, soup mixture, and cheese.
- Add the lid to your Dutch oven and place hot coals on top.
- Cook for 1 hour or until nice and bubbly.
- Top with cilantro and enjoy!
Lisa's Recipe Box 