This spin on healthy King Ranch chicken combines a beaucoup of fresh vegetables with shredded rotisserie chicken, Greek yogurt, extra thin corn tortillas, and melted cheddar to create a cheesy, flavorful casserole. Each serving has just 250 calories, 5 Weight Watcher Smart Points, and is packed with 22 grams of protein!
Aside from chopping a few veggies, this king ranch chicken casserole is super easy to make and can easily be doubled for meal prep. Personally, I think it’s even better leftover!
How to Make King Ranch Chicken
If you’re unfamiliar with King Ranch Chicken, it’s traditionally a mixture of cream of mushroom and cream of chicken soup, bell pepper and onion, RO-TEL, and chicken. The biggest difference between King Ranch chicken recipes and this version is the inclusion of Greek yogurt and fresh mushrooms instead of the condensed soups.
This gives you the creaminess with a fraction of the fat and calories!
To make it, you’ll need to dice an onion and bell pepper, chop some mushrooms, and mince a little garlic. Then cook the pepper, onion, and mushrooms for 6-8 minutes to soften before adding garlic, spices, and a can of diced tomatoes and chilies.
While the veggies are cooking, shred a rotisserie chicken (or use another Mexican chicken recipe) to go in the pan with Greek yogurt. Stir everything together and you’re ready to assemble the King Ranch chicken casserole.
While I used a cast iron skillet, any large baking dish should work fine. I opted to leave the tortillas whole and overlap them but if you’re working with a different dish, you can tear them into pieces like some traditional King Ranch chicken recipes.
This part of the recipe is simple—divide the chicken mixture and shredded cheddar in half and create two layers with tortillas in the middle. Then you’re ready to bake!
Different baking dishes may affect cook time slightly, but you don’t have to be all that concerned with precise cook times. As long as the cheese fully melts, you’re pretty much good to go.
Ingredient Modification Notes
I’ll run through a few ingredient questions I foresee coming up.
Can I omit the mushrooms?
Sure. You can omit just about anything in this recipe, but the volume of the filling will be affected. If you get to omission crazy, your King Ranch chicken casserole may look a little flat and sad.
How can I substitute for rotisserie chicken?
Here’s a handful of chicken recipes you could use instead of rotisserie chicken:
- pressure cooker shredded Mexican chicken
- chopped grilled chicken breast or slow smoked chicken breast
- oven baked chicken al pastor
You can also use cubed chicken or other precooked variations of chicken for your King Ranch chicken casserole.
Is this recipe spicy?
Not at all. If you want a spicier chicken casserole, add a bit of cayenne pepper or crushed chipotle pepper. You could also use taco seasoning in place of the spices if you’re working with a minimal kitchen.
Any Greek yogurt swaps?
I recently made high protein enchiladas with blended cottage cheese. That will add more protein and decrease the tanginess a bit. But how about a dairy free swap?
How can I make this recipe dairy free?
For the creaminess in the filling a chickpea or veggie puree would probably do the job. You could also use a vegan cream cheese, as those are readily available these days.
The trickier substitution will be the cheddar for melting. If you can find a vegan cheese that melts well, I’d start there. Beyond that, I’m short on ideas.
Final Notes for Healthy King Ranch Chicken Casserole
If you’d like an extra creamy chicken casserole (read: running everywhere when you cut into it), you can increase the amount of Greek yogurt. I bet you could double the yogurt without any issues.
The base recipe doesn’t call for any salt and pepper, so be sure to add to taste at the end.
More Chicken Notes
Depending on the size of your rotisserie chicken, you might be able to get more like 16 ounces of shredded chicken off the bird. Feel free to use all of it. Macros per serving with one pound of chicken: 275 calories, 27g protein, 18g of carbs, and 11g of fat
The nutrition facts for the chicken in this King Ranch chicken casserole are based on the USDA database entry for skinless rotisserie chicken, breast only.
And I think that covers it all. If you have any questions, drop a comment below and I’d be happy answer your question!
Healthy King Ranch Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp 16g Olive Oil
- 1 medium White Onion, diced
- 1 Bell Pepper, diced
- 5 oz White Mushrooms, chopped
- 4 cloves Garlic, peeled and minced
- 1 Tbsp Chili Powder
- 1 tsp Cumin
- 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 12 oz Shredded Rotisserie Chicken, or any cooked and shredded chicken
- 1 C 227g Fat Free Greek Yogurt
- 10 oz can Diced Tomatoes and Green Chilies, like RO-TEL
- 12 Extra Thin Corn Tortillas, I used Mission
- 1 1/4 C 140g Freshly Shredded Cheddar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with the olive oil before adding the onion, mushrooms, and bell pepper. Cook until the veggies begin to soften, about 6-8 minutes.
- Add the garlic can cook until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds, before adding the canned tomatoes and chilies. Be sure to deglaze the pan (get any stuck bits off the bottom) if necessary. Reduce the heat to low and add the spices, stirring well. Follow that with the chicken and Greek yogurt. Fold everything together and remove from the heat.
- Place 6 tortillas in the bottom of a 12" cast iron skillet (or a large baking dish).
- Add half the chicken mixture and half the cheese.
- Place the remaining 6 tortillas on top and repeat the chicken and cheese one more time.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the edges of the tortillas are golden brown and crispy. Top with freshly chopped cilantro, salt and pepper, and a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream. Enjoy!
Notes
- Each serving has 5 Smart Points.
- See post above for notes on ingredient substitutions.
We added this to our meal rotation! We both love it, it’s easy, & we get leftovers which is even better!!
I am shocked by each recipe I have made. Each one is absolutely delicious. This didn’t disappoint either. I would have fought my husband for the leftovers but there were not any!
This recipe is a household favorite… adult AND kid approved! I also added some corn and black beans to the recipe to thicken it up a bit. Such a simple recipe that’s steady to follow and the taste is incredibly good!
I’ve always loved King Ranch Casserole, and never knew how to make it healthier. Absolutely loved this recipe! Instead of a full cup of Greek yogurt I did 1/2 of Greek yogurt and the other half of light sour cream. Next time I will try a full cup of Greek yogurt. So thankful for these recipes, I can still enjoy my comfort food and make healthier choices.
This is delish! I add a jalapeño to it to spice it up. And hot sauce on top when serving it! Otherwise, it’s perfect and flavorful!
*****
Delicious! Haven’t made King Ranch Chicken since I stopped using cream canned soups years ago. This was a tasty version. I used the pineapple chipotle crockpot chicken recipe from this website for the meat. I did add more Greek yogurt since I didn’t want it too dry….but that addition wasn’t necessary at all. Since I only had mild Ro-tel, I did add a heaping tablespoon of fresh minced jalapeno for a little kick. The result was not very spicy. If you haven’t tried King Ranch Chicken before, just a head’s up that the corn tortilla flavor does come through. Thanks for another keeper recipe.
My skillet wasn’t big enough to mix the Greek yogurt in after cooking everything so I transferred it to a bowl and mixed it. And I didn’t have any circular baking dish to use so I just used a rectangular one.
I loved how it turned out! So good!!
This was great! I used shredded chicken I made myself, so it was a little dry being it was breast meat. I’d recommend a mix of light and dark if you’re going that route yourself.
Are you supposed to drain the tomatoes with chilis or leave the liquid?
Goes straight in.
Made it, loved it, will make it again!