Chicken Salsa Verde Casserole

I just got back from  THE BEST weekend in NYC visiting my sister and their new little baby Callan. Callan Jacob Carroll.  He's just the cutest thing in the world and just starting to get fat enough where you want to eat his cheeks and fingers and toes and thighs. But don’t worry this blog post is not about that. It’s about the casserole we made in between all of the precious baby holding: a chicken casserole with tons of salsa verde, cheese, and a pinch of sour cream. It was inspired by my sister-in-law’s recipe who made it for us once using a green chile stew mix, but since I figured green chile stew mix is probably a regional product, I made my own sauce. It’s a fast, easy, healthy, and perfect make-ahead casserole. And the sad part is, we both (my sister and I), made the casserole again for our families in our respective homes on Sunday night. I guess it’s not that sad.

Recipe

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Taco seasoning (or sprinkling of cumin, S&P, chili powder)
• 1 ½ cups chicken broth
• ¼ cup corn flour
• 3.5 cups salsa verde
• ¼ cup light sour cream (on Sunday I used closer to ½ cup)
• 3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese (on Sunday I used closer to 4 cups)
• 12 corn tortillas

Start by cooking the chicken breasts (or you can use store bought rotisserie to save time).  I boiled them with taco seasoning so they were easy to shred and very flavorful.  Place the chicken in a large pot, sprinkle with plenty of taco seasoning, pour in enough water to cover the chicken, then bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes (once boiling). Drain, let cool, then shred. Preheat the oven to 400.

Bring the chicken broth to a low boil. In a separate cup, whisk together the corn flour and ¼ cup water; mix it into the chicken broth and allow to thicken. Stir in the salsa and cook for a few more minutes. Remove from heat, then mix in the sour cream.

Spray a large casserole dish (9x13) with nonstick spray; pour enough sauce in to cover the bottom (about 1/2 cup).  One by one, dip each of the corn tortillas into the sauce, shake off the excess, then place in the pan – overlapping so there is 6 in the first layer and fully covers the bottom of the dish.  Next, sprinkle with half of the shredded chicken, half of the remaining sauce, and half of the cheese. Then repeat the layers one more time (tortillas, chicken, sauce, cheese, tortillas, chicken, sauce, cheese) – make sure to end with the cheese! 

Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes. I broiled mine for a minute or so at the end to brown the cheese.  You can also refrigerate until you're ready to bake and serve. Yum – leftovers tonight!!