Chicken Chilaquiles Casserole

A fun, naturally GF dinner with a Mexican flare. Easily made to suit your tastes with any salsa flavor you like!

My introduction to chilaquiles was when we were in Mexico on our honeymoon. We were at one of those all inclusive resorts so there was food everywhere. Everywhere! You could go up to a bar while in the pool and order food or drink.

Yeah, there was also alcohol everywhere. And we are not really into drinking much. Actually, we don’t drink at all. Neither of us really likes the taste of alcohol in the first place, and being celiac my options are limited. I may have a glass of wine here or there. Sounds so weird, but it’s true. Two adults who legitimately dislike alcoholic beverages.

We tried a variety of drinks in Mexico, wanting to have fun and make the most of all you can eat and drink atmosphere, but we just didn’t like anything. So, we had to make up for our lack of drinking alcohol with eating food. Some nights we had two dinners. I was getting fancy coffees a few times a day. It was great.

There was a huge room service menu, and one of the breakfast options was “chilaquiles”. I had no idea what it was. We ordered it, along with a bunch of other things (after all, it was all already paid for), and the next morning this plate that looked kind of like nachos arrived with our breakfast. The chilaquiles were good! Lots of flavors, some crunch, and a bit of spice. Honestly, I’m not sure why it is a breakfast dish, but I was a fan.

So, when a Chicken Chilaquiles Recipe and a Homemade Tortilla Chip recipe appeared within days of each other, I just had to try it all out! Savoring the last “cool” (if 80s counts as cool) days before summer hits, I turned this into a casserole to get in some final uses of my oven before it’s too hot to even think of turning on. Gotta love casseroles!

Rather than using store bought, fried tortillas chips I made my own using this guide from the Kitchn. It was so simple. I got out a few tortillas, sprayed them with olive oil (using a misto), sprinkled with salt, cut into wedges, and baked at 350° F for 15 minutes. My chips took a little longer than the guide said. Just check yours frequently so you can take them out when the reach that perfect level of crispness, and not when they are burnt! The tortillas chips turned out great and it took a lot of willpower to not eat them all before they went into the casserole.

I always tend to have some leftover shredded chicken around, so this was a great way to use that up. Any other meat or bean would be good in this casserole. If you’d put it on a taco or burrito, then you can throw it in this casserole! I’d honestly meant to throw in some additional diced tomatoes and then totally forgot! It was good anyway. Just have fun with this – make it to suit your tastes!

Recipe Inspiration from The Mother Huddle and the Kitchn.

Serves 3 -4 (and the leftovers are good, too!)

 

Ingredients

• 8 corn tortillas, made into chips (or total of 64 GF corn tortillas chips)
• 10 oz shredded chicken (from about 2 small or 1 large chicken breast, approximate amount is fine)
• 12 oz black beans
• 1 c salsa
• 1/2 c chicken broth
• 3 Tbs plain greek yogurt
• 3/4 c shredded cheese (I used colby jack, choose any variety you like).

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a saucepan, stir together the salsa and chicken broth.
3. Add the chicken and black beans and bring to simmer. Add the greek yogurt and stir to combine.
4. Prepare a baking dish (I used a 10 x 6 glass baking dish) by spraying it with cooking spray (I use misto). Put a layer of chips on the bottom of the pan, then spread half of the chicken mixture on top of it.
5. Repeat the layers, leaving a handful of chips remaining.
6. Top with cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
7. Serve with remaining chips, or place them on the top of the baked casserole for an extra crunch.