Recipe: Light King Ranch Chicken Casserole

This Southern Living recipe is one I would like to add to the list of dishes to make for friends / family in need of a good meal. It's filling and super tasty, all while still being pretty good for you. I like to add spinach to mine for a little extra veggies and a few tortilla chops for some extra crunch. To make this dinner even easier to throw together you could use rotisserie chicken and I like to use pre-diced onions (which I always keep stocked in the freezer), but don't cut corners by using pre-shredded cheese--the freshly shredded kind makes all the difference in this dish!

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(spinach, chicken and tortilla chips not pictured) 

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, chopped
Vegetable cooking spray
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breasts
1 (10-ounce) can fat-free cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 (10-ounce) can fat-free cream of mushroom soup, undiluted
1 (10-ounce) can diced tomato and green chiles
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 (8-ounce) block reduced-fat Cheddar cheese, shredded (this is a must! don't you dare use pre-shredded!!)

Preparation
1. Sauté onion and bell pepper in a large skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender.

2. Stir in chicken and next 6 ingredients; remove from heat.

3. Tear tortillas into 1-inch pieces; layer one-third tortilla pieces in bottom of a 13- x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with one-third chicken mixture and one-third cheese. Repeat layers twice.

4. Bake at 350° for 30 to 35 minutes or until bubbly.

Tips: *Freeze casserole up to 1 month, if desired. Thaw in refrigerator overnight, and bake as directed. *Add a layer of spinach in between the tortillas and chicken mixture to increase the nutritionally of the dish. *Add a handful of crunched up tortilla chips in with each layer of tortillas.

It doesn't look even nearly as great as it tastes! Promise.