Chicken Ole is a delicious Mexican lasagna dinner that is layered with a cheesy chicken mixture, corn tortillas, and your choice of toppings. This chicken dinner will be sure to spice up your family's mealtime!
Tired of the same old dinner options? Our chicken ole casserole recipe is the perfect meal to make when you want comfort food. The cheesy layers are are creamy and delicious.
You can even prep everything ahead of time, so all you have to do is pop it in the oven when you get home from work.
This dish is quick and easy to put together. But don't be fooled by how simple this corn tortilla lasagna is. It is loaded with flavor and cheesy goodness without all the stress.
Bonus: If you are looking for chicken dinners with rice, try out this cheesy chicken and rice casserole.
What Makes This Dinner Amazing
We guarantee that once your family tastes this cheesy chicken dish they will ask for seconds. This Mexican lasagna will be on your weekly rotation before you know it, and here's why...
- No special cooking skills required.
- Cheesy goodness in every bite.
- Makes enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow.
Ingredients
With just a few simple ingredients you can make this easy chicken dinner for your family tonight. Everyone will be impressed with how quick and tasty this meal is.
- Chicken - Any shredded cooked chicken will work. We like to cook chicken breasts in a crockpot and then shred it for meals. Another easy option is to buy a rotisserie chicken from the store.
- Canned Soup - This casserole uses cream of mushroom and cream of chicken for the creamy layer.
- Chicken Broth - Thins out the condensed soup and softens the tortillas.
- Tomatoes - Canned tomatoes with green chiles adds color and flavor. If you want to cut down on the spicy flavor, use regular diced tomatoes.
- Green Chiles - Adds a subtle spice to the dish. You can control the amount of heat in the recipe by choosing mild, hot, or fire roasted. Hatch green chiles are also great.
- Onion - Gives more flavor to the casserole.
- Cheese - We like using cheddar cheese in our casserole. You can also use a Mexican blend. For best melting results, buy a block of cheese and grate it yourself.
- Corn Tortillas - You can use white or yellow corn tortillas for the layers. These sturdy tortillas hold up well in a casserole, but they do need softened.
How to Make Chicken Ole
The best part about this chicken ole is how simple the dish is to make. There are no complicated steps or difficult instructions involved. Just grab your ingredients, follow our directions, and enjoy a delicious meal.
Mix together the shredded chicken, soups, tomatoes, green chiles, and onions in a large bowl.
Warm the corn tortillas in the microwave and cut into quarters.
Place a layer of tortillas in the bottom of a greased baking dish. Spoon half the chicken broth over them.
Spoon half the chicken mixture on top. Sprinkle with cheese. Repeat the layers.
Bake until melted and bubbly. Broil for the last few minutes of baking time.
Make It a Full Meal
This chicken casserole is amazing by itself, but you can add a few other sides to make it even more delicious.
- Rice and Beans or this Easy Cauliflower Rice
- Easy Homemade Salsa with chips
- Side Salad
- Candy Apple Nachos
- Cinnamon Cookies
How to Store Chicken Casserole
Chicken ole will keep in the fridge for about 4-5 days, if tightly covered. Reheat in a warm oven or in the microwave.
This lasagna style dish also freezes well. To freeze, cool the baked casserole completely. You can either wrap the entire casserole or individual slices in plastic wrap and foil, then freeze for 2-3 months.
To serve, thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Recipe Tips
- Looking for more of a green chile flavor? Skip the tomatoes and use 2 cans of the diced green chiles in the chicken filling.
- Substitute flour tortillas or crushed Doritos for the corn tortilla layer. If you are doing this, skip the extra chicken broth.
- Use a rotisserie chicken to save time putting together the ingredients.
- Keep a bag of frozen chopped onions in your freezer. No teary chopping and saves time when it comes to recipe prep.
- Have fun with the toppings. Set out bowls of sour cream, tomatoes, avocados, cilantro, guacamole, green onions and let everyone pile their favorites on top.
FAQ
Yes, you can assemble it ahead of time, refrigerate, and bake it before serving. Make sure to remove it from the refrigerator 30 minutes before placing in the preheated oven or add an additional 15 minutes if baking direct from the fridge.
It sure can. Layer everything in a crock pot and forget about it. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.
More Chicken Dinner Recipes
- Easy Chicken Enchilada recipe
- Buffalo Chicken Pasta
- Monterey Chicken Enchiladas
- Nacho Cheese Casserole
- Chicken Tater Tot Casserole
- Chicken Pasta Bake recipe
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Recipe
Chicken Ole Casserole Recipe
Chicken Ole Casserole is a delicious Mexican lasagna dinner that is layered with cheese and chicken mixture, corn tortillas, and your choice of toppings. This chicken dinner will be sure to spice up your family's mealtime!
Ingredients
- 4 cups shredded, cooked chicken
- 1 - 4 ounce can chopped green chilies, undrained
- 1 - 10 ounce can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
- 2 cups chicken broth, divided
- 1 - 10 ¾ ounce can condensed cream of mushroom soup
- 1 - 10 ¾ ounce can condensed cream of chicken soup
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 package corn tortillas (you will use 20)
- 3 cups shredded cheddar cheese (12 ounces)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 dish with nonstick spray.
- In a bowl, combine the chicken, chilies, tomatoes, 1 cup broth, soups, and onion; set aside.
- Warm 10 tortillas in the microwave. Cut into wedges.
- Layer the tortillas on the bottom of a greased 9×13 pan. Spoon ½ cup of broth over the tortillas. You don’t want to soak them, just a little to soften them up.
- Top with ½ the chicken mixture and sprinkle with ½ the cheese.
- Repeat layers, starting with 10 more tortillas warmed and cut in quarters. Spoon the remaining ½ cup of broth over the tortilla layer, then add the chicken mixture and cheese. Cover with foil that has been sprayed with nonstick spray.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes. Broil for the last 2-3 minutes of the cooking time. Let sit 10-15 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 15 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 221Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 60mgSodium: 654mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 16g
Nutrition facts are an estimate and are not guaranteed to be accurate. If you need special diet advice, please see a registered dietician.
*The post for Chicken Ole was first published March 2011. The post and photos were updated and republished September 2021.
Erin England
Wow, what a delicious recipe! I didn't find the chicken stock necessary, so much sodium. I used red enchilada sauce to moisten the tortillas on each layer and as a drizzle garnish. I also used a cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese. And
added green onions before the broiling. It's really hard to put the fork down. In the dinner rotation for sure. You nailed the cooking times and great instructions.
Unknown
Condensed soups are not available in my country, can i put the packet one's instead? Just the powder ?
Jocelyn Brubaker
I am not sure how that would work. I used the condensed soup here. It is a thick soup in a can that is normally watered down to eat. For this casserole I did not water it down though.
Unknown
Here we have powdered soup , we need to add that in boiling water and cook for 2 mins ..
Rebecca Clerc
Try it with Fritos, it will turn your world upside down, and make you wonder what else you have been missing.
We top ours with, sourcream, olives, tomatoes, and lettuce, (the last two make it healthy). 🙂
AllieMakes!
This is SO good! We printed the recipe the other night and made it straight-away! It was FANTASTIC!
Thanks for linking up to Making It With Allie! I can't wait to see what you have for next week!
DeanO
This is a great recipe and if I've been good I get to have it. When you're eating this one tends to forget about the calories involved.
carissa @ lowercase letters
this is my kind of dinner! i'm making it soon! thanks lovely lady.
Liz
Yum! I make this at my house often. Except instead of the can of green chilies and the tomatoes , I use a can ( or 2 if i want spicy) of Rotel tomatoes. And I use Doritoes in place of the corn tortillas. I know it sounds gross, but it is soooo good. My son's youth pastor requests it every time it is my turn to prepare communion brunch! Thanks for posting. ~Liz
Joseph's Grainery Recipes
Anything with "Ole" in the title has got to be good!
Kara @ Mine for the Making
YUM! Def adding this to the menu!!
Mindy
calories are overrated when it comes to dishes like these! thanks for adding to my meal rotation! 🙂
Brandi
Now that is pure yummyness! I left you an award over on my blog.
Brandi
SHWenner
Mmmmm! Those look like some delicious calories! 🙂
Misty
Muchisimas gracias! That looks like a winner of a recipe for our family too!
The Answer Is Chocolate
You mean you can't live on cupcakes alone? This looks yummy!
Val
Now this is pure comfort food...YUM