Cooking For Expats: Mexi-Chicken Casserole

cooking for expatsWelcome back to the Cooking for Expats series on C2C! I’m looking forward to bringing you more budget and “Germany friendly” recipes. Also, don’t forget to check out Emma, from A Bavarian Sojourn, and her “Expat Essentials” series today.

Well, if you can believe it, today I actually have a chicken recipe! Shocking, I know! I initially planned to share vegetable soup, but I made this last night and it turned out SO GOOD. This is an excellent “expat recipe” because it’s another that calls for condensed cream soup that I made myself. I have made versions of this before, but this one turned out the best by far. It’s pretty versatile, so throughout you’ll see where you can use other options. Also, don’t let it scare you that it has a few steps. It’s really very easy and you can do the cream soup ahead of time to make it easier. You would just need to add a little milk or chicken broth later if it’s too thick. I also cook the chicken in the slow cooker because it makes for more flavorful tender chicken. Again, not necessary if you have a preferred method. You can also add green chiles when cooking the chicken or jalapenos to the casserole before cooking if you like it spicy. We would, but alas, not good for the boy. We clearly need to divide our meals in half for his portion and our spicy portions!

Make sure to read all the way through when preparing for this as the ingredients are listed for the total needed but used at different times in different amounts.

  • 1 diced green bell peppermexichicken casserole
  • 1 diced yellow onion
  • 1-2 TBS taco seasoning mix (I used about 1/3 of a seasoning packet)
  • 300ml (plus another 3/4 cup to be used later)  chicken broth
  • 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
  • 50g unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1 1/4  cups of milk
  • shredded cheddar cheese (or cheese of your preference - I used the light Reibkase)
  • 100g sour cream
  • 450g cooked shredded chicken
  • tortilla chips
  • salt and pepper

1. Place cleaned chicken breasts, bell pepper, onion, taco seasoning, tomatoes, 300ml chicken broth in slow cooker for 4-5 hours on low. Stir every so often. When done, pour contents into a colander to strain out liquid. Let chicken cool so you can shred. Shred and set aside in a medium-sized bowl including the tomatoes, onions and bell peppers.

2. Preheat oven to 350F/178C. Lightly spray casserole dish with cooking spray.

3. Melt butter over medium heat.

4. Whisk in flour until smooth. Add 3/4 cup milk and 3/4 cup chicken brother. Stir until thickens. Add salt/pepper to taste. (I only added pepper).

5. Pour sauce into chicken mixture. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk and sour cream. Mix well. You may add more taco seasoning or even just cumin at this point if you prefer. I didn’t because my husband doesn’t really like the strong flavor. *gasp*

6. Layer the bottom of casserole dish with crushed tortilla chips. Pour half of chicken mixture over chips and spread evenly. Add another layer of crushed chips and cover with remaining chicken mixture. Sprinkle the top with cheese.

7. Cover and bake for 25-30 minutes. I have a top-only heat,old sucky oven, so I ended up having to uncover and bake until the cheese browned on top which I think turned out better.

8. You can serve with shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes (optional).

Please let me know what you think and feel free to suggest ideas for recipes or ask any questions you may have! I hope you enjoy and if you make it, come back and tell me!

*recipe adapted from Key Ingredient

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19 thoughts on “Cooking For Expats: Mexi-Chicken Casserole

    1. Deanna Herrmann Post author

      Ohhh really?! I’m so jealous! We can find tortillas here, but green chiles not so much. I found a site to order from but haven’t tried it yet. Thanks so much for coming by and hope you enjoy the recipe of you try it out!

      Reply
    1. Deanna Herrmann Post author

      Seriously it was lick the pan good. You can just cook it on low on the stove and for a shorter time. When I’ve been hurried, that’s how I do it but I still let it cook for at least an hour. The chicken should just fall apart.

      Reply
    2. Deanna Herrmann Post author

      Oh! And I couldn’t find any slow cookers in the stores here and online they were super expensive! I ended up buying mine from an American here with the military for only $25! Total score.

      Reply
    1. Deanna Herrmann Post author

      Definitely! We loved it without, but we were also wishing they were in there. :-) I’m excited to have shared one you might make!

      Reply
  1. Cindi

    Oh yum. I think Americanized-Mexican food is what I miss the most about living in Europe. Thanks for adding to my recipes! This will be on the menu soon, with Norwegian/Jarlsberg cheese.

    Reply
  2. navigator1965

    SOS. Help me. I am trapped in a house in Ottawa and have been placed on the Dukan diet. Down 10 lbs and am wasting away. Another 23 lbs, and I’ll be down to my university entrance weight. Beer and wine is verboten.

    Call the U.N.

    Reply
    1. Deanna Herrmann Post author

      Lol!!! I know. It’s not the healthiest but you can adapt it to be. However it is SO GOOD. And when you live somewhere that has little to no Mexican food, this is heaven I tell you.

      Reply
    1. Deanna Herrmann Post author

      Haha! Yeah the one I made is definitely tex-mex-german. :-) But I’ll take it!

      Reply
    1. Deanna Herrmann Post author

      It was so good! Like you’re still taking bites out of the pan while you’re cleaning up good. :-)

      Reply
  3. Sara Louise

    This looks G O O D! One of the things I’m definitely loving the most about being back in Texas is the Tex-Mex. Of course my ever growing thighs would disagree ;)

    Reply
    1. Deanna Herrmann Post author

      Haha! Oh how I miss tex-mex!!! But seriously, this is really good. I just made it the other day and added kidney beans in the mix and black olives on top. Yum!

      Reply
  4. Pingback: Easy Tex-Mex Chicken Bake Recipe | foodessen

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