Sour Cream Tortilla Casserole

Sour cream enchiladas or tortilla casseroles have been popular for a long time and are made in many ways, some using canned soups. For an enchiladas version you can roll up the meat mixture inside corn or flour tortillas and pour a sour cream sauce over top, or to make it simpler, do the tortilla version which is layering the tortillas, meat and cream like you do for a lasagne. Add some chopped tomatoes and you will have a King Ranch Chicken Casserole without the canned soups. Any way you do it, it comes out great.

I found a recipe years ago in a magazine with green chili salsa instead chopped green chilis, and with this colorful corn and peppers topping. I had thought it was a little dry and added chicken velouté sauce to the original sour cream layer.

Sour Cream Tortilla Casserole

Casserole Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons butter, divided
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 14.5 ounce can Swanson’s Chicken Broth
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken breasts
• 1 medium (about 1 cup) onion, chopped
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon mild chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 4 ounce cans diced Ortega mild green chilies
• around 10 to 15 corn tortillas, depending on the size

Topping Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh corn
• 1/4 cup red pepper, cut in small pieces or julienned slices
• 1/4 cup green pepper, cut in small pieces or julienned slices
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup sliced black olives

Instructions

Make the sour cream sauce beginning with a chicken velouté sauce. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a heavy saucepan. Add the flour and stir the roux for 1 minute to get rid of the raw flour taste. Slowly whisk in half of the broth and once it’s smooth you can add all the rest more quickly. When the chicken velouté sauce has thickened, stir in the sour cream and a 1/2 cup jack cheese.

For the meat mixture, rinse and pat dry the chicken breasts and cut into 1/2″ strips. Heat skillet and add 1 tablespoon butter. Gently poach the strips of chicken in the butter until the pink is gone. This will only take a few minutes. Don’t overcook the chicken. You can test for doneness by cutting a piece open. Cool and tear into bite-sized pieces.

Wipe out the skillet and reheat it. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and the oil. Sauté the onions for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the oregano, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper and stir 30 seconds. Stir in the chicken coating all the pieces. Stir in the chilies.

For the vegetable topping. Heat the skillet. Add the 2 tablespoons butter. Add the corn and peppers. Sauté for 5 minutes.

To assemble the casserole.

1. Spread 1 cup of the sauce on the bottom of a 3 quart 9″ by 13″ casserole.

2. Place as many whole tortillas as will fit and then cut more to fill in the gaps. It doesn’t have to be perfect.

3. Top the tortillas with 1/3 of the chicken mixture, 1/3 of the sour cream sauce, then 1/3 of the remaining 2 cups grated jack cheese.

4. Repeat tortillas, 1/3 chicken mixture, 1/3 sour cream mixture and 1/3 cheese two more times. For the last layer, press the layers down gently with a spatula. Spread the final layer of the sour cream mixture.

5. Sprinkle some olives in the middle. Spoon the corn mixture around the edges.

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.