Santa Fe Chicken Casserole

Santa Fe Chicken Casserole

I was trying to figure out what to fix for dinner and this is what I came up with!

After searching through the freezer and refrigerator, I couldn't find anything that just jumped out and said "Cook me!"  Which in it's own right is funny, because I just went to the grocery store on Friday.  Oh well.

I grabbed a package of boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  The package was approximately 3.5 lbs so I just took out half and put the rest in the freezer for later.

I put a little EVOO in a skillet and placed the thighs in the pan to sear them on both sides for just a minute or two.  Then I added a can of low sodium chicken broth, 1/2 can of water, some diced onion, black pepper and garlic powder and brought it to a boil.  Now turn the stove down to very low and let it simmer for an hour or so.  You want the chicken to fall apart.

It smells so good!

After the chicken has cooked to perfection, get out your casserole dish, this is the best part, you don't have to dirty up a bunch of bowls.  Spray your dish with a little baking spray.

I used some rubber tipped tongs to remove the chicken from the skillet and it just shredded as I picked it up.  Save a cup of the cooking broth for later.  Place the chicken in the casserole dish and if you need to shred it more, go in with 2 forks and rip it up.

You want it to have a little bit of umpfff.  Don't go crazy with the shredding.

Now add the corn, rotel, cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 c milk, stuffing mix and cooking broth to the chicken and mix it together.  If the stuffing mix still seems too dry, add a little more cooking broth.

Bake for 25-30 minutes on 350°  Add the shredded cheese to the top and bake for 5 more minutes, until cheese has melted.

The RECIPE...

Santa Fe Chicken

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs of chicken thighs

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 can low sodium chicken broth

1/2 medium diced onion

Black pepper to taste

Garlic powder to taste

1/2 can water

1 can whole corn (drained)

1 can Ro-tel (drained)

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup

1/2 c milk

1 cup cooking broth (reserved from skillet)

1 pkg Stove Top Stuffing (chicken)

8 oz shredded cheddar cheese

In a skillet add olive oil and heat over medium heat.  Place chicken thighs in skillet and sear for a minute on each side.  Add chicken broth, diced onion, water, pepper and garlic powder.  Heat to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer on low for 45 minutes to an hour.

Pre-heat oven to 350°

In a 9x13 casserole dish, add chicken and shred.  Mix corn, ro-tel, soup, milk, cooking broth and stuffing together until combined well.  Add a little more broth if the stuffing seems to dry.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Add shredded cheese to top and bake for another 5 minutes until cheese is melty.

Enjoy!