My Sister is Hungry: Dorito Chicken Casserole

Cousin Pam gave me this recipe for a casserole layered with chicken, crushed nacho doritos, sauce and cheese years ago, I don't know why it's taken me this long to make it! Actually I do know why - I have a smallish aversion to artificially colored orange foods like Doritos (and cheese puffs, looking at you B) - Dave saw the bag on the counter and couldn't believe I bought them LOL -  even tho the recipe sounded good I'm just not that into Doritos so filed it away and forgot about it. Found it again while going thru my giant binder of recipes I'll someday try - fortunately my sister's family loves Doritos so I made the casserole for this week's "My Sister is Hungry" post - here is her review:

Ahhh Dorito’s.  The Hubby’s favorite meal.  

As soon as Jill said she was making Dorito Casserole for us this week there was excitement in our house.  So sad that our meals are the main source of excitement for us. LOL.

I picked it up from her house in a lovely pan and just had to take it home to bake it.  I’m not lying or exaggerating when I say that we could smell the Dorito’s while it was baking.  Sounds awful to some folks, delicious to others. We are on the delicious side. 

When it came out in its cheesy gooey existence the house smelled fantastic.  We weren’t entirely sure how to serve this – was it going to come out in squares so use a spatula?  Scoop it with a spoon?  Turns out we should have used the spoon.  It was slightly “messy” like a regular casserole.

Whatever type of chicken Jill used it was fantastic.  We liked this meal quite a bit actually.  The only criticism (if we were going to give one) was that the husband thought was a tiny bit bland for him.  He wished it were spicier.  So this is where I debated – should I tell him that I told Jill to use mild sauce when she asked??  Because I did.  She asked me and I chose it.  No one tell him that.  Darn that Jill not giving it enough spice.  At that point he added Ortega hot sauce to his and he liked it WAY better that way.  For me I added sour cream to the top and found it didn’t need that at all.  It was already cheesy and creamy enough so not sure why I felt compelled to add the extra calories to it. 

Bottom line; We liked it.  Wish I had asked for spicier sauce.. as it was it was good but just “mild”.  We both give this one a 7.

Update: since my sis wrote her review, Brooke discovered that this is even better if you add corn to it, good idea.

 RECIPE:

1 chicken, boiled and de-boned*
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 soup can water
2 8oz cans tomato sauce
1/2 cup picante sauce
1 large bag nacho Doritos, crushed
1 lb. bag shredded cheddar cheese

Mix soup, water, tomato sauce, and picante sauce together in a medium sauce pan. Warm on low.

Place 1/2 crushed Doritos in a 13x9 greased pan; layer 1/2 of chicken, 1/2 soup mixture, 1/2 cheese on top of the Doritos. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Bake at 350' for 40 minutes.

(note* I boiled 3 chicken breasts and shredded the meat, you could also use rotisserie chicken to save even more time)