There's no prep work necessary for this easy dinner recipe! Just dump-and-bake a few simple ingredients for a cozy, comforting, and flavorful Cool Ranch Chicken Casserole! Your weeknight meals just got a lot better...
Happy, happy Friday to you! Boy, do I have a treat to share today!
This Cool Ranch Chicken Casserole is another dump-and-bake winner that your family is going to devour...and who doesn't love that?!
Last summer I made a Doritos Nacho Cheese Taco Bake that you guys continue to rave about. One reader even said that she used Cool Ranch Doritos in that dish, which I thought sounded like a great idea!
I took her Cool Ranch Doritos inspiration and ran with it! Since chicken, cheese, and Ranch is always a great combo, this new casserole was born. And if you use a rotisserie chicken, leftover chicken from another meal, or pre-cooked chicken from the store (such as Tyson Grilled & Ready strips), the entire meal comes together in about 10 minutes!
Ingredients You Need To Make Cool Ranch Chicken Casserole
- Cooked chicken
- Cheese
- Condensed chicken soup
- Milk
- Sour cream
- Tomatoes
- Ranch seasoning
- Cool ranch Doritos
Just mix the ingredients in a bowl, crush a bag of Doritos into coarse crumbs, and dump it all in a dish. The bottom layer of chips forms a great, flavorful crust, while the other half of the chips and cheese create a crispy, melty topping. This is a quick and easy weeknight dinner that kids and adults can all agree on!
Extra Tips
- Cooking for Two? Cut the ingredients in half and bake the casserole in a smaller dish.
- Prep Ahead - You can prepare the casserole in advance and keep it in the refrigerator (up to overnight) until you’re ready to bake it. Don’t add the top layer of chips and cheese until it’s almost finished baking (as instructed).
More Delicious Casseroles You Might Like:
- Dump and bake Southern chicken salad casserole
- 5-ingredient ham and noodle casserole
- 3-ingredient tuna casserole
- Southern squash casserole
Dump-and-Bake Cool Ranch Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese divided
- 1 can condensed cream of chicken soup NOT diluted
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 10 ounce can Ro-tel tomatoes, drained (or substitute with about 1.25 cups petite-diced tomatoes for a mild option)
- ½ of a 1-ounce packet about 4 teaspoons dry Ranch seasoning mix (just the dry seasoning)
- 1 9.75 ounce bag Doritos Cool Ranch chips, coarsely crushed (about 4 cups crushed)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray an 11 x 7-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together chicken, 1 cup of cheese, condensed soup, milk, sour cream, tomatoes, and dry Ranch seasoning.
- Place half of the crushed Doritos (about 2 cups) in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Top with chicken mixture.
- Bake, uncovered, for about 20-25 minutes, or until heated through. Sprinkle top of the casserole with remaining crushed Doritos and remaining ½ cup of shredded cheese. Put the dish back in the oven for about 5 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
Christine Breecher
Hi, My dad is coming to visit for a few days this coming spring. He has heart issues & must follow a low cholesterol diet. Do you have any Dump & Bake recipes or other recipes on your website that are low cholesterol that I could fix for him when he visits? Thanks, Christine
Blair
Hey, Christine! I definitely have some lighter dump-and-bake options, so I would look at these recipes and see if the nutritional stats meet your dad's needs:
- Dump and Bake Maple Balsamic Chicken: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/dump-bake-maple-balsamic-chicken/
- Dump and Bake Healthy Chicken Parmesan: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/dump-bake-healthy-chicken-parmesan/
- Honey Garlic Dijon Pork Tenderloin: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/honey-garlic-dijon-pork-tenderloin-marinade/
- Dump and Bake Chicken Noodle Casserole: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/dump-bake-chicken-noodle-casserole/
There are tons of other healthy recipes on the blog, though, so definitely feel free to search and see what else you find! 🙂
Dannie
Thank you for this recipe! Ive made this twice already It's a huge hit with my family! For the chicken soup I noticed it didn't specify the size of the can so I ended up using two of the small cans. It's just the right amount of creamyness for this dish, in my opinion anyways. But thank you for sharing this! It's definitely on our dinner rotation!
Blair
Perfect, Dannie! I'm so glad that you enjoy the recipe! I usually just use one of the 10.5 ounce cans of soup, but it's good to know that two small cans works as well! 🙂 Thanks for letting me know!
Aimee
My husband works (lives) 250 miles away. I try to make freezer meals that are easy to heat up. Do you think this cold be prepped and frozen- adding the cheese/Dorito Chips at the same time you would if you were baking it fresh?
Blair
Hi, Aimee! Yes, I think it would work great! The chips on the bottom will probably get a bit soft, but that's totally normal and expected -- whether you prep it as a freezer meal or bake it right away. Then just have your husband add the remaining chips and cheese on top at the end, as instructed, and he'll get that nice crunchy topping. 🙂
Sandy
This dish hit the spot for my picky grandkids and my son-in-law, who don't like chicken (except in a casserole) and tomatoes. So I put tomatoes in the blender so they couldn't see any tomato pieces. Will definitely make this again!
Blair
Perfect, Sandy! I'm so glad to hear that!
Brooke
5 stars delicious! I accidentally put the whole pack of each powder but it was amazing!
Blair
Thanks, Brooke! I'm so glad that you enjoyed it!
Kat
Hi, I'm using pregnancy brain as my excuse here, but I just accidently prepared this recipe with uncooked chicken, rather than cooked chicken. Do you think it will still turn out?
Thanks!
Blair
Hey, Kat! Congrats on your pregnancy. 🙂 Don't worry -- the dish should still turn out well! If you've diced the raw chicken into small pieces, it should cook through in about 30 minutes or so. You'll just need to keep an eye on it and make sure that it's fully cooked before you add the topping at the end. Also, if you've baked it uncovered for more than about 30 minutes and the chicken still needs more time, I would cover it with foil to finish cooking. That way it won't completely dry out the rest of the casserole by having it in the oven for too long. Hope that helps, and enjoy! 🙂
Christine @ myblissfulmess
Super easy, perfect for a busy weeknight, and the whole gang loved it. The only thing I changed was the cheese, only because I didn't have any Mozzarella on hand. So I used Sharp Cheddar which worked out great. I think Mexican blend cheese would work great too.
Blair
Yay! That's awesome, Christine! So glad that it was a hit!
Christy
Would it be okay to add some shredded broccoli to the mixture?
Blair
Yes, that should work!
Emily
This look so delicious, can't wait to try it!
Blair
Thanks, Emily!
Lauren Barks
Loved this recipe! I ended up adding egg noodles, 1 extra can of cream of chicken, 1 cup of sour cream, 1 can rotel chili tomatoes, and the whole packet of ranch seasoning! It was delicious!
Blair
Great! Your changes sound delicious! 🙂
Ashley reeve
Delicious! I added a can of corn and topped it with guacamole. So good, thanks!!!
Blair
Great! Sounds perfect, Ashley!
Lisa B.
This was really good. I split this in half since it is only my husband and me at home. I mixed everything except the chicken and the reserved cheese in a bowl, it amounts to 3 cups of "sauce". I split that into two batches and added 1 Cup of chopped chicken to to each batch. One went directly into the freezer to defrost, top with chips, bake and enjoy another night. The only addition that I made was 1 tsp of hot sauce because we love foids on the spicier side. I'm thinking I might add a box of defrosted and drained chopped spinach next time for the extra veg and color.
Blair
Sounds perfect, Lisa! Thanks for sharing your tips for dividing the recipe into two different meals. I know that a lot of other readers will appreciate that!
Carla McDonald
Could I use pre cooked chicken like a bag of Tyson grilled and ready chicken!/ put it in their frozen?
Blair
Hi, Carla! Definitely! I've used the Tyson chicken before and it works fine. I'd thaw it first in the refrigerator, if possible, but if you're short on time, you can add it frozen. You'll just need to extend the baking time if you're starting with frozen meat. Enjoy!
Diana Mattox
I made this recipe for supper tonight and my family and I loved it thank you so much!!
Blair
Awesome! I'm so glad to hear that. Thank you for letting me know!
Beverly Short
I've made this Mexican Casserole for years as an alternative to other Mexican casseroles. Out of curisoty I search and found your recipe. If your's is anything like mine it's delicious. I'm always open to finding similar recipes so I can see if there is something new I could or should be doing. I'll follow yours this time.
Blair
That's great, Beverly! I hope you enjoy this version, too!
Kasey
This was really good! I love how easy it was to throw together. I have made this before with hamburger meat/cream cheese/salsa and regular doritos and it was really nice
to make another version with all different ingredients! Very good, thank you!
Blair
Excellent! I'm so glad that you enjoyed it, Kasey. Thank you for letting me know!
Clif
Can you leave out the tomatoes?
Blair
Yes! You can add corn or some other veggies if you like, or just leave them out altogether. Hope you enjoy!