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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 Dorito Chicken Casserole. With layers of ranch flavored tortilla chips, tender diced chicken, zesty tomatoes and green chilies, and a flavorful sour cream sauce, it’s the best chicken casserole recipe yet! Serve the dish with salad, broccoli, cornbread, or biscuits for a quick weeknight meal!
Cheesy Chicken Dorito Casserole
This Cool Ranch Dorito 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 (using a packet taco seasoning) 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!
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
This is just a quick overview of the ingredients that you’ll need for a chicken and doritos casserole. As always, specific measurements and complete cooking instructions are included in the printable recipe box at the bottom of the post.
- Chicken: you’ll need about 2 cups of cooked, shredded chicken. I use a store-bought rotisserie chicken for great flavor and quick-prep, but you can boil your own chicken at home, if you prefer.
- Cheese: we like a Colby Jack blend, but just about any good melting cheese will work here. Try grated cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, or Pepper Jack cheese, for example.
- Condensed cream of chicken soup: forms the base of the creamy sauce that binds the casserole together.
- Milk: to thin the sauce.
- Sour cream: adds a bit of rich, tangy flavor to the sauce, which pairs nicely with the zesty tomatoes and ranch seasoning.
- Rotel tomatoes with green chilies: add a little bit of “kick” to the casserole. You can substitute with regular petite diced tomatoes for a mild option.
- Dry Ranch Seasoning Mix: half of a packet of this dry seasoning blend adds bright, flavorful herbs and spices to the dish.
- Cool Ranch Doritos: crunchy, zesty corn tortilla chips that give the casserole great crunch.
How to Cook Chicken for a Casserole
While it’s possible to cook a casserole with raw chicken, you’ll need cooked chicken for this recipe, and a variety of options will work. Pick the most convenient method for you:
- Boiled and Pulled Chicken: Boil about 1 lb. of boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs until cooked through (about 15 minutes). When cool enough to handle, chop or pull the chicken. You’ll need a total of about 2 cups shredded. I find that 1 lb. of chicken breasts yields about 2 cups of pulled chicken, but there’s some flexibility here — it doesn’t need to be exact.
- Rotisserie Chicken: This is a great shortcut! Purchase a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store, shred the meat, and use in the recipe as instructed.
- Leftover Chicken: If you have leftover grilled or baked chicken from a previous meal, put those extras to good use in this casserole.
- Canned Chicken: Yep, even canned chicken from the pantry will work in this recipe.
How to Make Dorito Chicken Casserole
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!
- In a large bowl, stir together the chicken, 1 cup of the cheese, condensed soup, milk, sour cream, tomatoes and green chiles, and dry Ranch seasoning.
- Arrange half of the crushed Doritos in the bottom of a greased 2-quart baking dish.
- Spoon the chicken mixture on top, and spread in an even layer.
- Cover with foil.
- Bake in a 350°F oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken filling is hot and bubbly.
- Remove the cover, sprinkle the remaining cheese and dorito chips over top, and return the pan to the oven (uncovered) until the cheese melts, about 5 more minutes.
- Garnish with chopped fresh parsley and a dollop of salsa, if desired. Serve!
What to Serve with Cool Ranch Chicken Casserole
Pair the ranch chicken casserole with any of these easy sides:
- Green Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette, Caesar Salad, or House Salad with Candied Pecans
- 3-Ingredient Buttermilk Biscuits, Flaky Biscuits, Cheese Biscuits, or Drop Biscuits
- Skillet Cornbread, Honey Cornbread, Corn Sticks, Mexican Cornbread, or Corn Muffins
- Crusty French Baguette, Soft Dinner Rolls, or Homemade Crescent Rolls
- 3-Ingredient Sour Cream Muffins, Applesauce Pumpkin Muffins, or Pumpkin Bread
- Brown Sugar Glazed Carrots
- Balsamic Roasted Root Vegetables
- Southern Fried Apples or Baked Apple Slices
- Broccoli and Cheese, Steamed Broccoli, or Garlic Oven-Roasted Broccoli
- Perfect Oven Roasted Asparagus or Sauteed Asparagus
- Arkansas Green Beans with Bacon or Southern-Style Green Beans
Make Ahead
This is a great make-ahead dinner. You can assemble the casserole up to 24 hours in advance and keep it covered in the refrigerator until ready to bake. The bottom chips will get a little bit soggy as it sits, but they still taste great! When ready to bake, allow the dish to sit on the counter and come to room temperature for at least 30-60 minutes before it goes into the oven.
Storage
- Leftover chicken casserole will keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
- I do not recommend freezing these leftovers. Creamy sauces have a tendency to “break” or separate when thawed, giving the dish an undesirable texture.
- To reheat the casserole: If reheating an entire casserole, cover the dish loosely with foil and bake in a 350°F oven until warmed through (about 15-20 minutes). Individual portions can be reheated in the microwave for 1-2 minutes.
Recipe Variations
- Add extra veggies like frozen peas, frozen mixed vegetables, sauteed onion, or parboiled broccoli or green beans. Black beans would also be a great addition!
- Instead of Cool Ranch Doritos, top the casserole with Nacho Cheese Doritos, potato chips, or regular tortilla chips.
- Stir some additional herbs or other seasonings into the sauce. Try dried or fresh parsley, thyme, cilantro, or basil.
- Any good melting cheese will work in this dish. Instead of Colby Jack, use cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby, Pepper Jack, Swiss, or a Mexican cheese blend.
- Instead of the cream of chicken soup, try a different flavor condensed soup (such as cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup).
Tips for the Best Dorito Chicken Casserole Recipe
- Use the meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken for a shortcut.
- If you prefer to cook your chicken at home, use about 1 lb. of raw boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs. Boil the chicken for about 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through. When cool enough to handle, chop or shred with forks and use in the recipe.
- Cooking Just for Two? Cut the ingredients in half and prepare the casserole in a small 1-quart casserole dish. The assembly instructions remain the same, but you may need to reduce the baking time to about 15 minutes.
- To serve a larger crowd, double all of the ingredients and prepare the casserole in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. You may need to increase the total baking time to about 25-30 minutes.
More Chicken Casserole Recipes to Try
- Hot Chicken Salad
- 5-Ingredient Crescent Roll Chicken Casserole
- Chicken and Stuffing Casserole
- King Ranch Chicken Casserole
- Poppy Seed Chicken Casserole
- Chicken Casserole with Ritz Crackers
- Doritos Chicken Casserole
- Buffalo Chicken Casserole
- Green Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole
- Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole with Rice
- Chicken Noodle Casserole
- Farmhouse Chicken Cornbread Casserole
- Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
- Crockpot Chicken and Stuffing Casserole
Cool Ranch Dorito Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
- 1 ½ cups shredded Colby Jack, mozzarella, or cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup, not diluted
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 (10 ounce) can Ro-tel tomatoes with green chilies, drained (or substitute with a can of regular petite-diced tomatoes)
- ½ of a 1-ounce packet (about 4 teaspoons) dry Ranch seasoning mix (just the dry seasoning)
- 1 (9.25 ounce) bag Doritos Cool Ranch chips, coarsely crushed (about 4 cups crushed)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease a 2-quart baking dish or spray with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together chicken, 1 cup of the cheese, condensed soup, milk, sour cream, tomatoes and green chilies, 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.
- Cover with foil and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until heated through.
- Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of shredded cheese and remaining crushed Doritos over the top of the casserole. Put the dish back in the oven, uncovered, and bake for about 5 more minutes, or until the cheese is melted.
Notes
- Use the meat from a store-bought rotisserie chicken for a shortcut.
- If you prefer to cook your chicken at home, use about 1 lb. of raw boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs. Boil the chicken for about 15-20 minutes, or until cooked through. When cool enough to handle, chop or shred with forks and use in the recipe.
- Cooking Just for Two? Cut the ingredients in half and prepare the casserole in a small 1-quart casserole dish. The assembly instructions remain the same, but you may need to reduce the baking time to about 15 minutes.
- To serve a larger crowd, double all of the ingredients and prepare the casserole in a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. You may need to increase the total baking time to about 25-30 minutes.
- Add extra veggies like frozen peas, frozen mixed vegetables, sauteed onion, or parboiled broccoli or green beans. Black beans would also be a great addition!
- Instead of Cool Ranch Doritos, top the casserole with Nacho Cheese Doritos, potato chips, or regular tortilla chips.
- Stir some additional herbs or other seasonings into the sauce. Try dried or fresh parsley, thyme, cilantro, or basil.
- Any good melting cheese will work in this dish. Instead of Colby Jack, use cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby, Pepper Jack, Swiss, or a Mexican cheese blend.
- Instead of the cream of chicken soup, try a different flavor condensed soup (such as cream of mushroom soup or cream of celery soup).
Nutrition
This recipe was originally published in November, 2017. It was updated in March, 2022.
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
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! 🙂
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!
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!
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?
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. 🙂
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!
Perfect, Sandy! I’m so glad to hear that!
5 stars delicious! I accidentally put the whole pack of each powder but it was amazing!
Thanks, Brooke! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it!
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!
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! 🙂
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.
Yay! That’s awesome, Christine! So glad that it was a hit!
Would it be okay to add some shredded broccoli to the mixture?
Yes, that should work!
This look so delicious, can’t wait to try it!
Thanks, Emily!
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!
Great! Your changes sound delicious! 🙂
Delicious! I added a can of corn and topped it with guacamole. So good, thanks!!!
Great! Sounds perfect, Ashley!
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.
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!
Could I use pre cooked chicken like a bag of Tyson grilled and ready chicken!/ put it in their frozen?
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!
I made this recipe for supper tonight and my family and I loved it thank you so much!!
Awesome! I’m so glad to hear that. Thank you for letting me know!
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.
That’s great, Beverly! I hope you enjoy this version, too!
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!
Excellent! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it, Kasey. Thank you for letting me know!
Can you leave out the tomatoes?
Yes! You can add corn or some other veggies if you like, or just leave them out altogether. Hope you enjoy!