Chicken taco casserole

Aaron likes most of what I cook.  He has some very picky tastes that I work around so that he's gotten to where he mostly just eats whatever I cook.

One night, about five years ago, I was at a friend's house and she was making supper for her family and she made this delicious-looking Mexican lasagna of sorts.  It had layers of flour tortillas, beans, rice, ground beef with taco seasoning, salsa, and lots and lots of cheese.  It looked so good that I decided I had to try it.



The only problem is that Aaron doesn't like beans... or rice... or beef tacos.  So when I made mine I had to make a lot of substitutions to make it work for us.  I decided to put the rice and beans on the side, switched the beef for chicken, and cut the salsa completely.  What I ended up with is a lot like chicken quesadillas layered on top of each other and then baked together.

This is a very heavy meal.  I can't eat more than about half a piece of it.  Luckily I like mine with rice and refried beans on the side.  Since this is Aaron's favorite meal he usually eats half the pan.

Also, my awesome brother had his friend make Bailey a new toy.

This is Bailey with her new Gummy!

Chicken Taco Casserole

2-3 chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
2 Tbsp taco seasoning
5 soft taco size flour tortillas, cut into quarters
8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
vegetable oil spray

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a skillet with vegetable oil and heat over medium heat.

Add the chicken and taco seasoning and season with salt and pepper.  (If you are using store bought taco seasoning you probably won't need salt, but my homemade taco seasoning doesn't contain any salt.)

Cook until the chicken is no longer pink.

Divide the chicken into three equal portions and set aside.

Spray an 8x8 baking dish with vegetable oil spray.

Layer the bottom with flour tortillas.

Add 1/3 of the chicken on top of the tortillas and spread it out as evenly as possible.

Sprinkle about 1/2 cup of cheese over the chicken.

Continue layering, ending with tortillas.

Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the last layer of tortillas.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes.  Everything is already cooked so all you're really doing is melting and browning the cheese.

When it comes out it should look something like this with bubbly brown cheese on top.  Wait a minute or two, then slice it with a knife.

Serve with refried beans, rice, salsa, taco sauce, or sour cream.

Aaron likes to eat it plain.

Like this!