This Easy Dorito Chicken Casserole is serious comfort food! It’s creamy, cheesy, and crunchy at the same time, and kids and adults of all ages will love it.
A casserole made with Doritos? Hear me out! This Easy Dorito Chicken Casserole seriously blew my mind. It’s simple to make and WOW is it good!
It starts with a layer of crushed Doritos, followed by seasoned sour cream and chicken, followed by more Doritos and shredded cheese.
This cheesy chicken casserole is comfort food at its finest!
Topping casseroles with something crunchy is nothing new. This Hot Chicken Salad is topped with potato chips, and my King Ranch Mac & Cheese is topped with tortilla chips.
The crunch of the chips complements the creamy, cheesy casserole really nicely, and the texture difference (also known as “mouth feel”) makes our taste buds happy.
If you love Doritos, you HAVE to try this casserole! It’s an easy dinner recipe that the whole family will love.
And if you like Fritos, you have to check out my Taco Casserole with Fritos!
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Top tips
- This recipe serves 5–6. If you’re only feeding 3–4 people, I recommend halving the recipe. The Doritos get soft as the casserole sits, so leftovers aren’t as crunchy.
- Save yourself from cleaning another dish: crush the Doritos while they’re still in the bag.
- Like it spicy? Use Flamin’ Hot Doritos instead of the Nacho Cheese flavor!
Ingredients
- You’ll need one regular sized bag of Doritos (the nacho cheese flavor).
- I used baked chicken breasts for the cooked chicken, though a shredded rotisserie chicken would work well, too.
- The chicken gets coated with sour cream—regular or light is fine.
- Chili powder, garlic powder, and salt season the chicken.
- The casserole is topped with shredded cheddar and mozzarella. You can also use a Mexican cheese blend if you prefer.
How to make Dorito Chicken Casserole
Start by crushing the Doritos. I like to open the bag a little bit and crush them (while still inside the bag) with my hands. They should be bite-size.
Next, stir together the chicken, sour cream, chili powder, garlic powder, and salt.
Layer half of the Doritos into the bottom of a 13×9 inch baking dish. Top with the chicken mixture.
Top with the remaining Doritos and sprinkle with cheese.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until the casserole is warm throughout.
The Doritos Chicken Casserole is ready to serve!
Serving tips
Dorito Chicken Casserole is best served warm from the oven. While it can be reheated, the chips lose some of their crunch.
If you don’t think you’ll eat all of the casserole at once, I recommend making half of the recipe in an 8×8 inch pan.
Since the casserole is quite rich, I like to serve a leafy green salad or fresh veggies and dip (such as this easy Dill Dip) on the side.
Frequently Asked Questions
Because the Doritos will get soggy, I don’t recommend freezing this casserole.
Dorito Chicken Casserole is best served warm from the oven right after it’s made. However, if you’d like to reheat it, heat it in a 350°F oven until warm (about 15–20 minutes if it’s cold). The Doritos will not be as crunchy.
This casserole is designed to be used with cooked chicken. It does not bake for long enough to cook raw chicken (and the Doritos will burn if you cook it too long).
You can make the casserole with shredded rotisserie chicken or even packaged grilled chicken strips if you don’t want to cook the chicken yourself.
Can I make Dorito Chicken Casserole ahead?
While this casserole is best served warm from the oven, you can do several parts ahead:
- crush the Doritos and set them aside
- prepare the chicken (cook/chop it, or shred if it’s a rotisserie chicken)
- stir together the chicken and sour cream/spice mixture together (refrigerate the mixture until you’re ready to use it)
The good news is, this casserole is really quick to prepare, even if you don’t do anything ahead of time.
Substitutions
Easy Dorito Chicken Casserole can be customized based on what you like and what you have on hand.
For example:
- Use Cool Ranch Doritos instead of Nacho Cheese Doritos
- Like it spicy? Use Flamin’ Hot Doritos!
- Substitute monterey jack, pepper jack, Mexican cheese blend, or swiss cheese for either of the shredded cheeses in the recipe
- Both chicken breasts, chicken thighs, or rotisserie chicken works well for this recipe. If you’re starting with raw chicken, you can bake, poach, or grill it.
- You can use either regular or light sour cream.
- Add a cup of canned corn (drained) or canned black beans (drained) to the chicken mixture.
- Spoon some pico de gallo or salsa on top to add even more southwest flavor.
What to serve with Dorito Chicken Casserole
Since this cheesy chicken casserole is a hearty dish, I recommend a light side dish such as a a green salad.
The flavors of the casserole lean toward Tex-Mex, so a Southwestern salad (even one from a bag—I like the one from Trader Joe’s) would pair perfectly with it.
Or you could serve it with a variety of chopped veggies (broccoli, celery, carrots, grape tomatoes) and dip. I love this Dill Dip!
More comfort food casseroles
Don’t miss these other old fashioned dinner casseroles!
- Pizza Casserole
- Old Fashioned Tuna Noodle Casserole
- King Ranch Chicken Mac & Cheese
- Hot Chicken Salad
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and/or comment below!
📖 Recipe
Easy Dorito Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 (9.25 oz) bag Doritos (Nacho Cheese flavor)
- 2 cups chicken, cooked and chopped
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Open the bag of Doritos slightly at the top. Use your hands to crush the chips into roughly 1-inch pieces. Scatter half of the Doritos in the bottom of a 13×9 inch dish.
- In a large bowl, stir together the chicken, sour cream, chili powder, salt, and garlic powder. Spread over the Doritos.
- Sprinkle the remaining Doritos on top, and cover with the cheeses.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the casserole is warm throughout.
Sandra Green says
I made this it was fantastic but I did not have any chicken, so I use turkey cut it up and I did not have cream of chicken soup so I used cream of mushroom soup in its place. My husband loved it !!!!! Thank you so much
Kate Shungu says
I’m so glad that the recipe was a hit! Thanks for sharing your spin on it, and for taking the time to leave a review.
Ashley says
Could you do cream of chicken soup instead of sour cream? I do not like sour cream at all but want to try this.
Kate Shungu says
I’m not sure—I haven’t tried it. Let me know how it turns out if you do!
Sandra Green says
I Husband hates sour cream, so I just a little bit for the creamy texture and you cannot even taste it
Monique Johnson says
I try this recipe it came out really good my family loved it my son really loved it the most. I be making this recipe again. Thnks for the recipe I like this recipe cause it will last for two days that what we called a strech meal thmks.
Kate Shungu says
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it!