Doritos Chicken Dip = Heaven

Now, I am not one to place a lot of recipes on this blog because I am not a good cook and because my kids are so picky that our dinners have become dull and unadventurous lately (if I never have to eat Mac ‘N Cheese again, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world).  However, there is one recipe that I use from time to time to make a fun dinner for the family and it’s actually one that EVERYONE, even my prissy pants daughter, likes – who knew that was even possible?!

I got this recipe from my mom and when she got it, it was called Mexican chicken, but I don’t really know why it’s called that (maybe because some of the ingredients are the same as those used in tacos?) so I am just going to call it Doritos chicken dip so as not to offend anyone and to entice you to read on because, frankly, who doesn’t like Doritos?!

ok, my kids like to help me make this so it’s not the prettiest in this picture, but I promise it is REALLY yummy (please disregard the fact that it’s an awkward shape – I couldn’t find my square baking dish so I had to use the long one, which was a little too big).

If you use the original recipe that I like, it’s not exactly the healthiest thing in the world; but over the years, I have altered it slightly by using fat-free ingredients and baked Doritos and it’s very close to the original flavor.  This can be a snack or, as it is pretty filling, made as a dinner – I highly recommend it for the Super Bowl.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup (fat-free if you are so inclined) – my kids and my husband HATE mushrooms, but they are so well hidden in the soup that they don’t even realize that’s what they are eating so don’t worry if you aren’t a fan of the mushroom
• 8 oz. Sour Cream (can also be fat-free)
• 2 Cups of Shredded Cheese (again, can use fat-free – I prefer to use Cheddar or Mozzarella, but you can use any kind you like; if you like a little spice, Pepper Jack or a Mexican blend would probably be great)
• Several thawed, boneless chicken breasts
• 1-2 Bags of Original Doritos (or Spicy if you are up for a kick); I suggest one bag per 4 people, but it can’t hurt to have extra on hand if you really like Doritos (they make these baked now so we can pretend that makes it much healthier)

Directions:

1. Wash chicken thoroughly and dice into small pieces.

2. In a large bowl, mix chicken with one cup of cheese, both cans of soup, and entire container of sour cream.

3. Place 3 cups of Doritos into a Ziploc bag and then crush into small pieces, but not completely into crumbs. This is a great activity for kids to help with!

4. Spread the crushed Doritos onto the bottom of a square baking dish and spread chicken mixture evenly on top.

5. Add remaining cup of cheese to the top of the mixture, cover with aluminum foil and bake for approx. 30 minutes at 350 degrees.*  You can remove the aluminum foil during the last 5 minutes of baking to help it thicken up.

6. Remove from oven, take whole Doritos and distribute evenly around the baking dish for prettier presentation.  If you are serving for dinner and not just as a snack or appetizer, dole out individual servings of the dip onto plates, surround with additional chips and let everyone go to town using the Doritos to scoop it up.  You will need a large stash of napkins as your hands will be orange if you are eating this the right way! 🙂

*Always check to make sure the chicken pieces are completely cooked before removing from the oven.

This is a very easy recipe to let the kids help you with as (other than the chicken dicing) it basically just involves dumping everything into a bowl and crushing up Doritos.  This explains why I am able to successfully bake this from scratch with my minimal chef skills.

So, try it out and let me know if you love it as much as we do!