This Doritos Cheesy Chicken Pasta Casserole is a perfect weeknight dinner for busy families.

I’m not sure if this recipe should be called Dorito Casserole, Taco Casserole, or Mexican Chicken Casserole with Doritos. But I know whatever it’s named, your family—and friends—will say it is DELICIOUS!

This easy recipe is simple to make and it only takes about 10 minutes of hands-on prep, plus 25 minutes to bake—a real boon to busy households.

Cheesy layers of seasoned meat, cream soup, and Doritos chips combine with noodles in the most sublime way to produce a comfort food casserole everyone will love.

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Amazing Tex-Mex Recipes You Will Love:

• This 20 Minute Tex Mex Chicken Skillet uses ingredients you probably already have in your kitchen!
• This Mexican Pulled Chicken is cooked until it is fork tender and basically just falls apart when you shred it! 

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Using purchased rotisserie chicken makes this casserole a quick fix but certainly you can cook your own chicken too.

One idea: If you pop chicken in your slow cooker the night before you want to make this dish, you’ll still be cutting down active preparation time on serving day.

Or, substitute ground beef or even black beans for the chicken. Tomatoes and corn add to the mix and once you add cheese, chives and a little garlic salt seasoning, the tasty layered ingredients meld and produce a most excellent flavor and texture.

And then…Doritos. You can’t forget them!

I suppose you could use plain tortilla chips when you cook this, but you’d be missing out on that gratifying taste dimension Doritos add.

I hope when my kids are grown and busy with their own families, they reminisce about Mom’s home cooking and say what great meals I always made.

I’m counting on favorite recipes like this cheesy chicken Dorito Casserole to do something wonderful for my reputation!

And although I usually think of casseroles as weeknight family fare, there’s no reason not to serve this to company, too.

There certainly are events and times puttin’ on the Ritz is the thing to do. Gourmet recipes and dressed-up celebrations call for gorgeous table settings with the best china, silver, and crystal.

But I’ve discovered casual meals and everyday settings often lend themselves to relaxed evenings and comfortable discussions even more than those fancy dinners.

I learned that the hard way.

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Other Casserole Recipes You Will Love:

• This Beef Enchilada Casserole has layers of seasoned ground beef, hearty beans, crunchy tortillas, and cheese!
• This Leftover Spaghetti Casserole is the perfect way to transform last night’s dinner.

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We were having new acquaintances over for dinner. We really liked the couple and I wanted it to be special so I used my nicest table cloth, best dishes, and a pretty flower arrangement on the table.

I cleaned house as if I were being considered for the head housekeeper’s position at the Queen’s palace. I don’t know what I was thinking…certainly they wouldn’t arrive wearing white inspection gloves!

Dinner was a recipe touted as a French specialty but that wasn’t enough. I included fresh salad, home baked bread, homemade fruit sauce, and two vegetable sides. For dessert I made a decadent, creamy chocolate mousse (so rich, so delicious…wish I had some right now!).

By the time our guests arrived, I was pooped!

Now I have to tell you that the food was exceptional and everyone was full of compliments. Everyone was on their best, polite behavior.

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Classic Recipes You Will Love:

• This 7 Layer Mexican Bean Dip can be served with tortilla chips, flour or even corn tortillas.
• This delicious Classic Lasagna recipe uses a super secret ingredient that makes the recipe so incredibly creamy and yummy.

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But that was the thing. Instead of creating the gracious, lovely setting I was hoping for as a backdrop, all that “fancy” made things stiff.

There was a happy ending though. Our friendship grew and much later, after a couple of years and many shared evenings, we talked about our first meal together and laughed at our best manners.

My take away from all that is good food counts, but a casual atmosphere is the best accompaniment for getting to know people.

I’ve found even asking a guest to help with something simple in the kitchen can open the door to genuine conversation because sharing your everyday kind of stuff is like an invitation to show who you really are.

And when you’re comfortable sharing, it often helps your guest feel that way, too.

When we saw this recipe we instantly knew it would be a huge hit since it was so similar to our Tuna Noodle Casserole dinner recipe. And since we are total suckers for cheesy casserole dinners in general, we just had to give this recipe a try.