A creamy, cheesy, and crunchy hotdish inspired by a scribbled napkin recipe from the 1980s—this upgraded version skips the canned soup and brings full flavor with a homemade white sauce, spiced chicken, and melty cheese folded into crushed Doritos.
PrintChicken Dorito Hotdish
Long before recipe blogs and Pinterest boards, we passed along our best recipes on recipe cards—or whatever we had nearby. In this case? A napkin. Back in the 1980s, when I worked as a Dietetic Technician at a hospital in North Dakota (the land of hotdish), our lunch table looked like a spread from Clean Eating Monthly—yogurt, cottage cheese, and greens as far as the eye could see.
Until one day, a fellow dietitian committed the ultimate lunchtime rebellion: she pulled out a hotdish. A bubbling, cheesy, fragrant Chicken Dorito Hotdish. Our jaws dropped—she laughed and said, “I know, I know… but it’s so good.” I asked for a bite (a total nutrition rebel), and one mouthful later, I was hooked. She scribbled the recipe for me right there—on a napkin.
Today, I’m sharing my reinvented version. I skip the canned soups and make a creamy homemade white sauce, layer in seasoned sautéed chicken, a hit of Tapatío, and fold it all together with crunchy Doritos and gooey cheese. It’s nostalgic comfort food with a fresh twist—still rich, still gooey, and still totally worth it.
- Prep Time: 20
- Cook Time: 40
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Stovetop, oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
3 chicken breasts (about 2.5–3 lbs), cubed
1 (10 oz) bag Nacho Cheese Doritos
8 oz shredded Monterey Jack cheese
6 oz shredded queso cheese (or Mexican blend)
1 (10 oz) can diced green chiles
1 tsp Tapatío sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1.5 cups milk (warm)
1/2 cup sour cream
2–3 tbsp flour or Wondra (for thickening)
Olive oil for sautéing
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
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In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add cubed chicken and cook until lightly golden.
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Stir in garlic, cumin, oregano, Tapatío sauce, green chiles, and white wine. Simmer until the liquid is reduced by half.
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While chicken simmers, make your white sauce:
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In a saucepan using medium to low heat, warm the milk and gradually whisk in flour or Wondra to thicken.
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Once thickened, remove from heat and fold in the sour cream. Adding the sour cream you will notice the sauce firms up. You want a thick, soup-like consistency.
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Pour the white sauce into the skillet with the chicken mixture and stir to combine.
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Fold in shredded cheeses, reserving a bit for the top.
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Gently fold in Doritos ( store brand is perfect too!) Reserve a few for topping or snack for the cook.
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Pour everything into a greased 9×13 baking dish. Top with remaining Doritos and reserved cheese.
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Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.
Notes
Serving Ideas:
- Top with chopped green onions or diced tomatoes
- Add sliced jalapeños for extra heat
- Serve with a crisp green salad on the side (for balance!)
If making the white sauce seems a bit too daunting, replace with 1 can of cream of mushroom soup and 1 can of cream of chicken soup. Its perfectly fine and you will get the same results, my preference is to try and limited the amount of processed food when and where I can.
And a little tip when making any sauces with dairy (like milk, cream or sour cream), careful on your heat. Higher temperatures will cause the proteins in the dairy to curdle or separate–meaning they’ll clump together and leave you with a grainy or broken sauce instead of a smooth one.
Why it happens:
- Dairy contains proteins (like casein) and fats suspended in liquid.
- High heat causes those proteins to coagulate (tighten up) too quickly.
- This can cause the sauce to “break” or form curds (think of how cheese forms from milk).
Tips to avoid it:
- Use medium to low heat when adding or cooking with dairy.
- Temper dairy: Add a little hot liquid into the dairy to bring it closer to temperature before mixing it into a hot sauce.
- Stir continuously to keep the sauce moving and prevent scorching.
- Use full-fat dairy when possible—it’s more stable than low-fat.
For example, when we made the white sauce for the Chicken Dorito Hotdish, we warmed the milk first, then thickened it gently before folding in the sour cream—that step helps keep the sauce creamy and smooth.
We’d love to hear how you made this recipe your own—did you spice it up, swap out ingredients, or add a special touch from your kitchen? Share your version in the comments below! 💙
Nutrition Disclaimer: The nutritional information provided is an estimate based on standard ingredients and serving sizes. Actual values may vary depending on specific products used and portion sizes. This information is provided for convenience and should not be considered medical or dietary advice.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 645
- Fat: 38
- Carbohydrates: 34
- Protein: 36