‘The Pioneer Woman’ Star Ree Drummond’s Chicken Enchilasagna Reviewers Either Really Loved the Recipe — Or Really Didn’t

Not sure whether to make enchiladas or lasagna for dinner? Make both with The Pioneer Woman star Ree Drummond’s easy Chicken Enchilasagna recipe that may become part of your regular dinner menu. Just keep in mind that reviews on the Food Network website for the recipe showed home cooks either went ga-ga for the casserole dish or had very choice words for it.

Home cooks loved or hated Drummond’s recipe — there wasn’t much in-between

For reviewers of the recipe who may be purists at heart regarding allowing enchiladas to be enchiladas and lasagna, for pity’s sake, to be lasagna, the mother of five’s creation fell flat.

“This was horrible. Was grainy and bland,” said one home cook on the Food Network website.

Another reviewer said, “Nope. It just ain’t a good mash-up. I have seen better recipes for Mexican Lasagna (very similar). This recipe is bland, boring, tasteless, watery, etc. Don’t waste your time.”

“Swill. A bizarre mix of chicken and ricotta with canned enchilada sauce. A bland and sloppy mess,” was another reviewer’s brutally honest assessment of Drummond’s recipe.

For all the haters, there were just as many lovers of the recipe — although it should be noted many of those who enjoyed it changed the ingredients just a bit.

“Delicious, simple, and easy to modify! I do something different each time I make it. My family loves enchilasagna night,” a fan of the recipe wrote.

Another home cook giving the recipe their thumbs up said, “This was an amazing dish!  I used a tablespoon of each spice, used a hot enchilada sauce for the red and pepper jack cheese, but my family loves heat. At the end, I topped the dish with black olives, green onions, and additional cilantro. Yum!!!Thank you, Ree, for all your yummy recipes.”

Finally, one reviewer offered a helpful suggestion to those whose enchilasagna was too watery: “May I suggest using uncooked lasagna noodles instead.  They will absorb much of the extra sauce.  I always use uncooked noodles and as long as enough sauce, they cook up beautifully and not soggy!”

Here’s what you’ll need to make Drummond’s Chicken Enchilasagna

For Drummond’s recipe (ingredient quantities and reviewers’ comments can be found on the Food Network website), you’ll need to have on hand: vegetable oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, boneless skinless chicken breasts, ricotta cheese, Monterey Jack cheese, fresh parsley, green enchilada sauce, red enchilada sauce, “cooked and cooled” lasagna noodles, and grated sharp Cheddar cheese.

How to put Drummond’s mashup recipe together

First things first: preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. The chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, and salt are combined in a bowl, and half of the mixture is dusted on the chicken breasts. Cook the chicken in a skillet over medium-high heat with the vegetable oil for “about 9 minutes total.” Allow the chicken to cool and then shred.

Combine the ricotta and Monterey Jack cheeses in a large bowl, along with the parsley and what’s left of the spice mix.

And now the lasagna layering method is put to use by Drummond. Place some of each enchilada sauce in the bottom of a lasagna pan. Start alternating four lasagna noodles, followed by half of the ricotta blend, some of the chicken, and more of the sauces. Repeat with four more noodles, cheeses, chicken, and the sauces. On top should finally be three or four lasagna noodles, the remaining sauce, and the Cheddar cheese sprinkled over the sauce. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Give Drummond’s Chicken Enchilasagna a go for dinner tonight and see which side of the reviewer fence you agree with.