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Mexican Chicken Casserole is an easy weeknight meal that everyone loves. Layers of tender chicken, rice, and beans topped with two kinds of cheese!
Mexican Chicken Casserole
This Mexican Chicken Casserole is the answer to that age old question, “Mom, what’s for dinner?” When I am flat out of ideas, I know I can always come back to this warm, hearty, and delicious recipe. Even our pickiest eaters gobble it up! The chicken simmers all afternoon in the slow cooker, then the rest of the ingredients come together in a snap! Serve with a side salad, chips and guacamole or some fruit and you have a meal that everyone loves!
Suggestions for this Easy Chicken Casserole
- Cook the chicken breasts in the Crock pot in the enchilada sauce, green chiles, cumin and pepper. The chicken will be so flavorful by the time you add it with the rest of the ingredients.
- I like to use calrose rice for this dish, because the medium grains cook up a bit more sticky and can be pressed into layers better. But if you only have long grain white rice on hand, it’ll work great too!
- Black beans are delicious in this recipe but you can easily swap them out for pinto or kidney beans.
- Top this yummy casserole with tomatoes, sour cream, green onions, even crushed Doritos or corn chips.
More Mexican Meals
- Cheesy Grilled Mexican Chicken and Rice
- Mexican Chili in a Tostada Bowl
- Crock Pot Mexican Shredded Beef
- Mexican Lasagna
- Grilled Mexican Street Corn
- Easy Restaurant Style Mexican Rice
How to Make Mexican Chicken Casserole
Mexican Chicken Casserole
Equipment
- 9×13 inch pan
Ingredients
- 4 chicken breasts boneless, skinless
- 1 c. red enchilada sauce (mild or medium)
- 7 oz diced green chiles
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 1 tsp. pepper
- 2 c. rice uncooked (calrose rice works great if you want to have layers that are more intact– you can pat the layers down and it stays together better– but long grain white rice works great too)
- 1 Tbsp. cilantro chopped
- 1 Tbsp. lime juice
- 2 cans cream of chicken soup undiluted
- 1 c. sour cream
- 1 1/2 c. salsa (mild or medium)
- 1 1/2 c. cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 1/2 c. pepper jack cheese shredded
- 1 can corn drained
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- optional garnish: green onion, tomatoes, sour cream, crushed corn chips, or anything else you like!
Instructions
- In crock pot combine chicken breasts, enchilada sauce, green chiles, cumin and pepper. Cook on high for 4 hours. Take chicken breasts out of sauce and shred.
- Prepare rice according to package directions with cilantro and lime juice. In bowl, combine soups, sour cream and salsa.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom of 9×13 pan with cooking spray. Spread ½ c. of soup mixture in bottom of pan.
- Layer in the following order: ½ of the rice (press down firmly in pan), 1 ½ c. cheddar cheese, ½ of shredded chicken mixture, ½ can corn, ½ can black beans, ½ of soup mixture, remaining rice (press down firmly in pan), remaining shredded chicken, remaining corn, remaining black beans, remaining soup mixture.
- Top with 1 ½ c. pepper jack cheese. Bake for 35-40 minutes until heated through. Garnish as desired.
Nutrition Information
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This recipe says it takes 55 minutes to make, then in step one it says to slow cook the chicken for 4 hours! This is the second time one of your recipes have messed up my dinner plans because the total cook time is wrong.
I am looking forward to making this tomorrow. Do you mix the rice with the cream of chicken soup, sour cream and salsa? If no, when do you add that?
You can if you want to but we just layered the rice.
After shredding the chicken, do I return it to the crockpot and mix with the liquids, or discard the liquids and just use the chicken? One part of the directions states to layer with “shredded chicken mixture”, later it just states layer with “shredded chicken”.
You keep the chicken out, but you don’t discard the marinade.
Where do you add in the enchilada sauce you cooked the chicken in?
That is the “soup mixture” mentioned in the directions.
I made this in two small tins and froze, bake as instructed and it’s just fine! I have also used it as enchilada filling and for a salad (kind of like cafe rio style)
I made this last night and all six of my children loved it! I am in a dinner group and six of us make freezer meals that can be reheated later and enjoyed on a later date. Have you tried to reheat this casserole from a frozen state and found any success?
I haven’t reheated this from frozen. I am sure it would still be great though. Let me know how it turns out if you do it!
printed….going to try it this week it looks sooo good!
can I use frozen chicken to make this?
You will need to make sure it is thawed and cooked properly before putting it with the other ingredients but sure! I don’t see why not!
We should TOTALLY compare recipes BBG? Call me :):)
Lois made me this last night. Soooo godd. like OMG! Thanks girl 🙂 Love you
Its not a comment but a question.
Is this recipe have spicyneds to it? Me and my husband had bariatric sleeve surgery done and cant have any spicy food. We would be sick and hurt really bad if its any spicyness to any foods.
Pleaselet me know. I would like to try it it sounds yummy.
If you are ultra sensitive to spice I probably wouldn’t try this recipe. The enchilada sauce, green chiles, and cumin do contain spice. Maybe try it once you’re feeling better!!
I tried this recipe tonight – liked it a lot; however, when I make it again, I will use brown rice (for health reasons) and make only about half of the rice that the recipe calls for. I think there’s a little too much rice in the recipe – otherwise, it’s great.