I’m still all about these easy, one dish dinners. This one is very similar to the ultra popular Taco Chicken Bowls, but it’s made in the oven and takes about an hour, as opposed to eight in a slow cooker. The directions go something like this: dump, stir, cover, cook, eat, be happy.
One little jar of salsa adds so much flavor to this dish that I almost feel like it’s cheating and the little bit of cheddar on top really made it rich and satisfying. Next time I might even try a little dollop of sour cream! Either way, this recipe was a no brainer to make and a definite tummy pleaser!
I used a couple Budget Bytes tricks to make it more affordable. As usual, I used reconstituted bouillon for the broth instead of canned chicken broth. I’ve also been buying big 2lb. bags of shredded cheese and then dividing them into four freezer bags (2 cups each, the same size as normal bags of shredded cheese) and this really saves me a lot. Then there’s the chicken. I still only buy my chicken breasts on sale. I can usually get them for $1.99/lb. (sometimes less!) if I really keep an eye out. I know not everyone will be able to find this deal, but it’s worth mentioning and looking out for!
Salsa Chicken Casserole
Salsa Chicken Casserole
Servings 6Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice ($0.33)
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed ($0.52)
- 1 15oz. can black beans ($1.39)
- 1 16oz. jar salsa ($1.99)
- 1 cup chicken broth ($0.15)
- 1/2 Tbsp chili powder ($0.10)
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano ($0.03)
- 2 chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs. total) ($2.99)
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese ($0.94)
- 2 green onions, sliced ($0.17)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Drain and briefly rinse the black beans. Add the dry rice, black beans, corn, salsa, chicken broth, chili powder, and oregano to an 8×8 inch casserole dish. Stir until everything is evenly combined.
- Cut the chicken breasts into three pieces each. Push the chicken pieces down into the rice salsa mixture in the casserole dish. Try to push them down as far into the liquid as they’ll go. Cover the casserole dish tightly with foil. Bake for one hour.
- Take the casserole dish out of the oven, test the rice with a fork to make sure it is tender. If it is not, recover the dish, return it to the oven, and bake for 10-15 minutes more. When the rice is tender, sprinkle the cheese over top and return the casserole to the oven for a few minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Add the sliced green onions on top after baking and serve hot.
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Notes
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Step By Step Photos
Add the rice, beans, corn, and salsa to an 8×8 casserole dish. BUT, drain and rinse the beans first and thaw the corn first. I didn’t thaw my corn and it slowed my casserole down.
Add a cup of chicken broth to give the rice enough liquid to cook in (it will also get some liquid from the salsa). I decided after the fact to add a little extra chili powder and oregano, but you don’t have to stir the other ingredients together first. Stir those spices right in.
Cut each chicken breast into three pieces. My chicken was still partially frozen (I forgot to put it in the fridge the night before). If it was completely thawed, I would have flattened these pieces out a little bit more.
Push the chicken pieces down into the rice mixture – probably more so than I did here (I learn as I go, too).
Cover the casserole dish tightly with foil to hold all the steam in, and bake it in a preheated 375 degree oven for one hour. After an hour, use a fork to test some of the rice and make sure that it’s tender. If it’s not, simply recover the dish and bake a little bit longer (10-15 minutes). If your chicken and corn were thawed (unlike mine), you probably won’t need to put it back in the oven.
Once you know the rice is fully cooked, sprinkle some cheese over top and pop it back in the oven for just a few more minutes to melt the cheese. Then, when it comes out, add the sliced green onions on top. The end!
Want to look closer? Why not! nom.
Easy dinners make me happy.
Okay I commented about how this took so long I didn’t care how it tasted. About an hour and a half for us at which point we just threw cheese on top and called it done because we couldn’t wait any longer. It’s actually pretty good like surprisingly good. I think next time I would just cut the chicken even smaller, try raising the temperature, or just replace it with cooked ground beef. It’s good and low effort. But an hour and a half is a long time for us to wait when we are hungry
I’ve been trying to make this for an hour and 15 minutes now with thawed chicken and I even cut them into like 5 chunks each. The chicken is at about 145 degrees now meaning that it’ll take another 15-30 minutes to fully cook. A simple easy meal is turning into a nightmare and everyone is unhappy because they are so hungry. At this point I don’t even care how it tastes because it’s taking so long. I’ve wasted half my night waiting for this to cook. If you have 2 hours to spare sure, try it. If your gunning for that 1 hr mark skip this recipe. I’ve never had a recipe with a such poor timing before.
Did you use minute rice?? I followed the directions exactly. After 1-1/2 hours the rice was barely cooked. Husband and I were starving after a long 12 hour shift. This took way longer than recipe called for. If making this again, I’ll definitely precook the rice and brown the chicken ahead of putting it all in the casserole dish.
So far, looks easy, tasty & economical. Looking forward to making it this week & looking for more.
I had such high hopes for this recipe as it sounded tasty and easy to make. BUT, the rice was not done, even after 1.5 hrs in the oven AND adding more broth.
If I keep the recipe, I will cook my rice separate and figure out something else.
Thank you for this recipe! I found it while searching for Trim Healthy Mama Mexican dishes. Making the rice to be brown rice rather then white rice will fit the criteria.
I use 3 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces, double everything else. Makes enough for dinner and lunch for 2 adults and 2 starving, hockey playing teenagers. Cooks fine in 1:15, which I expected for a larger amount. I also just mix taco seasoning in with the chicken broth first.
When you doubled, did you use a bigger casserole dish?
I made this as directed, except I added some extra south West spice mix I had on hand from another recipe, and cooked it in an enameled cast iron pot with a lid. Came out perfectly, rice was tender and fully cooked by an hour.
375 for 1 hour works fine for me, the rice even can be a little mushy even depending on how careful I am with dumping excess liquid in. I cut the chicken up into bite sized pieces also.
I am not sure what folks are talking about, mine cooked at 375 for 1hr 15 and it was fine. I probably could have taken it out sooner. Pretty good recipe. It’s a casserole after all, it isn’t meant to be Michelin star. Hearty and will feed a family.
Made this as written with 2 changes: I added a half tsp of onion powder and at the half hour mark I turned the oven up to 400. Came out great. The only thing I would change is seasoning the chicken with taco seasoning before baking.
Can I cook the rice ahead of time? I am making this to be frozen for someone. If I cook e rice ahead of time and then throw it in the dish with all the other ingredients, will that affect the rice if it’s already cooked when it goes into the oven?
I love this recipe and I’ve tried it many times but I have to tell you 375 for an hour does not get it done! This needs to be modified big-time as many reviewer’s have said. The cook time at 375 is probably about two hours unless you like crispy rice. So far mine has been in for an hour and 40 minutes, 40 of those minutes I raise the temperature to 400 the rice is still not cooked. Next time I make this because it is a good recipe, I’m going to skip the rice bake the chicken for an hour with all the other ingredients and cook my rice in a pot
Great recipe!! I love it!! What sides did y’all fix with this? Thank you!
I love these Black Bean and Avocado Enchilada Meal Prep
After reading some of the comments I was a little worried about the baking time. But this recipe was perfect in every way. So easy to put together and throw in the oven. Baking time was just a little over an hour because I let it go about 15 minutes extra, but I don’t think that was needed.
This is definitely going in my recipe box. Simple to make, and tastes very good! Thank you for the time it takes you to bring these recipes to us.
I made this in the crock pot today, turned out great. I did it in two steps, first I put seasoned chicken (chili powder, oregano) in crockpot with about 1 cup chicken broth. Cooked on low about 4 hours.
Then I removed chicken from crockpot, added black beans, corn, rice, added chicken back in on top and added chicken broth to cover rice, cooked for about 21/2 hours, then added jar of salsa on top, then cooked another hour, then added shredded cheddar cheese on top cooked for 30 min more with top off crockpot.
Wellllll this is frustrating. I didn’t read the comments before we started this and so far we’re an hour and twenty minutes in and the rice is definitely raw. So much for eating dinner at a decent time.
So yummy! Do you know how I could convert the recipe to be able to make it in my slow cooker? Thanks!
I’m not sure how well the rice will hold up in the slow cooker. It might over cook.
love this dish but apparently my oven is heated by a candle or yours is heated by the sun because after an hour and 15 mins the chicken still looked raw and was less than 100 degrees by a thermometer. taste great but an hour to cook is a pipe dream and frustrating when your family is waiting on a meal that takes over double the time to cook if you have a recommendation please share because I do love the taste when it’s finally done.
Oh no I’m so sorry Caleb! I’d suggest getting a cheap oven thermometer to put in your oven. The digital read out on my oven is off sometimes by 10 degrees and that can really make a difference. Hope that helps!
Oh my goodness
This dish is so stinking good!
Made exactly as written except I added a small can of mild green chilies.
Renting a house with other families and my night to cook dinner will definitely be this!!
Easy and oh so good!
Where would you say this recipe is originated from? I’m making it for a school project!
It’s definitely an American-style recipe. It has some southwest flavors, so maybe a bit of Tex-Mex, but it’s overwhelmingly American.
Fantastic recipe! I used salsa verde, brown rice and 2 cups of chicken broth. I baked for 90 min covered tightly in dutch oven then uncovered, added cheese and cooked for about 15 min more. Thank you!
This recipe is good but need some modifications. One the ingredients as listed WILL NOT fit in and 8” square baking dish. Second – you can plan on this baking about twice the recommended cook time unless you like crispy rice.
That is so correct! I thought the baking dish would be too small and it was!
Love the simplicity of this dish! I would like to mix all the ingredients together, freeze and bake at a later time. Do you know if that would work with the rice being raw and then freeze and cook later? I’m preparing freezer meals for when my baby comes. Thanks!
Hmm, that’s a really tough call. Unfortunately I can’t say for sure without testing that method.
Made this tonight and it was delish!! Can’t believe how quick and easy it was to pull together – i literally made most of it with a baby on my hip haha.
I made with Brown rice; I doubled the broth, used a Dutch oven covered in foil plus lid, and cooked it for 75 minutes at 375, plus an additional 15 at 400. Then I removed the chicken, shredded it and mixed it back in, covered with cheese and back in the oven until melted. Topped with cilantro instead of green onion, and served with a homemade guac, hot sauce, and a dollop of sour cream.
Like your idea of shredding the chicken. Thanks
Bummer that I didn’t read the comments first. I used dry rice, but not instant. Apparently that’s the key to this actually working. My family of 6 is starving and our rice is not cooking at all
Please edit this recipe to specify instance rice. Regular rice just isn’t doing a thing. I’d hate for someone else to make the same mistake.
Was that really two 1.5lb chicken breasts? I used two chicken breasts (about 2.5 lbs TOTAL) and I couldn’t fit it all in the pot! Maybe you have a deeper dish… I just used a glass one (about 3 inches high)
My rice came out uncooked as well… maybe this would come out better in a Dutch oven with a more tight fitting lid? Or maybe it’s just not enough water if you use a chunky salsa? It was good otherwise, but I think maybe it needs to be more specific so the rice comes out right.
I think a Dutch oven is a really good idea, as holding in the steam is very important. It looks like the quantity of the chicken didn’t transfer well when we changed recipe plugins, so I’ll fix that now. It’s two chicken breasts, 1.5 lbs. total. Thanks for catching that!
Love this recipe and make it often (using Premium Minute rice). It turns out perfectly every time.
Very frustrated since I’ve made this recipe a few times and the rice NEVER is done!!! Tonight has been in the oven 2 hours. My husband and I are starving! Flavor is delish but hard crunchy rice not a good thing
Double the chicken stock for more tender rice… :)
I thought this recipe was yummy! And the hubby liked it. Even better. I used parboiled rice (Uncle Ben’s) to avoide the rice being undercooked like I read in the reviews and it turned out great! It only needed an hour to cook as well!
Use parboiled rice (Uncle Ben’s makes this) and it will turn our great!
KD
What needs to be adjusted if I omit the chicken?
I tried this “as is” and it was delish!
The baking time will probably change (I’m guessing less), but I’d have to test it to see for sure. You could probably actually do it on the stove top in a pot if you’re leaving the chicken out. Here is a similar recipe where I used pre-cooked chicken (which you can leave out) and cooked it in a skillet on the stove top: Southwest Chicken Skillet.
Thank you so much. The cooking time actually took much longer for some reason. I had to use kidney beans instead of black so it needed more chicken broth. Still a big hit though.
Thank you!!!
How can this be converted into the instant pot?
I haven’t tried it, so I don’t know for sure, but I would try using the poultry function.
Hi Charly Cook on manual (high pressure) for a total of 10 minutes for frozen chicken and 8 for thawed. Then allow the pressure to naturally release for 12 minutes.
This by far is the easiest and yummiest recipe I’ve come crossed in awhile!! I use VIGO yellow rice and follow the recipe exactly including to ensure I’ve got it covered tight with the foil. Chicken is always super tender and rice cooked fully with no problems!
I made a vegan version of this by subbing with vegan cheeses and gardein chicken strips and it was the bomb. Thanks! :)
Did you thaw the strips first? I was also thinking about using those.
I’m very curious about a veggie/tofu version of this and quinoa instead of rice :)
you’re awesome <3
Use instant rice. I think that is why your rice is not cooking. The recipe does not specify, however, every casserole I have ever made using uncooked rice used instant. I used brown minute rice and doubled the recipe in a cake pan and it was done in an hour and ten minutes😊
Ugh instant rice yes! Half my rice is cooked and half isn’t. Should had used instant!
I made it just as directed and it’s one of my favorites now! I used one of my oven safe pots with a lid and it worked great. I’ll be making this often!
Cooked for an hour and rice is as crunchy as when I put it in the oven. I just read some of the reviews that said the same thing. Smells great and I hope when the time is finally done it’ll taste great. Next time I will cook the rice first and lower the liquid content
This would be great…if the rice ever cooked all the way through! Followed this exactly and 1 hr 15 mins later I still have very crunchy rice. Cereal for dinner it is…
I figured the same thing would happen with the rice. I’m going to make but partially cook the rice beforehand. Poor execution on the part of the writer and not sure how this could possibly go right as written. Cereal for dinner sucks after spending ALL that time and money on ingredients!
Hi! Love your site. How could I change the the recipe if I already have cooked chicken?
If you have pre-cooked chicken, I suggest making this Southwest Chicken Skillet. It’s virtually the same ingredients, but it cooks quickly on the stove top instead of in the oven. People tend to have better luck getting the rice to cook in the skillet version than in the oven, too.
Hi could I precook the brown rice first let cool , and then put in the pan and cook again
You’d need to adjust the liquid in the recipe quite a bit and it might not be as flavorful, unless you cook the brown rice in broth.
I just made this for my family tonight. They said it is a keeper! Everything cooked fine. I used canned corn since that was in my pantry. I think my chicken was thinner so that might have helped with the cooking time. I think the next time I will take the chicken out after it’s cooked and shred it. Put the chicken back in the dish and then the cheese. On a side note my casserole dish is a 2 qt. dish. It filled it to the top. I was worried about spillage, so I switched it to a 2.5 qt. dish. I served it with corn bread. All in all a good easy dish! Thanks, Beth!!
I’ve been baking this for an hour and thirty minutes now (first hour at 375, next 15 at 400, last 15 at 425 so far) and the rice still isn’t cooked. Are you sure yours cooked in one hour at 375?
Could you left over chicken and how long would you need to bake it?
Hello! I’m just wondering how much longer you would need to bake this if you used brown rice instead of white? Thanks!
I would need to test it to know for sure. You’ll also need more liquid.
Would a enchilada sauce be a good substitute for the salsa?
I suppose you could use an enchilada sauce, but it is different in flavor and texture from salsa, so it will create a different result.
I want to bring this to a friend in need – wondering if I should bake it and have her warm it in the oven and melt the cheese, or if I should bring it with raw chicken and have her bake the whole thing? I made it a couple weeks ago and absolutely loved it. Couldn’t believe how easy it was and how much flavor it had! Huge fan:)
Hmm, if you don’t think she’ll mind waiting, I’d say have her bake the whole thing. Warming in the oven still may take some time and you risk it drying out while reheating.
Thank you! She is going to love it:)
I made this last night and it was delicious! I used Newman’s Own mango salsa, and the sweetness it added was wonderful! In the future, I’ll probably add a touch of salt and some cayenne – the salsa wasn’t hot at all, but that was my fault. The rice was perfectly tender and the chicken was cooked through just fine. Very happy with this!
I’m trying to think of variations, to help keep things interesting. Pesto seems like a good substitute for salsa, maybe with frozen peas swapping in for the corn. I’m open to experimentation, but I know the salsa adds a lot of moisture and I’m just not sure what else I could use to replace it (other than more chicken broth, which won’t really add any more interesting flavor). Any ideas on other cheap, ready-to-use ingredients like salsa/pesto?
Pesto is a great idea! I’ll have to brainstorm on other possibilities. I don’t have any off the top of my head. But now I totally want to try pesto!!
A friend and I tossed this idea around and we came up with some more possibilities! Really eager to try playing with this. Thanks for the inspiration!
1) Swap the salsa for BBQ sauce, the black beans for red beans, keep the corn, add red or sweet onions and pineapple, for BBQ chicken casserole.
1a) To get even farther away from the original recipe, you could swap the rice for cubed potatoes and cut back on the chicken broth.
2) Swap the salsa for teriyaki sauce, the black beans for edamame, and the corn for a frozen corn-carrot-pea trio. Cut the chicken a little smaller too, I would imagine, and you have a play on fried rice casserole.
3) Swap the salsa for marinara, the frozen corn for frozen peas, the black beans for white beans, and add some bell pepper. Italian chicken casserole!
(Obviously the exact seasonings would need to be changed for all the different flavor profiles, but I love the idea of cheese-free, no-soup easy casseroles!)
What is the best rice to use? I did not use instant rice and it does not seem to be getting tender.
It was tasty but the chicken was raw! Better to use two pans. Fry ur chicken nice and spice it up and make the rice and salsa mix either in a pot on the stove or put the rice mixture in a casserole dish on o lined pan with foil with your chicken cooking on the pan NOT in the rice mixture.
Hi Beth, This looks delicious and I can’t wait to try this. I do have a question, What type of rice do you use? The reason I ask I’m not good at cooking rice. I don’t it know what is about rice but it intimidates me to cook with rice (white or brown). I know this is probably a dumb question and my comment to some but I’m just speaking the truth about how I fill about rice. So don’t come back at me with a bunch of stuff. :). I rated this a four but I have not tried it, but when I do try it I will come back it rate it again…
A lot of people are intimidated by rice. :) Sometimes I use plain long-grain white rice and sometimes I use long grain jasmine rice. For this one I suggest plain long-grain white rice.
This was so good! I love finding great recipes like this and using them as a jumping off point. I would have loved to use corn, but sadly didn’t have any on hand. Instead I used some carrot that I cut up to about the same size as the black beans. I had half a vidalia onion left so I chopped that up and threw it in all with a minced clove of garlic. I also used a mango salsa! What a great flavor it gave, especially with a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper. My cooking time was a bit longer than you suggested, but my oven tends to be like that. Plus with brown rice I’ve noticed it takes a bit longer to cook. All in all I’m glad I found this recipe! Most of the other ones I saw called for a condensed cream soup and I wanted to use just salsa and broth – well done! I will 100% make this again – and I might add some mushrooms for a little more heartiness.
My family loves this recipe. I make small changes, I chunk my chicken so that it is mixed throughout and I use Fiesta Ranch mix as the seasoning.
If you make this with brown rice what would you change? Liquid amount or time cooking?
Brown rice takes much longer and requires more liquid than white rice to cook fully, so I’m not sure it would work with this oven method.
I’m going to a Star Trek party tomorrow and I wanted to make a unique dish. Since I really love this recipe, I’m making this and calling it “Federation Fusion: cheesy tribble bites in spicy plomeek sauce with veggies and herbs”.
Oops, … with Lokar beans, veggies, and herbs.
It’s a very easy to make and tasty recipe. It turned our pretty spicy ’cause I added the whole spoon of chilli powder. Good thing my family loves spicy food. The only thing that happened to me was that I had to bake it for 2 hours or more for all the rice to be cooked. It turned out to be a pretty late dinner. Something to consider! Otherwise, the recipe is easy and the dish is tasty.
The recipe as shown on TipHero has a BIG error — like 1-1/2 t of cayenne pepper. Whoa Nellie!
Love this recipe! Will be making a post about it!
http://www.lifeonwaller.com
I made it tonight. It was tastey but I think I’ll add more seasoning next time. Also I have to cook it for over two hours for my rice to cook. I followed the directions to the T so not sure if others have had this issue? My chicken was completely thawed as was the corn…?
Just made this tonight! It is delicious! I had to tweak it a little bit. I used canned corn and red beans (no black beans on hand). I also used taco seasoning instead of the other spices since I did not have them. The rice came out perfect. The chicken was nice and tender. My picky husband devoured it. Thanks so much!!
Has anyone tried this with quinoa instead of rice? I assume the cook time would be the same??
Just put it in the oven! The only thing I did different was used Rice-a-roni because that was all I had on hand and added some extra broth to make up for the extra rice. Can’t wait for supper!!☺
Loved this! One of our favorite family dinners! Even my 4 and 5 year old like it. So easy and just delicious!!@
First and foremost, thank you for such an awesome site! I have tried a number of your recipes, and each one has been flavorful and simple. I found your site accidentally – I’m not really too concerned from a budgetary standpoint, but in the same breath, I’m not one who cares for overly exotic ingredients and cooking techniques. I’m a simple man who wants to be able to provide a tasty meal to my family after a long day at work.
Now, with all of this being said, I made your Salsa Chicken Cassserole tonight, and it was fantastic! I modified a few things (I’m a guy – it’s in our DNA), but I will definitely make this again! I cooked mine in a 12″ cast iron pan, and used 3 chicken breasts, cut in 1/2 (butterflied?). I know this goes against the grain of a 1 dish meal, but I browned the chicken breast a little, and also browned the rice a little prior to adding the other ingredients. When it was done, I plated for everyone, and added a small dollop of sour cream on the rice, and fresh chopped cilantro on top of everything. One thing I have noticed in the comments is that people say the rice wouldn’t cook – mine was just perfect, but I made sure that the tinfoil was quite secure on the pan. Next time I’m going to need to make a double batch, and I think I’ll have some corn tortillas on the side – it went QUICKLY!
So thank you for doing what you do! Keep up the fantastic work! I will continue to poach recipes from you!
What kind of rice did you use? Minute Rice or regular. I used Minute Rice and the rice tasted overcooked.
Regular rice.
I’m making this right now and though it’s been in the oven an hour, I just pulled it out and the rice is still hard! Could I have done something wrong??
Mines been in the oven 2 hours and the rice is still hard =[
Amazing food!It is one of my favourite foods. My family loves it.🎉🍜
Can you use Quinoq or other healthy grains instead of rice?
That would require changing the liquid ratios, so I can’t say exactly without testing it out.
You DEFINITELY can! I just made it tonight. I used the same amount of quinoa, made it in a bigger dish (9×13) and doubled the amount of chicken stock (2 cups instead of 1). We only cooked it about 40mins and the texture was fantastic. I added a little more chili powder and a little more oregano to offset the amount of liquid I added. AND we forgot the cheese and it was still delicious!! I also used canned corn instead of frozen, thawed corn and it also tasted lovely.
BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!
Alayna
This was good but I did cook the rice half way in microwave before adding after reading some of the other comments about rice not being done. I also thought that the chicken would be bland without seasonings on it so I added some kickin chicken spice and garlic pepper to the top of chicken. Family loved it
I can’t wait to make this! Can I used canned corn instead of frozen?
Yes, just make sure to drain it well. Frozen has a better flavor, but canned will work in a pinch.
I doubled this recipe for my family and they LOVED IT! I didn’t have any problems at all with my rice or chicken cooking- I cooked for about 1/2 hour longer because I doubled it.
Thanks for this recipe! :-) I shared it with my sister and my niece too! Everyone loves it :-)
Oops meant to give it 5 stars!!! :-)
Not sure why…but my rice did not cook. I ended up cooking it for 1.5 hours and the rice was not even close to being cooked. I gave up because my family was so hungry, and ended up just picking out the chicken to eat…what a waste of the rest of the ingredients.
Same thing happened to me.
So this is my second time making this recipe. While the final product is amazing, the instructions didn’t work either time. The first time I made it, I followed it EXACTLY and it took nearly three hours to cook through because the rice would not cook. I ended up adding in more broth and cooking it much longer to get it done. I was thoroughly in love with the flavor. The second time, I tweaked it and cooked the rice ahead of time, and increased the temperature thinking it wouldn’t take so long. Overall, even with the tweaking, it’s a good recipe, just not happy with having to do so many prep steps to get the final product.
Do you think you can do this in the slow cooker?
I’m not sure how well the rice will hold up in the slow cooker. It might over cook.
Love your recipes! Thank You! I just wish you had nutrition listed.
Can I use whole wheat rice and canned corn? Thanks.
Also, would I be able to cut up the chicken and just mix it up with the other ingredients?
Yes, you can cut it up and mix it in. :)
Canned corn will work (drain it first), but brown rice will not because it requires more moisture and longer cooking times.
Can this be done with Minute Rice?
Minute rice requires different cooking times and liquid ratios, so I wouldn’t just swap it for the regular long grain rice.
Now that looks easy to prepare and good to eat. Can I get on your mailing list? Hope so.
Can we use a healthier grain instead?
This dish looks great but no 8×8 dish will feed 6 people. It will, however, serve my 2 person family jist fine.
I would like to know about the nutrition.
Can I prep and refrigerate then bake the following day?
That will probably cause it to take even longer to cook, since all the ingredients and the cooking vessel will be chilled when they go into the oven. Then again, the rice will have soaked over night, so that might make it cook faster… It will probably work, I just don’t know specifics without having tried it first. :)
Some of the rice came out tender, but some came out still crunchy. I recovered and put back into oven for 15 minutes. It unfortunately didn’t correct it. I then added some water and put it back in – still no luck. Can someone help me understand what I’m doing wrong? I can tell it tastes very good – I just don’t want to attempt it again in the future of the rice turns out the same.
You might try this Southwest Chicken Skillet. It’s very similar to the Salsa Chicken Casserole, but you make it on the stove top and it’s much faster. People tend to have better luck with it. I used pre-cooked chicken in mine, but you can just sauté the chicken in the skillet before you begin.
Every now and then, the rice just flat out doesn’t cook and ends up all crunchy and surrounded by the liquid. Any ideas to guarantee that won’t happen, besides cooking the rice beforehand?
It only happens sometimes, but cooks correctly other times? That’s a mystery! I’m not sure what might be causing that…
If it was happening every time, what do you think would be causing it?
Well, if the rice isn’t cooking, that means it’s not getting hot enough to make the liquid simmer in the dish. Is the chicken cold or frozen? That could slow down the heat up process. You could also try using a wider, more shallow dish to increase the exposure to the heat. Other than that, the only thing I can think of is that the oven’s temperature might not be accurate. That happens more often than people know! :)
Not sure what happened but my chicken came out raw so we had to put it back in the oven for another 10 min without the foil. I was definitely shocked that after an hour in the oven the chicken was cooked fully. Maybe next time I should cut them into smaller chunks? Still came out good just definitely was surprising.
Zaycon sells fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.89/lb. You have to get a 40lb case, but I go through that in a few months (5 kids).
Or split it with someone if I don’t have room in my freezer. zayconfresh.com/refer/zf131520
You can get fresh boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $1.89 from Zaycon. They are sold in 40lb cases and deliver all over. If 40lb is to much, it’s usually easy to find someone to split a case. zayconfresh.com/refer/zf131520
Has anyone put this in a crock pot to cook? Was it successful?
Hello, tonight I did this in the crock pot. 2.5 hours on high. Followed the recipe except that I had to add a little more liquid- maybe 1/2 cup water- as my salsa was pretty thick and chunky. At the end, I turned off all the heat, put shredded cheese on top and then served after it melted. Turned out great! So yes, totally works in crock pot too.
made this for dinner tonight and loved it. i am really interested in your baking recipes. its the step by step pictures which make me visit your blog so often.
I really enjoyed this recipe. Simple and easy and good comfort food. The rice needed a little extra time but nothing crazy. I want to make this again but i want to try boneless skinless chicken thighs, would it work with the same oven time?
Boneless thighs will work well. :)
I sprayed a 9×13 pan with Pam. Put cut up chicken in the bottom of the pan. Placed 2C of cooked rice, 1 can of retried beans, 2C salsa & 1C of chicken broth in a large bowl. Stirred mixture & poured it over chicken. Baked for 1 1/2hr. Tasted great.
Only stopping eating this to say it is wonderful! And its so easy. We are a family of 5 until baby kraken starts to eat table food so I upped it a bit. 8 chunks chicken,1.5 cups rice,1.5 broth,1.5 salsa, 1.5 corn, kept the beans and spices same and added a half TBSP garlic powder. In a 9×13 pan and cooked for 70 minutes before cheese stage. Its awesome its perfect and it was easy. Thank you for this recipe!
This meal turned out awesome ! I even cut up the chicken the next day & made a burrito w it all, I did use brown minute rice & still worked great! Thank u!
What kind of rice do you use? Can you use instant white?
I used regular long grain white rice. Instant rice cooks a lot faster than regular long grain white rice, so the baking time will differ. I haven’t tested it with that type of rice, so I’m not sure how long it would take.
I used brown minute rice & turned out great !
Was wondering, can you double this recipe?
Yes, but you may need to bake it longer depending on the size of your dish. It’s hard to say without testing it.
Trying this recipe for my family tonight. Sounds great.
Don’t have an hour for baking, so I’m going to make this with canned chicken in a covered skillet, and serve with cheese on top. Thanks for the idea!
I followed the instructions to the letter and the rice came out hard as rocks. It was atrocious, an additional 10-15 minutes in the oven wouldn’t have come close to fixing it. I made sure that all of the steam stayed in the pan and the rice wasn’t even close to cooked.
This recipe was a sure hit! Completely GOOD!! Enough said!!
I’ve made this several times and it always turns out great. Today I added a little sliced avocado on top and it made it extra creamy and awesome! I used it in addition to the cheese, but if you wanted to make this without cheese, the avocado would probably make up for it.
Hello Beth,
I’ve been following your food blog for a while now and I’ve made some dishes here and there but this is the first time I post. I wanted to say thank you very much for these tasty recipes, this casserole was a success! I left it in the oven a lil longer n was a lil dry, but so delicious I’ll be making it again. I added a drop of sour cream on top and I’ll be buying some chips next time ;)
Thank you once again!
After reading the comments, I’m not sure why anyone would do a food blog!
This was delicious! I used six frozen chicken tenders from Target; I partially thawed the chicken in the microwave but tossed the corn in frozen. I used a three-quart casserole with a lid and did not lift the lid for an hour. Since my chicken and corn were half frozen, I baked it at 400 degrees for a half hour and 375 for the last half hour. Other than adding another 1/2 cup of chicken broth next time, I would make the recipe as written. We served it over a few Fritos with a dollop of sour cream. Would also be perfect served in a tortilla.
Thanks for the recipe! It will nice to have a new addition to the monthly menu plan.
I had to take a break from eating a bowl of this casserole to post a comment about how great it is. I love how easy it was to throw together; it took about five minutes. Great for a weeknight where I really didn’t feel like cooking something elaborate. I used brown rice and after reading other comments, I was a little concerned about how it would cook, but I had no problems with it. The chicken turned out great and the flavor is amazing. I might add in some more spices and a jalapeno or two next time, but it’s delicious as is. It’s definitely being added to my rotation.
This was very good! I used 2 cups of brown rice, red and black beans, 2 cups jarred salsa and 2 1/4 cups chicken stock. I added more seasonings: tumeric, cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, pepper. My rice came out perfect. I did microwave the salsa and the chicken stock so they were piping hot when I poured it into the rice mixture. My oven was also pre-heated.
Hey Beth, I’m thinking of making this for some company we’re having over (4 people total). Any ideas on what I could serve along with it? I wouldn’t want to just have a casserole on the table by itself. Although, maybe that’s the point of a casserole? I’m kind of sort of trying to impress the company but still be myself. One person can’t eat pork or I would have made the herb crusted pork loin!
Have you made this one before or will it be the first time? Some people are having a hard time getting the rice to cook properly, so it would be a shame if that happened when you had company over. You might try the Southwest Chicken Skillet, which has virtually the same ingredients, but is cooked in a skillet on the stove top (and in half the time!). You could do something like Bold Black Bean Salad for the side (even though there are beans in the skillet, it’s still fresh, light, and cold so it contrasts), or maybe some cornbread?
Thank you, Beth!!! I have made this casserole several times before and have never had problems with the rice cooking properly – here’s hoping this won’t be the first time! The Bold Black Bean Salad looks perfect! I think I will have some cornbread available too, as you suggested.
So I made this. Yet, I too put in frozen corn, because…time. So I did have to add a few extra minutes. The one thing I did differently was to cut up the raw chicken into about 1 inch pieces and I seasoned them with salt and pepper. I added it to the remaining ingredients and stirred them and tried to bury them a bit. It was so awesome, that I ate a lava hot spoonful right out of the oven, cause I’m a piggy. It has become a favorite midweek dinner. Thanks!
I followed this recipe exactly as written. The rice was hard as rocks and the chicken was way over cooked after an hour in the oven.
Hey! This was MY idea! ;)
no but really- I do this, but with ground beef precooked already. I use cooked rice, jar (or one of the opened jars of salsa we don’t know what to do with after using a couple spoonfuls at one time), corn (or not!) taco seasonings, and cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack. I call it a “taco bake”. Personally, I would cook the chicken FIRST and shred it a bit before using it in a casserole.
AMAZING, and so easy. Had no issues with the rice, I used brown rice and measured everything out perfectly. Remember to leave the foil on tight for AT LEAST an hour, no peeking!
I think this may actually be healthy too…If you don’t overload it with cheese (which is hard).
Thanks a bunch!
Is it okay to not use tin foil? I ran out last night.
If you have a covered casserole dish, you can use that. You need to hold the steam in to help the rice cook.
I was just wondering if you know the nutritional value of this meal? I am on weight watchers and just wanted to know how many points this would be. Thanks
No, I’m sorry, I don’t. :(
You can find a recipe calorie calculator online and its easy to figure out. I use this one.
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/recipe/calculator
I made this dish tonight and like some of the other comments about under cooked rice, I had the same issue. Even though I added 1 1/4 cups of broth. The rice that was under the chicken did not cook however the rice that surrounded the chicken pieces did cook. Has anyone tried instant rice? The rice issue was very disappointing but other than that it was REALLY good. I used homemade salsa that I had left over, added 1/2 tsp of cumin and topped it with monterey jack cheese. I served it with fresh guacamole and sour cream, delish! I thought about cooking this dish without the rice and just serving it over steamed rice, but cooking it all together gave it such great flavor.
I have made this dish many times and sometimes I throw in a bunch of fresh spinach leaves on top of the rice mixture before I put the chicken on … I leave it covered for most of the cooking time … maybe uncover for the last 15 minutes (put cheese on at same time) and the rice is always done. Did you keep it covered?
I’m a weirdo and hate rice (much to my family’s dismay) so I made this with quinoa. Oddly, it took longer to cook than an hour (which mildly overcooked the chicken) but it was still very tasty and I would absolutely make it again! Total cook time was 1.5 hours with the quinoa, FYI.
just found your recipe via this site – i hate when spammers do this!
http://fond-fewdie.tumblr.com/post/90689903736/salsa-chicken-casserole-1-cup-uncooked-rice-use
looks good though – i’m pinning from YOUR site
Thank you!!
After reading all of the comments about the rice/chicken not being cooked all the way, I decided to tackle this recipe. It just looked so good and so easy, how could I resist?
Mine came out just fine, and it is DELICIOUS. Topped with some sour cream and eaten with a few tortilla chips, this dish is so freakin’ good. I bet it will make good leftovers too.
Here’s some areas that might have caused the problems others spoke of. These are problems I’ve made with recipes like this in the past:
~ chicken is too thick (flatten it between two pieces of wax paper with a rolling pin)
~ not enough/eyeballing how much liquid to use
~ not pre-heating your oven
~ not following directions properly (covering the dish with foil is key in this case)
I hope some of the people who had trouble with this dish will give it another shot. It’s really good with minimal effort, and I know I’ll be making it again.
Yum! I just finished eating dinner, hubby going back for thirds! Keeps saying “Wow! This is really good!”
Those with complaints about rice. Remember ovens are all different and elevations can be a huge factor,…you must learn to adapt. I live in the desert, below sea level and I have a crappy oven. I know that when I make a rice in the oven I need more liquid. If a recipe calls for 1 cup, I put in 1 1/4 cup.
Those who have issues with raw chicken when you have already cooked the chicken for 40 minutes. Um…. Do not uncover the dish…Beth said cover the dish for 1 hour, then check.
Great dish, Beth. Thank you so much!
Yikes!!! I forgot to rate the recipe!
I also followed the instructions exactly and the rice still isn’t cooked after 1 1/2 hours. :( disappointing.
Made this for dinner tonight. Didn’t change a thing and it was exactly what I’d hoped it’d be! Added a dollop of sour cream and feasted. Best of all, it was just for two so an 8 dollar dinner will last for a few meals. Thanks Beth!
I love this recipe! I used the “Knorr Mexican Rice” sides pack because I had no rice me at the time and it worked perfectly! I had no problems with the rice cooking. Thank you!
I absolutely love this recipe! It’s super easy to make and there is so much flavor and it’s great for leftovers!!! Thank you!
The people who had raw chicken and uncooked rice at an hour in were doing something wrong. My chicken was way over 160 degrees in about 40 minutes but the rice wasn’t soft enough till about 50 minutes. Our oven does cook a little hot but not that much.
rice still not cooked after 2 hours in the oven. Had to make my family grilled cheese instead.
2 hours?? That simply isn’t possible
I made this tonight and it’s delicious! I did double it for my family of 5 and cut the chicken into medium size chunks. I cooked it in a large rectangular casserole dish and it was done in an hour and fifteen minutes. The only thing I changed was to use 4 cups of chicken broth (for a doubled recipe) so the ratio of liquid to rice would be 2:1. Don’t leave out the scallions! They add a nice pop!! Thanks for sharing!!
Do you use minute rice? That is what I have on hand. I don’t usually make casseroles with rice, but am so confused by all the varying comments about if it gets done or not.
I did not use minute rice. I’m not quite sure why some people have had such a hard time getting the rice to cook through.
Indian Basmati rice is the PERFECT rice to use for this recipe. The Basmati rice doesn’t take as long to cook and it turns out soft and fluffy. Just remember to cover the casserole while it is cooking. I added about 1/4 cup extra chicken broth.
I used brown minute rice when I made it and it came out great!
Would this recipe call for the rice that takes like 25 minutes to cook or could I use minute rice?
I don’t think minute rice would work in this because it would finish cooking far before the chicken.
How would substituting quinoa for the rice work out?
Hmmm… I’m not sure because it cooks different and much faster. That would take some experimenting before I could suggest a substitution method.
YuMM! Making this right now! I threw in some orange bell pepper (use up what I’ve got!) and cumin because I’m a cumin addict. Can’t wait for this to come out of the oven. Love your site and have tried a bunch of your recipes! Thanx. :)
Can I prepare this and cook this in advance then freeze the whole casserole and re-heat it again a few days later? I’m looking for make ahead freezer casseroles. The crockpot takes too long!
I think it would work better if the cooked casserole was frozen in portions. It might take a very long time to reheat from frozen in the oven if kept whole.
Has anyone made this a day or two ahead of time and not put the cheese on until almost through cooking? It looks like a great motorhome meal that I can make and cook on arrival.
Thoughts?
I doubled the recipe and added an extra cup of water. I also added a can of green chilies. I seasoned the (cubed) chicken with garlic powder, salt and pepper–before adding to dish. It was great! Thanks for posting!
One of the best recipes we have tried in awhile, and so easy for a busy evening! My husband and I love spicy food, so I did add a little chili powder/chipotle dry seasoning to the chicken before baking for a little extra kick, but an hour in the oven cooked this perfectly and it is even better for leftovers today! Thanks for the great recipe!
Wonderful recipes, and great for the budget!! I’m really enjoying this site!!! Thanks again !!!
I would love to make this but I do not have green onions nor can I have beans, will use low sodium broth because on dialysis & have to watch certain nutrients. Do you think this will still be good? Thanks
Well, that’s a lot of changes, so it definitely won’t be the same. :) Whether it’s good or not might be a matter of personal opinion.
Thanks for sharing. This was so easy! It turned out great. My family loved it.
This was pretty good..I added a dolip of daisy sour cream and that really made it taste good! However Next time I will season the chicken. It tasted a bit bland.
I added some daisy sour cream, too! If you poke a bunch of holes in the chicken with a fork it will absorb more of the flavor from the salsa and also tenderize the meat.
First and last time I have used this sight for a recipe. First I made this exactly as instructed and it does not fit in an 8 x 8 pan. Ran over and made a huge mess in my oven. Second, after an hour the rice wasn’t even close to being done and the chicken in the middle was still raw! This was just a frustrating and messy recipe. Not worth the trouble. Too much time needed to cook and especially for clean up.
Yes, this was my experience as well. It took literally 2 hours to cook which made for a late dinner for my hungry fam. Everything was raw at the 1 hour mark. I feel it may cook closer to the 1 hour mark if it were in a 9×13 pan.
Overall the flavor was very good, but I would add salt next time. I used homemade canned salsa, organic free range broth, and organic beans and corn.
Love this recipe. My fiancé loves it! I started making it today when about 20min into baking my power went out :( I moved it into metal baking dishes, covered it in foal and threw it on our grill for 45 min. It came out great.
Omg! I just mixed this all up and put it in my slow cooker! It smells Devine! I used cannellini beans instead of the black and tinned corn. Can not wait to eat it! :)
I loved the recipe but as others have said previously the rice doesn’t cook throughly. I followed the recipe for the most part but made the following changes and it came out great. I used Rotel instead of salsa. Then I mixed the Rotel, chicken broth, corn and seasons in a separate bowl. I put the rice in the bottom of the dish then put the chicken in and poured everything over the top that way the rice stayed covered at the bottom. I covered the dish with foil very tightly making sure to tuck the ends under the handles. I cooked for an hour and 30 minutes instead of 1 hour and I did use plain white rice. When the time was up I followed the rest of the recipe and topped it with cheese and onions and returned it to the oven for ten minutes and it was perfect! I served this with a drop of sour cream on top too.
I was just curious if I used raw chicken should I go ahead and boil it first before putting in the dish?
The chicken I used for the recipe was raw. :) It’s in the oven for an hour, so it has plenty of time to cook through.
Going to try this tonight. Will get raw chicken, but wondering if using shredded cooked chicken would be ok? Maybe next time.
I made this faster stove top version with precooked shredded chicken and it was even more awesome!
Mine came out perfect!! Rice and all! Love your recipes.
This is the first recipe I made from this site. I have made it a couple of times and my husband loves it. I found other recipes that I personally like better but this works well because it is pretty easy and I can get it on the table in a reasonable amount of time for the least amount of work.
It was yummy. I used a bag of instant quick cook brown rice & chicken tenders. It was what I had on hand.
Made this tonight for my in laws… they loved it, so thank you! :) very Yummy!
i made this last night, very easy and quite delicious. The chicken was very very moist. I did rub a little taco seasoning on the chicken to give it a little more flavor, but otherwise, followed recipe as is !
Would it be fine if I used canned corn instead of frozen?
You can, but it tends to have a sweeter flavor and softer texture.
This recipe is awesome! Just wanted to say I’ve been making it and modifying it and it tastes great.
As for the uncooked rice problem some people are having, I think it just needs a little more liquid. I actually use water instead of chicken broth and just add as much as I think it needs. Just takes a little playing around with.
I use quinoa instead of rice and canned corn (drained) instead of frozen and it works just as well!! This is a family favorite. I make it once a week. (The quinoa takes a little longer to cook)
I use quinoa instead of rice and canned corn (drained) instead of frozen and it works just as well. This is a family favorite.
Made this with 5 bone-in chicken breasts (skin removed) and it turned out perfectly!
This was so easy and delicious. I did substitute out the white rice for the Minute brand brown rice and it turned out well. It was done along with the chicken as stated in the recipe at one hour. No problems and tasted great. Thanks for sharing !
I made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious (and easy!) Because it made so many servings, I had it almost every day of the week, and each time it still tasted great. Thanks for the share.
Made this tonight, but after an hour and 20 minutes, the rice is still not anywhere near done. I jacked the oven temp up to 400 degrees, hoping it will do the trick in another 15 minutes or so. If not, I won’t make this one again.
Mine has been in for 1.5 hours now and still crunchy rice, so disappointed. Would have started dinner way earlier if I had known.
I made this tonight and it was pretty good! I used regular white rice and it did need the extra 15 minutes. Also I used a medium hot salsa and with the chilli powder it had quite a kick to it which we liked. Thanks for the recipe!
I will definitely try this with chicken but has anybody tried to make the recipe using ground beef
This was a great casserole. My boyfriend and I loved it! I used a 9×13 casserole dish and thin sliced chicken breasts, and it was perfectly cooked within an hour. I will definitely be cooking this again!
Do you think canned corn would work just as well as the frozen corn? Also, I keep seeing people chopping up the chicken into smaller pieces. Do you recommend that as well? Love this site & all the recipes. It has become a staple when we meal plan!
Hmm, canned corn will be a bit softer and usually just isn’t as pretty, but aside from that I think it will still work. You can cut the chicken into a few pieces before adding it in, but I would avoid cutting it too small or else you won’t get those nice long shredded strands when you shred it at the end.
This casserole is DELICIOUS! I made it tonight, and my BF loved it. Unfortunately, as reported by others, the rice did not cook consistently — some of it was underdone and some of it was thoroughly cooked. I did stir all the ingredients well. I don’t understand why that happened. Any ideas?
It’s probably just the way the pan is heating in the oven. I suspect the outer edges cook faster than the center. I’m not quite sure how to make it cook more consistently, though. :/
I made this tonight, and it was yummy! I used a 9X13 baking dish though, and sliced my chicken thinner (next time I will cut it into bite size pieces). The only thing I altered ingredient-wise…I added some crushed red pepper for a little extra zing! Thanks for sharing the recipe =)
I have the casserole in the oven at the moment, I can’t wait to taste it.
Your fan in Dominican Republic.
I just prepared this recipe tonight and it was just amazing! I found all the ingredients here in Finland, and I will continue following more recipes from budget bytes :) I used this time whole wheat rice, and since we are just two, I did the recipe for 3 servings. Also, I placed a hot water tray on the bottom of the oven to keep the chicken moist… it never fails.
Found this on Pinterest and made it tonight. Super easy and delicious. Doubled the batch to have enough for leftovers. Thanks for the site. Always looking for recipes that are inexpensive, easy and flavorful.
Found this via Pinterest & tried it tonight! It was SOOOO good & super easy to make! It is definitely on the repeat list! Thanks for sharing!
I have been making this for quite some time now and have been meaning to comment on it. This recipe is so easy, delicious and healthy. I make it at least twice a month and my family loves it. Thanks again for another amazing recipe Beth. I am so glad that your Budget Bytes career is taking off for you and allowing you to spend more time at it and less with your other job. Congrats!
Thanks! I truly feel like the luckiest person on the earth! :)
Making this for the second time today but chopping the chicken into smaller pieces for a more casseroley feel. Delicious! Can’t wait for the cookbook Beth, I love your recipes! :)
Any idea if elbow noodles would work? I do not have any rice on hand.
Hmm, I’m not sure. The liquid/pasta ratio might be different and I’ve never tried baking pasta in the oven.
Do you happen to have the nutritional info for this?
No, I’m sorry, I don’t.
This is in the oven now…smells amazing! I wish i had read the comments before trying it, because i used brown rice, and of course its not done yet…i hope its still yummy with a little more cook time!
I loved this! I kept out the beans since my guy hates them and used brown rice. It ended up taking about an hour and 45 minutes with the brown rice. Just wanted to say that with all the moisture I think it would be hard to overcook the chicken for those using brown rice and having to cook longer. Mine came out juicy and falling apart, very similar to chicken in the slow cooker. Delicious!
Forgo to say, I will make quesadillas out of the leftovers today!
That’s a good idea, I never would have thought of that! I will have to try that out.
I made this last night and it was delicious! My husband kept saying, “Oooh this would be great with a tiny bit bit of sriracha.” He has easten plenty of hot sauce sauce but never sriracha before your recipes:) I agree the chicken would have better texture if I had shredded it or cut into smaller pieces but that is just a personal preference.
Tried this the other day except I made the salsa myself. Turned out excellent. Great simple recipe. I look forward to trying out others from this site.
Anyone tried canned corn as opposed to thawed corn? I want to make this tonight but I’m worried the frozen corn won’t be thawed.
You can thaw it quickly in the microwave or just run some water over real fast in a colander. Frozen corn thaws quickly. :)
I use frozen corn and don’t even bother to thaw it. Corn thaws so quickly and works out every time.
Hi!!
Thank you thank you thank you!!
made this recipe last night..super delicious and really easy!!!
It was missing a little something my husband said maybe cilantro…I think I will had that next time!!
Had some leftover, had for lunch today…delicious!!!!
Glad I found this website.,….tomorrow I am going to try and make the Dragon noodles and the glazed pork chops!!!
Tried with brown rice and after an hour and a half the rice was only half-cooked! Hoping it will work better next time with regular rice. Wondering if it needed to be instant rice?
Brown rice requires more moisture and a longer cooking time than regular white rice, which is why it didn’t work out for you. You could probably use instant brown rice with no problem, though.
Hi! Has anyone tried to make this with quinoa?? I’d like to try it tonight! Or maybe add some chopped sweet potatoes?? We try not to eat white rice!
Hi all! I made it tonight with quinoa instead of rice, threw in some peppers, onions and minced garlic…. And it was incredible!
Another budget idea is a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies instead of a jar of salsa. I used that and 1/2 a chopped onion and a chopped jalepeno. So yummy!
I just made this for dinner n I checked it at 45min n the rice was really overlooked idk what I did wrong. Flavors great but mushy rice is a no go. I used jasmine rice, cut up chicken thighs n also added some canned diced jalapeños n siracha n it does have great flavor just need to check it at 30min next time.
I just made this tonight and was delicious! I replaced the rice with quinoa and I worked out great. I added some cayenne pepper, hot sauce and chopped up a fresh jalapeno. Might add 2 next time.
My child cannot have corn, due to allergies. Is there something I can use in its place?
I think I’d just make it minus the corn instead of trying to replace it with something.
Very simple dish to make the only change i made was chicken tenders instead of breast and I forgot the green onions on top but still great. This recipe did take a little longer to cook but all in all really good.
I made this today with brown rice & it came out great! I microwaved the brown rice in some chicken broth for 10 minutes beforehand, and it came out perfect and on-time. Delicious!
wow! another inexpensive, easy, super tasty recipe! i may end up ditching all my other recipe websites in favor of yours!
I made this dish and while it tasted really good, my rice came out undercooked in some spots and overcooked in others. Any ideas what I might have done wrong?
Hmm, maybe just make sure it’s really well stirred before it goes in the oven so there are no clumps of rice. That might help.
This looks amazing!! We are making this tonight and will post the results on our page! Thanks for sharing your lovely dish!
You could even do this in your crockpot. Do it in the am or the night before and then put it in the crockpot
I like that idea!
I would make my own salsa and use fresh beans. Bottled salsa has added sugar, and preservatives. Fresh beans are a low cost way to bring this to a new level.
I have a random question. Do you think I could have everything prepped and ready to pop in the oven but keep in the the fridge until time to cook? I have company coming over tomorrow and want to find something I can prep then have my husband throw in the oven for me. Cooking and him aren’t the best of friends but he can preheat and toss in the oven like a champ.
Yes, you could probably do that, although starting it out cold from the fridge like that will likely increase the cooking time. Without having tried it, I’m not sure how much longer you’ll need to bake :P
Could you leave the rice out of this recipe, I just can’t do rice. Or could something else be substituted.
Well, the Taco Chicken Bowls are pretty much the same thing, but spooned over rice instead of with the rice mixed in, so I think it would work. It will probably be a bit waterier, though, because the rice is not there to soak up the moisture… so you’ll probably want to skip the chicken broth.
FANTASTIC! Made this tonight for my family and they gobbledygook it up. Will make again. Thank you for sharing.
Do you think quinoa would work instead of rice? I only have brown rice and didn’t factor the extra time it will need.
Hmm, honestly I’m not sure. I haven’t done a lot of cooking with quinoa. I’ve only cooked it on the stove top, so I’m not sure what adjustments might need to be make for the oven.
I tried it quinoa and it tasted great. Followed everything else exactly just used 1 cup quinoa instead of 1 cup rice. I plan on making it again this week. Thanks for a great recipe!
Awesome! Thanks for letting us all know that it works with quinoa! :D
What a great idea to use the quinoa! Did you have to adjust the baking time or did you use the quicker cooking quinoa? I am always looking for new uses for the “heat in the microwave,90 second quinoa” since I bought it by mistake. Thanks to anyone with advice.
I was wondering if you could make this without the rice? Would the recipe change a lot?
BTW I love your website, I have been on a budget lately and your recipes are so easy and so cheap to make!! Thanks so much!!
Well, you would have to adjust it some because the rice soaks up a lot of the moisture. You could probably just bake some chicken in salsa and beans without the broth, though. And it wouldn’t have to bake as long because you only have to wait for the chicken to cook through and not for the rice to cook (which takes much longer than the chicken). Maybe a half hour or so in the oven.
This looks delicious. I wonder if there is a way I can partially precook brown rice so I could use it without overcooking the chicken. I might have to experiment, since I don’t think I have any white rice.
Also, just so you know, I saw these pictures on a different link, not crediting you. http://www.lovewithrecipe.com/recipe/402.html and here is the pin that led me there. http://www.pinterest.com/pin/125115695871212573/ I think you can report the pin if you go to it yourself. Just thought you might want to know.
Thanks for the heads up! I’m in the process of trying to contact them because they’ve stolen a LOT of my content. :(
Would Picante sauce work instead of salsa?
I think that substitution should work fine. :)
Has anyone tried boneless pork chops instead of chicken?
I made this for my fiancée last night. When I asked him this morning how he liked it, he simply pointed to the empty casserole dish in the sink. Ate the whole thing. Super yummy :)
Hahahah, love it! :)
Was a hit! I sprinkled some cilantro on at the end for a fresh finish. Great!
WOW i made this recipe for the first time last night and it came out amazing, soooo flavorful and filling with so little effort!! I substituted brown rice and used 3 large chicken thighs instead of the chicken breast. I cooked it at 400 instead of 375 because of the extra meat and the brown rice and it took about an hour and 40 minutes. Thanks for the amazing recipe!!!
Tried this last night and it was wonderful! There’s actually a frozen meal that I often buy for work lunches (Smart Ones Santa Fe Style Rice & Beans) that is very similar to this, only more expensive and less tasty. From now on I’ll make this and freeze it myself instead :) Thanks for the great recipe!
I made this again (yes a week later! haha!). This time I used 20oz of chicken tenderloins since I bought them on accident instead of breasts. This time, some of the rice in the middle wasn’t totally cooked while the outside was cooked totally, I think it was because I had too much chicken. I used a larger pan than 8×8… maybe 8x12ish? So, I would say if you have a lot of meat, do it in a bigger pan to give your chicken some room :)
I made this the other day and it was amazing! The family and I are still chowing down on left-overs. I was bad though… I altered the recipe just a little :( I didn’t have frozen corn so I used canned corn and I had extra salsa left over so after adding the chicken I used the left over salsa to cover what wasn’t fully submerged in the mix. But still its AMAZING and super easy to make even when coming home from a long day at work.
Altering the recipes is a GOOD thing! :D I love it when people make changes to fit their needs. That’s what cooking on a budget is all about :)
This was really delicious. I didn’t use the beans because I’m not a fan of them, and used white rice (I thought it was common knowledge that brown takes at least twice as long to cook as white!). I used boneless skinless thighs since that’s what I had in the freezer. Mine was completely ready to go after an hour as written. I’m looking forward to the leftovers for lunches this week. This will definitely be one of my new go-to recipes in those weeks when cash is especially tight.
Just tried making this last night and it came out great! The only issue I had was that I switched out brown rice for white and brown rice takes forever to cook! Other than that, this was super delicious and I will definitely be making this again!
I tried it with brown rice. WORD OF CAUTION. It took almost DOUBLE the time to cook it! It was yummy! Thicker than I thought it would be, but I liked that about it. Perfect with a dollop of sour cream!
Made this tonight — easy and delicious! I substituted long-grain brown rice, used bone-in chicken thighs (breasts were very expensive at my grocery store) and just used water instead of chicken broth (no need to add more flavor to this very tasty dish). It took about 1 hr 15 min for my rice to fully cook, so not too much longer than the recipe states.
I bet the thighs came out great. More flavor, and won’t dry out. Dark meat much better for this especially for those reasons.
This came out perfect! No extra time added, followed recipe word for word. (except I used bullion powder) All 4 boys in my house really enjoyed it!! Thank you Beth for such a quick, easy, budget friendly recipe!!
Cut the chicken up into bite size pieces to avoid undercooking. And don’t use regular brown rice.
This looks so yummy and family friendly, which is what I think I like about this the most!!
Will definitely be trying this out!
Ate it tonight for supper and it was SOOO YUMMY!!
Cooked exactly as instructed and my chicken came out still raw, too… Hoping I don’t overcook it. I have no idea how much longer to put it in for.
Zaycon Foods sells antibiotic/hormone free and cage free chicken breasts. You can sometimes catch a sale where they’re $1.79/lb but you have to buy in bulk. Split it with a friend and save!
SUCCESS!! It just needed a bit more time and liquid and now with the melted cheese, OMG it looks awesome! :D
I cooked mine as instructed at 350 for an hour and the rice and even the chicken was still uncooked….I don’t know what I’ve done wrong but I’ve put in it for another 30 mins and I’ll see what it’s like then. Kind of disappointed but it smells wonderful…even uncooked!! :p
Recipe reccomeds 375F. Maybe that’ll help? Mine is in the oven and can’t wait! :)
This is great. I made it last night, (half batch in a bread pan) and actually forgot to put the cheese on – it was still great.
I remembered this time with the leftovers though, and the cheese does make it amazing!
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I just made this with hot salsa, a pinch of cayenne pepper and used a mix of sharp cheddar and pepper jack cheeses. Talk about HOT and SPICY…Delish! To cut down on some of the sodium content, I also used black beans in the can that were lower sodium and reduced sodium fat-free chicken broth. This is not for the faint of heart – if you like it hot and spicy, this is the way to go! With a touch of sour cream and the green onions to top, this is the ATOMIC BOMB! Hmmm. Hmmm. Hmmm.
I made this tonight and it is delish! I didn’t buy to spicy of a salsa so next time I would add something to boost the heat. This one is a keeper. Thank you for sharing!
Cari – Definitely use the instant brown rice. Another reader tried it with regular brown rice and it did not cook fully. I’m not sure how much extra time it will need to bake because of the fact that it will be cold when it goes into the oven. Check the texture of the rice at 45 minutes (in case the instant brown rice cooks extra fast) and if it’s not done, keep adding 15 minutes to the baking time until it is tender.
Beth,
I want to make this for dinner tomorrow night, I have both brown rice and instant brown. Do you think I could either assemble it this evening to allow it to take less cooking time or can cook the rice ahead? I’m having company for dinner so I want it to turn out good.
I wouldn’t recommend doing rice in a crockpot because it’s just too tricky to time it along with everything else that would be in with it. I’d also be afraid it’d be too gummy.
We buy a lot of those flash-frozen breasts — they tend to be cheaper than fresh in my area — and the directions on them to say cook them frozen for about 45 minutes. I’m going to try this yummy recipe with those, and I’ll let you know how it turns out!
BTW, Beth, I love your site! I’ve made who knows how many of your dishes :)
I tried it with Jasmine rice, and it was delicious, but it needed about 1 1/2 cups more liquid and about 25 more minutes. I found that the chicken was juicy and properly cooked, even with the extra cooking time. It does indeed make excellent lunches to take with to work! I’ll definitely be making this recipe again.
Anonymous – I think if you used a crock pot you could pretty much just follow the directions for the Taco Chicken Bowls. I’ve never done it with the rice in the crock pot too, but I think it would work!
Could you do this in a crock pot? How long would you cook it?
As the writer said at the very start of the article, “This one is very similar to the ultra popular Taco Chicken Bowls, but it’s made in the oven and takes about an hour, as opposed to eight in a slow cooker.”
Made this last night! I doubled the recipe, added 1 chopped red pepper, and used chicken tenders instead of breast. My rice was still a little firm after an hour (even though the chicken and corn were thawed) so I put it back in for 12 minutes and then it was perfect. We all loved it.
I used plain white rice (not instant)… brown rice does take quite a bit longer to cook than white rice normally, so I’m not sure how long it would take with this method.
I put this in with uncooked brown rice and after an hour the rice wasn’t cooked at all. Did you use instant rice when you made it?
Jennifer – I think it might be difficult to stir in smashed beans like you can the whole beans. I think you’re better off using whole.
I just made a big batch of (not) refried beans. Do you think they would work in this, in place of the canned beans?
This looks fabulous. I might have to try (but shred the chicken)
Kathy, i bet you could use bone-in thighs and it would be amazing. It may add to the cooking time, but the bones would add to the flavor too!
I don’t know which one I like better know, the chicken bowls or the casseroleeee :O I guess I will have to make both and see! :D
Looks great. I’m in Canada, where boneless, skinless, chicken breasts are super-expensive, unfortunately.
Mmm this looks delish! I love your taco chicken bowls and this looks even better…think I’ll be making this on the weekend. YAY!! LOVE your site Beth :)
Excellent! I’ve been buying my chicken breast at Sam’s – they’re usually $1.99 or $1.88 there!
Mina – I think this would freeze excellently!
I’d love to make several pans of this and freeze them for other families! Now, would I put it all together and freeze without baking first? Or would I bake it all first, let cool,freeze, and then just thaw and warm back-up?…worried about drying it out.
I think I would bake, cool, then freeze. As long as you keep it covered while reheating, I don’t think it will dry out. I think baking first is a better idea because it already takes quite a while to bake as is, so if you try to bake it from frozen it will take even longer and possibly not bake evenly because the center will take so long to reach temperature. That’s just my guess, though, I’ve never tried it.
How well do you think this would freeze? It looks amazing for work lunches!
Looks fabulous and easy peasy! I wonder if Instant Brown Rice would work??? I may have to try it and report back.
I used a cup of brown rice with about 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth, because I wanted a soupier base. I had to add on about an extra thirty minutes, and the rice was perfect. There actually wasn’t much liquid leftover by the time we’d pulled it out to cool, either.
Just made this and it was amazing!! Cut chicken into bite sized pieces, added half a packet of taco seasoning and used 10 min success right. Everything was cooked perfectly in 1 hour. Added some diced jalepenos and sour cream on top to serve. Delicious and so easy for a weeknight meal.Thank you for a new recipe in our rotation!