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
Nutrition
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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.
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