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.
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.