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.
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.