Tex-Mex Chicken Casserole
Last week I got a message from a reader asking me to share what dishes are in my regular rotation.
So, here’s one of my favorites! I REALLY love meals like this Tex-Mex Chicken Casserole because:
Reason #1: It only takes 10 minutes to put together. Even when I’m feeling exhausted after a busy day, I know I can scrounge up the energy required to mix together a bunch of ingredients and bake. BAM!
Reason #2: Leftovers!!! Oh how I love leftovers. I don’t know why people grumble and moan about having leftovers, because my thought is, I get to eat that awesome meal again the next day except all I have to do this time is put a scoop of it in the microwave?! I think that’s pretty awesome. And this is one of those dishes where it tastes just as good (maybe even better?!) reheated the next day.
Reason #3: This is the stuff my comfort food is made of. I LOVE tex-mex flavors and there’s a ton of flavor in this dish.
As referenced above, this casserole is VERY simple to put together.
It’s just a matter of starting with a handful of crushed tortilla chips:
And adding a bunch of stuff to it.
Black beans….
Corn…
Diced chicken breast…
(I use my slow cooker to cook batches of chicken breast to be used for stuff like this. Here’s the post with instructions for that)
Salsa, cheese, scallions, taco seasoning…
Stir it all together:
Then put it in a casserole dish:
Cover it with foil and bake for 30 minutes:
Then you can serve it garnished with scallions, sour cream (a must), avocado slices, chopped fresh tomato, cilantro…whatever you’d like!
Enjoy!
Tex-mex Chicken Casserole
Ingredients:
- 4 oz tortilla chips, broken into large pieces (2 cups)
- 1 cup corn (canned or frozen)
- 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed (can do pinto beans too)
- 3 cups diced, cooked chicken breast
- 2 cups shredded Mexican-style cheese
- 3 cups your favorite salsa (I like Frontera, Chi-Chi’s, Green Mountain Gringo, and Pace)
- 1 bunch scallions, sliced
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- sour cream, for garnish (optional)
- avocado slices, for garnish (optional)
- fresh chopped tomato, for garnish (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, combine the tortilla chips, corn, black beans, diced chicken, cheese, salsa, scallions, and taco seasoning. Stir it all together very well, being careful not to crush the tortilla chips too much. Taste the mixture and adjust seasoning if necessary (and keep in mind this will taste wetter than when it comes out of the oven).
- Dump out the entire mixture into an 8×12 or 9×13 casserole dish, and cover tightly with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, then serve with your favorite garnishes (like avocado slices, sour cream, fresh chopped tomatoes, scallions, etc). Enjoy!
This looks fantastic, Joanne!!
This is going to sound really weird, but I love soggy (or should I say hydrated?) tortilla chips in a casserole! This looks so easy and fast. I love leftovers too!
Haha I totally do too! Not weird at all =)
I love anything with salsa. I just love salsa period so I know ill love this dish
That’s awesome, Steph! The salsa adds lots of great flavor here. I love keeping jars of it on hand!
You are killing me! This looks so delish!
I know it sounds easy but that’s not why I’d love it. It’s all those magical tex-mex flavors that do it for me!
can you tell me how you make the chicken in the crock pot? do you season it in a special way? love that idea!
Hi Suzi, I will be doing a post on it in the next week or so because I’ve had so much questions about it. Basically, I just stick the chicken breasts in the slow cooker in a single layer, season with whatever I want (salt, pepper, taco seasoning, herbs, whatever), then put the lid on, and cook on low for 3 hours, which is how long it takes for my slow cooker to cook them properly (165-170F). Yours might have a little variation but you can check with a thermometer. I don’t add any liquid or anything like that. Hope that helps!!!
Thanks so much! Definitely think that is great idea and will save tons of time on weeknight cooking 🙂
Hi Suzi, just wanted to follow up with a link to the post: https://www.fifteenspatulas.com/how-to-make-chicken-breast-in-the-slow-cooker/
This is my favorite kind of comfort food!
Great recipe as usual, Joanne! I added a 4oz can of diced green chiles to bump up the heat a little, it turned out awesome.
This recipe will definitely go into my rotation of frequently made dishes.
Hi Devin, that’s awesome! Glad you enjoyed it, and the addition of the diced green chiles is pretty brilliant! Hope all is well in Philly and great to hear from you =)
I don’t get the leftover hate either. I LOVE when there’s more of my favorite meal. If it’s one I can’t stand, that’s where the hate comes in!
This looks super appetizing. I love tex-mex anything!
I made this tonight and it was super! I subbed a can of Rotel for the salsa. Really yummy. Thanks!
So glad to hear that Becky!
Omg wonderful wonderful and so easy. I.topped with.extra cheese and olives.
This stuff is soooo good! It tastes suspiciously like my chicken enchilada casserole but with only about half the work. I used a can of diced tomatoes in lieu of one of the cups of salsa and topped it with olives. Yum! Love it so Thank You!!!
Hey. I was very excited to try this recipe as it looks amazing and seemed relitively quick and easy. I made it last night but was sadly disappointed. My boyfriend said he liked it but I did not care for it and neither did his daughter (granted she’s a picky eater).
I liked the flavours but not the sogginess and texture. I’ll prob try again with modifications.
Thanks for the recipes. I’ve made and enjoyed many!