Tex Mex Chicken Casserole
This Tex Mex Chicken Casserole recipe takes less than 10 minutes to put together, and is perfect for an easy weeknight meal that feeds a crowd!
You know those times when you feel too tired to cook? This is one of those recipes where I can always muster the energy to whip it together, even when I don’t feel like cooking.

It demands so little, and it’s easy, delicious, and full of texture.
Plus, you can make a big batch for the whole family and heat up the leftovers for dinner on any other night of the week. I love leftovers.
You can think of this recipe as a big nacho bake, of sorts. But with less cheese, more salsa, and a casserole-like texture. It’s definitely comfort food and one of the most easy dinners on this blog.
It won’t and is not supposed to have the crispness of a tray of nachos, but rather the nachos soak up the salsa and take on a more tortilla-like texture that makes for a hearty bite.
You also gets bits of corn, black beans, scallions, and gooey cheese to tie it all together, and a sprinkling of taco seasoning to enhance the tex mex flavors that go so well in dishes like this.
Let me show you how simple it is to put together this Mexican Chicken Casserole.
Step by Step Overview:
Start with a handful of crushed tortilla chips:
This is an instance where you want to use the thicker, more robust tortilla chips. Xochitl makes my absolute favorite tortilla chip, but thin ones like that will get too soggy and flimsy.
Now we’re going to add a bunch of supporting ingredients.
First, some canned black beans that have been rinsed and drained. Also, some yellow corn kernels.
Next, add diced chicken breast.
I use my slow cooker to cook batches of chicken breasts to be used for stuff like this. Here’s the post with instructions for Crockpot Chicken Breast.
However, you could also pick up a rotisserie chicken at the grocery store and use that instead.
Now add salsa, Mexican shredded cheese (ideally a blend of cheddar cheese and monterey jack cheese), scallions (aka green onions), and taco seasoning. The taco seasoning gives you a bit of that ground cumin and other flavors you’d expect from Mexican food.
Stir the chicken mixture all together in a large bowl, taking care not to crush the chips too much:
Then put it in a casserole dish:
Cover it with foil and bake in a 400F preheated oven for 30 minutes:
Covering with aluminum foil is important for keeping the moisture inside, and it prevents us from having to add olive oil, chicken broth, or any other extra moisteners.
Once your tex-mex chicken bake is thoroughly heated through, you can serve it garnished with scallions, sour cream (a must), avocado slices, chopped fresh tomato, fresh cilantro, or whatever else you’d like.
While this recipe definitely serves as the main dish, you can add sides like Mexican Street Corn Salad with Black Beans or Corn Avocado Black Bean Salad. Enjoy!
Recipe Variations
This is a great recipe for playing with the ingredients you use. Next time feel free to change things up in the ways suggested below:
Rice – Instead of tortilla chips, you could make this a rice casserole instead. Use leftover Mexican Rice in place of the chips.
More heat – There are many different ways you can make this more spicy. You can add a can of green chiles, add some cayenne pepper, or use a spicier salsa. Fresh cracked black pepper is another milder way to add heat.
Peppers – Add sauteed red bell pepper or green pepper, or hot peppers like jalapeños or other fresh green chile peppers.
Recipe Tips and FAQ
Place in an airtight container and keep in the fridge for up to 5 days. Or, cover the baking dish tightly with plastic wrap. It’s important to keep it from drying out.
Instead of a baking dish, you may also cook this in a large and wide dutch oven, and simply cover with the lid during baking.
More Favorite Dishes with Mexican Flavors:
- Steak Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing
- Carnitas
- Huevos Rancheros
- Slow Cooker Shredded Mexican Beef
- Chicken Fajitas
Did you enjoy the recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Or, follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest!
Tex Mex Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 4 oz tortilla chips broken into large pieces (2 cups)
- 1 cup corn canned or frozen
- 15 oz can black beans drained and rinsed (can do pinto beans too)
- 3 cups cooked chicken breast diced
- 2 cups shredded Mexican-style cheese
- 3 cups your favorite salsa (I like Frontera)
- 1 bunch scallions sliced
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- sour cream for garnish (optional)
- avocado slices for garnish (optional)
- fresh chopped tomato for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- 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).
- Pour 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!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
Post updated in April 2019. Originally published February 2014.
29 Comments on “Tex Mex Chicken Casserole”
Excellent, big hit with friends at school. Making double recipe for birthday lunch tomorrow.
Do we have to pan fry the chicken first?
Chicken must be cooked before you make the casserole.
Thank you for this recipe idea! I’m going to use what I already have and make a small version, maybe 2-4 servings. I have 1.5 chicken breasts, some white corn, some refried beans, the chips, mozzarella cheese, 1/2 jar salsa. I think It’ll all come together wonderfully! Thank you for the template!
Yes I just made the meal and I added a can of green chillies to the mix and it was off the hook but the bad news is that you said there would be leftovers but there was none?
Hi Karen, glad it was enjoyed!! Happy cooking.
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!
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!!!
Omg wonderful wonderful and so easy. I.topped with.extra cheese and olives.
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!
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!
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 =)
This is my favorite kind of comfort food!
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/
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!
You are killing me! This looks so delish!
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!
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 =)
This looks fantastic, Joanne!!