This Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole is probably one of my favorite easy weeknight dishes to make. It’s loaded with flavor and can feed a crowd. If you don’t have a crowd to feed, this makes great leftovers through out the week!
I can’t wait to get back home and to start cooking again. Today is our last day in Pensacola, we’ve been here 5 days now waiting out Hurricane Matthew. The hurricane is long gone, but our town has been without power for several days. We finally got the call that the power was back on, so we are happy we can finally go home!
We’ve made the best of our frantic last minute ‘hurricane vacation’ and have had fun exploring this new area of Florida. Pensacola has the most beautiful white sandy beaches. The sand dunes can be really tall in some areas next to the road. It almost looks like snow drifts!
They call this the Emerald Coast and now I know why, the water is an amazing aqua blue color and it is so clear. You can see everything in the water which I’m not used to being from the Atlantic side of the coast. Yesterday we saw Sea Turtles swimming in the water with us, some Crabs, and some Jellyfish. We stayed far away from the Jellyfish.
It just amazes me how calm the water is here, it’s like glass, no waves. I’m used to the waves rolling in and out on the Atlantic Coast and not seeing what’s in the water swimming with me. Gavin thinks it’s better to not be able to see the sea creatures in the water, he gets a little nervous. I on the other hand like to know what’s around me in case I gotta make a run for it back to shore. 🙂
Alright let’s talk about this casserole!
Just a note: I used White Basmati Rice for this, if you’re using a different kind of rice just follow the cooking instructions on the box. I would advise not using an instant rice, it may get too mushy.
I used 1 cup White Basmati Rice and 1 1/2 cups Chicken broth. Add them both to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit 10 more minutes. This makes 3 cups of rice.
While the Rice is cooking prepare the Chicken.
In a large frying pan add Coconut Oil and cut up Chicken. Cook over med-high heat for 10-15 minutes until Chicken is fully cooked and no longer pink in the middle.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
In a large bowl add the Rice, Chicken, Salsa, Corn, Black Beans, Cilantro, Cumin, Chili Powder, Salt, and Pepper. Mix it all together.
Stir in 1 cup of the Cheese.
Add this to a lightly greased 2 quart casserole dish and top with remaining Cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Top with your favorite toppings.
I like to put mine in a bowl to make it like a burrito bowl. I squeeze a wedge of Lime over it and top with Avocados and Tomatoes.
I love this meal because you can spice it up a bit more if you want. I used a medium Salsa to make it kid friendly. But you could use a more spicy Salsa if you want.
It’s so versatile, if there’s something you don’t like just substitute it with something else! You could use Beef instead of Chicken, or make it Vegetarian and don’t add any meat, that would be good too!
If you try this let me know what you think by leaving a comment below, it’s super helpful to me and other readers!
Cheers!
Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole
This Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole is probably one of my favorite easy weeknight dishes to make. It’s loaded with flavor and can feed a crowd. If you don’t have a crowd to feed, this makes great leftovers through out the week!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 6-8 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Mexican, Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 Chicken Breasts boneless and skinless chopped into 1 inch size pieces
- 1 cup Basmati White Rice, you can use any kind of rice you prefer, note: my directions use Basmati Rice and I cooked it via the instructions on the package. This equals 3 cups cooked rice.
- 1 1/2 cups Chicken Broth
- 1 16oz jar medium Salsa, about 1 1/2 cups You can use a more mild Salsa or more spicy, depending on what you prefer.
- 1 cup frozen Corn
- 1 15oz can Black Beans drained and rinsed
- 1/4 cup fresh Cilantro chopped
- 1/2 tsp Cumin powder
- 1/2 tsp Chili powder
- 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 1/4 cups Mexican Chedder Cheese
- 2 Tbs Coconut Oil
- Toppings:
- 1 Avocado pitted, skin removed and diced
- 1 Tomato diced
- 1 Lime cut into wedges
- Add any other topping you prefer, sour cream, more salsa, etc.
Instructions
- Prepare Rice.
- In medium sauce pan add 1 cup Basmati Rice and 1 1/2 cups Chicken Broth.
- Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low, cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit an additional 10 minutes.
- While the Rice is cooking, prepare chicken.
- In large frying pan over med-high heat add 2 Tbs coconut oil and chicken.
- Cook until no longer pink in the middle, about 10-15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees
- In large bowl add Rice, Chicken, Salsa, Corn, Black Beans, Cilantro, Cumin, Chili Powder, Salt, and Pepper. Mix well.
- Mix in 1 cup cheese.
- Add to lightly grease 2 quart casserole pan.
- Top with remaining cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes.
- Garnish with Avocado, Tomato, and squirt the Lime Juice over the top if desired.
- Enjoy!
Keywords: Mexican chicken and rice casserole, chicken rice casserole, gluten free, meal prep, dinner, chicken
Hi, I'm Sara! I'm addicted to Food and Travel, and love to write about both and photograph everything!
like healthy tasty food.