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This Tex Mex Chicken Casserole uses items you probably have on hand and is a great way to spice up dinner. Give this one a try tonight!
Tex Mex Chicken Casserole
This chicken and rice casserole is packed full of bold flavor, cheesy goodness, and is sure to become a family favorite! My favorite part about this recipe is that you can make such a large dish and feed your family for around $10 – perfect for sticking to a grocery budget. If you don’t prefer a bold tex mex flavor, you can easily back off on some of the seasonings too.
Many of the canned ingredients you’ll find in your pantry staples already. My biggest tip for this recipe is to grab a rotisserie chicken (a big one from Sam’s Club or Costco) for $5 and chop it up to use in this casserole. You should have enough chicken for this recipe and at least one or two more meals!
Here’s how to make this Tex Mex Chicken Casserole:
Ingredients needed:
- Rice (Note: 2 cups cooked rice is about 1 cup uncooked)
- Chicken
- Cream of chicken soup
- Sour cream
- Cream cheese
- Rotel
- Red onion
- Black beans
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Chili powder
- Salt & pepper
If you aren’t a fan of using the canned Cream of Chicken soup in this Tex Mex Chicken Casserole, you can try our Cream of Chicken soup substitute – it’s SUPER easy and I think you’ll love using it!
Here’s how to put this Tex Mex casserole together:
Start by cooking two cups of rice according to package directions. You’ll also need cooked chicken – use what you have! You can grill chicken breasts, cook in the slow cooker for meal prep, or chop up a rotisserie chicken (that’s what I used) for extra ease.
Combine all the ingredients in a very large bowl, saving about 3/4 cup of the shredded cheese for the end.
Pour into a greased 9×13-inch baking dish. Bake at 325° for 20-25 minutes. Then, sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup cheese on top and bake another 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
Tex Mex Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cooked
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 4 oz light sour cream
- 8 oz light cream cheese softened
- 1 can Rotel
- 1/2 cup red onion
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mix together cooked rice, chicken, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, softened cream cheese, Rotel, chili powder, red onion, black beans, and 1 1/4 cups cheddar cheese.
- Pour into greased 9x13 baking dish or two smaller dishes.
- Bake at 325 for 20-25 minutes.
- Sprinkle additional 3/4 cups cheddar cheese over casserole.
- Bake another 5 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.
- Cool 10 minutes - Enjoy!
Tips to make this casserole a hit!
You can tailor this recipe to suit your family’s tastes so easily. If your family doesn’t care for onions or black beans, you can easily skip them. I love this casserole for busy weeknights because it is so quick and easy to throw together! You can prep some of your ingredients ahead of time like the rice and chicken to cut down your prep time a bunch.
What can I serve with this Tex Mex Casserole?
This casserole has endless possibilities for serving. It is hearty enough to serve as a main dish with a side salad, but you can also pair with tortillas (make your own burrito), or serve with tortilla chips for dipping.
Love this recipe ~ Save it for later!
If you’re looking for a deal on chicken for this recipe, you can get this Perdue Chicken Breast delivered right to your door!
If you need a little more menu inspiration, take a look at all of our recipes HERE.
Would this work as a Freezer meal?
This was soo good; big touchdown with my family!
My adjustments: Didn’t have regular rice on hand, so used 2 packages of Knorrs Mexican Rice, and omitted the beans (our teenage kids are picky). Also used a regular yellow onion (it’s what i had).
Anyway…Always a huge win when the kids say “Mom, this was awesome! Make it again!” Thank You!!!
Is 2 cups cooked rice equal to one cup uncooked?
Do you shred the chicken?
I think most Tex Mex Chicken Casserole recipes have you cube or dice the chicken Tracey, but you could probably shred it instead if you prefer! 🙂 Hope that helps!
How many servings does this make?
I’d say 6-8 Mary, hope that helps!
Palma Tahmizian- Garcia Its "light and healthy" LOL
Thanks
Rotel is diced tomatoes with green chiles.
I gained three pounds just reading the ingredients!
What is Rotel?
Hey Lynn! It’s tomatoes and green chilies. You can get it in Del Monte also. Rotel is a brand. Hope that helps. 🙂
I think this looks fabulous! I might add crushed Doritos to the top mixed with cheese!
I’m wondering if instead of Rotel if I could use salsa? Think that would work?
Hi Angela! I would think you could (especially if it’s a thicker salsa?) I think it’s got enough sour cream and cream cheese to thicken up just about anything, so it should work great. Let me know if you try it! 🙂
This is very delicious…I just made it tonight! 😀 Thanks for the recipe!
So glad you liked it! 🙂
Tried this tonight and really liked it. Next time I will cut back on the chili powder a little bit. It was just a little too spicy.
This sounds so yummy and looks delicious!
I have a recipe very similar to this one called Mexcian Chicken Casserole-it's a "staple" in my recipe rotation and I usually make it for all of my "potluck" invites. I will email it to you!