Tex Mex Chicken Bake – A quick and easy baked chicken and rice casserole with peppers, corn, black beans, and flavorful Tex Mex spices!
This Tex Mex Chicken Bake is one of the tastiest dishes to ever make an appearance in my kitchen. My husband and I absolutely loved it. Of course, it makes a pretty big serving so we basically ate it for three or four days straight but I couldn’t have been happier. I even ate it cold from the fridge one morning for breakfast. You’d think I’d be sick of it after a few days but after all of that, I was still slightly depressed when the last of it was gone.
This dish has your classic tex-mex components: yellow corn, black beans, some pungent Latin spices like cumin and ground chili powder, plus rice and cilantro. De-lish. Oh and let’s not forget the chips guys. That little bit of crunch on top brings everything together.
Oh and if you’re a canned-cream-of-chicken-soup person you can actually sub that in for the roux (butter-flour-chicken broth-milk mixture). One can will do the trick. Personally I have never used canned cream of anything. I prefer to make it from scratch cause I think it tastes a million times better and I like knowing that there’s only a few ingredients in the whole thing. Plus it’s easy guys. But! That being said – I will not fault you for skipping those couple of steps and just stirring in a can of cream of chicken. Because really, we all cut corners. If this is your corning cutting moment of the day, by all means, use that canned cream of chicken.
This one of the last dishes I made before I headed off to my #eastcoastadventure (have you been following me on Instagram?!) and I’m craving it again so badly – I already have plans to put it back on the dinner rotation! This dish is simple, delicious, easy, and sure to please the whole family! Plus – it looks fancier than it really is so you can even serve it up for guests. They’ll be blown away by the creamy comfort-food goodness of it all and only you and I will know it was secretly LIGHT and a piece of cake. (Healthy cake obviously).
Tex Mex Chicken Bake
Ingredients
- 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts - pounded to ½ inch thickness and diced
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 6 tablespoons butter
- ¼ cup flour
- ½ cup low sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup fat free half and half - or milk, (you can also sub heavy cream if preferred)
- 1 ½ cups cooked rice - (I used long grain white rice)
- 8 ounces diced green chiles - (2 4-ounce cans)
- 1 cup diced bell peppers - (I used red, green, yellow, and orange – but use whatever combination you have on hand or prefer!)
- 1 can black beans
- 1 can yellow corn - or 1 1/2 cups frozen corn
- ⅓ cup cilantro - roughly chopped, (measure 1/2 cup leaves – then chop)
- ½ cup Mexican blend cheese - (or fiesta blend, or cheddar, or jack cheese, etc – whatever you prefer!)
- tortilla strips (found next to the croutons and salad dressings) - or crushed tortilla chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Preheat a large nonstick pan or skillet to medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Whisk together cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, slat, and black pepper.
- Season chopped chicken with 2 teaspoons of the seasoning mix. Add chicken to preheated pan and sauté 5-8 minutes until cooked through. Transfer chicken to a large bowl and set aside.
- Add butter to pan and return to heat. when butter is melted, stir in flour until mixture clumps together. Gradually stir in chicken broth and milk. When mixture is smooth remove from heat. Add cooked rice, peppers, black beans, chiles, and corn to chicken bowl. Add cream mixture and stir to combine. Stir in remaining seasoning mix and cilantro. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Transfer mixture to a casserole dish and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Top with tortilla strips/chips. Bake 15 minutes until entire dish is heated though. Serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
i just made this recipe tonight and it was excellent. what made it way above the average Tex mex chicken casserole was the homemade Roux rather than cream of _______ soup. the tortilla strips on top were crucial as well! I will definitely make this again!
You just can’t go wrong with a homemade roux, right?? Thanks for your feedback, Beth! Excited that you loved this recipe!
So flavorful and delicious! Definitely a family favorite! Followed the recipe exactly and the end result was perfect. Thank you!
Love this recipe. It was a regular part of the rotation four or so years ago. I don’t remember why we quit eating it but I was thinking about it the other day and tried to find it with no success. So glad to have it back.
Made this for dinner the other night and it was a hit. To save time I did cheat a bit and used a rotisserie chicken and a can of cream of chicken but will make the roux next time. The seasoning mix is better than anything on a store shelf. Thanks for the great recipe!