Best Southwest Chicken Casserole (Healthy!)
This post contains affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
A Healthy Southwest Chicken Casserole Recipe that is so easy to make! This Mexican Chicken Casserole is perfect for a one-pan dinner.
Family friendly Mexican Chicken Casserole
We are so obsessed with easy dinners in our house, but we also like meals that are healthy and high in protein, and lower in salt.
For so long, I didn’t think casseroles were a good fit for our family because so many are high in salt and use canned creamy soups (loaded with preservatives and mystery ingredients).
However, I then discovered that you can easily make casseroles with much better ingredients (like our Healthy Spaghetti Squash Casserole).
This southwest chicken casserole with black beans is simple, yet so tasty and will be one of your family’s go-to’s for an easy weeknight dinner!
Need more ideas for dinner? Check out these 40+ Healthy Dinner Recipes.
Why we love this Mexican Chicken Casserole Recipe
This is such an easy and delicious meal and we love it for so many reasons:
- One Pan – This cheesy southwest chicken and rice casserole is made in the casserole dish that it is cooked in, which means fewer dishes and less clean-up!
- High Protein – This casserole has 35g of protein per serving!
- Easy To Make – Everything cooks in the same casserole dish with very minimal ingredient prep! You also don’t have to cook the chicken before because it fully cooks in the recommended time. As easy as a crockpot dinner, but made in only an hour!
Southwestern Chicken Casserole Healthy ingredients
To make this southwest chicken casserole, you’ll need:
- white rice
- chicken breasts
- chicken broth
- black beans
- frozen corn
- jarred salsa
- cheddar cheese
- onion
- minced garlic, chili powder, and paprika
Here’s a link to the casserole dish we used.
You can find substitutions for all of these ingredients below in the green shaded substitutions box.
How to make Mexican Chicken Casserole
- In a casserole dish, add white rice, minced garlic, onion, and chicken broth and stir together.
- Then add chicken breasts, black beans, corn, salsa, chili powder, and paprika. Make sure to keep the rice on the bottom and covered.
- Top with cheese and cover and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
- Then bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Substitutions
Chicken: Chicken thighs or chicken tenders could be substituted for chicken breasts in this recipe. Cooked chicken can also be substituted. I’d use about 3 cups! Keep the cook time as is so the rice cooks.
Beans: Black beans can be substituted with pinto or kidney beans.
Salsa: Any brand of jarred salsa will work in this recipe.
Garlic: If you don’t have fresh minced garlic, substitute with 1 teaspoon garlic powder.
Onion: If you don’t have fresh onion, substitute with 1 teaspoon onion powder
Corn: Corn is optional.
Cheese: Cheddar cheese can be substituted with Monterey jack or pepper jack cheese. You can also omit it if you are dairy-free.
Rice: You can’t substitute brown or short grain rice in this recipe. It will not work. Different types of rice cook differently.
How to store this Healthy Chicken Casserole
Refrigerator: You can store this southwest casserole in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezing: You can freeze this recipe, but we do not recommend it. We’ve found it can get mushy once thawed.
Reheating: This Mexican casserole tastes great when reheated! You can reheat in the microwave, in the oven set at 350°F until the center is cooked through, or sauté on the stove.
It’s better to store this casserole in the refrigerator and enjoy fresh.
Make Ahead: We don’t recommend mixing the ingredients for this casserole together the night before baking. The rice will absorb the broth and it can mess up the texture.
How to reheat Southwest Chicken Casserole
You can reheat in the microwave, in the oven set at 350°F, or sauté on the stove until the center is cooked through.
What goes with Mexican Chicken Casserole
This cheesy southwest chicken and rice casserole is a delicious and complete meal on it’s own.
It’s also great:
- with a corn tomato avocado salad on the side
- or with pineapple salsa or creamy taco dressing on top
Mexican Chicken Casserole FAQs
Yes, you can. This Mexican chicken casserole calls for raw chicken. It fully cooks in the recommended time. Cooked chicken can also be substituted.
Yes, but we do not recommend it, because we’ve found it can get mushy
Other healthy casserole recipes:
Here are some of our other healthy casserole recipes that we think you would love:
Love chicken? If so – here are some of our other favorite healthy chicken recipes!
Mexican Chicken Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- ½ cup chopped onion
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1.5 lbs chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 cup black beans cooked, rinsed & drained
- 1 cup frozen corn defrosted
- 16 oz jarred salsa
- 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large casserole dish (12×9), lay down white rice, minced garlic, onion and chicken broth. Stir until combined.
- Add chicken breasts, black beans, corn, salsa, chili powder and paprika on top. Try to keep the rice on the bottom and covered so it can cook correctly.
- Top with cheddar cheese.
- Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
- Bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Nutrition Facts
Important Note: This is not an authentic Mexican recipe. My goal is always to share recipes that are a bit healthier and made with affordable, accessible ingredients so everyone can enjoy them regardless of their food allergies or dietary restrictions.
It tastes great, however the rice didn’t cook all the way, still a little crunchy.
Hi there
If I’m using frozen cauliflower rice do I adjust or omit the chicken broth???
Thanks!!
This will not work with frozen cauliflower rice. Please don’t make this substitution. I have no idea how it would adjust the cook time, broth, etc. I think it will turn out a mushy mess. I’m sorry!
Hi! Do you think I could trade out the rice for uncooked pasta in this recipe? My picky children don’t do rice, but this recipe looks delicious!
I’m sorry but I really dont think that would work. You could try this Chicken Enchilada Pasta instead or Taco Pasta!
An Orzo pasta would probably work. I have a similar dish that has orzo in it.
I wouldn’t recommend substituting orzo
Delicious! I make this at least twice a month in my home. It feeds the family for 2 meals and we never get sick of it. I also make it for families with newborn babies – perfect to make for others. It’s even better reheated!
When I fixed this casserole I waited the last 5 minutes of the baking. Because if you add the cheese and bake the dish for 45 minutes the cheese will burn on top.
The cheese will not burn if you cover it per the directions.
Delicious and healthy recipe!! Great for leftovers and my kids loved it. I added melted queso on top right before we ate and it was so yummy!!
Made this for the first time tonight and it’s safe to say it will be apart of our weekly dinner rotation — it was super easy, quick, and will make for great leftovers! Bonus points because my three year old loved it too!
Hey! This was great! I followed the recipe exactly and used a 13×9 inch glass casserole dish. I did turn my oven up to 360 because it runs a bit under-temp. Topped it with buffalo sauce and fresh guac! Perfecto! The whole fan-dam loved it! And gluten free (if your salsa is gf)! Win win!
This was yummy. I read the few comments that the rice was not cooked all the way so I precooked the rice and then just combined everything and baked for 20 mins. I made a few changes. I used precooked chicken. When I premade the rice, I used green chili enchilada sauce mixed with some chicken broth. I also used salsa verde instead of red salsa. everyone loved it. Added some hot sauce, sour cream, and fresh avocado to the top.