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.
Sooooo easy and delicious! We’re going to put the leftovers in burritos tomorrow night.
We loved this! I see some people posted that the rice didn’t cook well so I warmed the broth first and it turned out perfectly. Perhaps they live at a higher altitude where it takes longer to cook the rice? Anyway, I also added diced green bell peppers to the onions. I also substituted Southwest canned corn (drained) for the frozen corn. We’re not a fan of salsa so I used a can of Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies. I seasoned the chicken cubes with garlic powder, cumin, salt & pepper along with the smoky paprika and chili powder. Then I carefully placed the chicken on top of the rice/broth/onion/bell mixture, then sprinkled on the beans, corn and diced tomatoes. I didn’t have cheddar so the last 10 minutes of baking I sprinkled on Colby Jack cheese. This will become one of our favorites.
I made this tonight and my family really liked it. My daughter rated it an 11 out of 10.
I like the combination of spices, makes a great flavor combined with cheese & everything else.
Yum
Has anyone tried this with ground beef or turkey? If so any changes to the recipe?
I haven’t tried it with either of these so I’m not sure but I would definitely brown the ground meat before cooking. Don’t add it to the pan raw
Tasty recipe! My wife and I like to meal prep with dishes like this. My one request is that you provide the serving size in a unit of mass like grams or oz. Thanks!!!
We unfortunately can’t do that. Nutrition facts are simply an estimate- if you need exact nutrition facts you’ll need to weigh your food and use a tracker like my fitness pal.
Great
I think l would add a tablespoon or two of butter to the broth next time.
Very tasty!….but my rice was not cooked after 45 minutes 🙁 Had to add another 20 min to cooking time. Used correct rice, and have a new Samsung stove. Will try recipe again because it was so tasty 🙂
Tried this for supper tonight. It was a hit and will go into the keeper file. Thank you.
I made this using leftover rotisserie chicken. I doubled the spices and added a teaspoon of Cumin. I was also very generous with the cheese. This was SO good!! My family loved it! We topped our dishes with sour cream and a dash of hot sauce. Delicious!!!
This recipe is amazing 🤩 I didn’t have chicken broth so I just used water and I replaced the rice with quinoa! Seriously, you have to try this. So easy to make and delicious 🤤
Will make soon. If you use cooked chicken, how many cups would you use?
I’d probably add at least 3 cups. You can add as much as you want!
Confused- I made this and after the full amount of time the chicken was raw and the rice was still uncooked. Are you supposed to use precooked chicken?
Something clearly went wrong here. There’s no way that the chicken should be raw after 55 minutes in the oven at 350. Are you sure that the temp was correct?
I make this every week! So easy and relatively hands off but still so good!
We loved this recipe! It was easy and tasted delicious! My husband asked me to put it into our regular rotation.
The flavors of this dish are very good – spicy with the salsa. My biggest gripe is that the rice did NOT cook. After cooking for 55 minutes, the rice was still uncooked and crunchy – big disappointment. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m at 6300 ft. Other than that, I’ll try it again.
Just tried this casserole this week! It was so easy to put together and the whole fam enjoyed it. I love that it’s not a heavy dish, but great flavor!
What size pan or dish do you typically use for this? It looks great!
It’s in the recipe! Here’s the link to the pan we have
Very easy, flavorful, and delicious!
Our family really enjoyed this dish! I was looking to use garden onions and frozen garden beans and corn. Other than adding some cumin, I followed the recipe exactly. The rice cooked perfectly and our kids had seconds!
How should I adjust the time and temperature if I use raw chicken tenderloins?
I haven’t tried that, but I would cut them up so that they’re in small pieces and follow the recipe as is.
Very easy and tasty. Only change I would make is to cut the chicken a little larger as by the time the rice was cooked through, the chicken was slightly dry. Served with tortilla chips, jalapeños, the rest of the jar of salsa and topped with crema.
Made this for dinner exactly as listed. Tasty and easy. We crunched up some Tostito chips on top.
This recipe is INCREDIBLE. I was doubtful (like most people in the comments) because it just looked too easy. It was unbelievably simple, and unbelievably delicious! I loved it so much – and so did my boyfriend! We have a crazy schedule right now where I have to meal prep our dinners for the week on Sunday. I made this on Sunday, and reheated in the oven on Tuesday night, and it was just incredible. I added some extra garlic and onion powder, but it was perfect. Served with sour cream and hot sauce – and a TON of food. We had a heart and delicious dinner that I didn’t have to slave over, with plenty of leftovers for lunch and dinners. LOVE this recipe, please post more like it!!!! Thank you so much!!!
Thanks, Valerie! We have a lot of casseroles! Here are some of my favorites: Stuffed Bell Pepper Casserole, Easy Taco Casserole Bake, Healthy Chicken Fajita Casserole Recipe
Can this be made without rice?
No. Sorry!
Very simple and very delicious.
This was excellent! I used yellow rice,fresh grated mild cheddar and jack cheese.Then topped with sliced black olives, fresh cilantro and jalapenos after baking. Will definitely make again.