Best Southwest Chicken Casserole (Healthy!)
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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.
Delicious meal. Just added some sour cream!!
I do ground beef on the top and it’s amazing! Have a large casserole dish is the key to no undercooked rice!!!
It occurred to me today that I have made this recipe so many times for my family and we love it!! it’s only fair that I finally put my five stars on it. I have used green chili salsa as well as regular tomato salsa and it comes out perfect every time! Tonight I used homemade chicken bone broth instead of chicken stock for a little extra protein as well 😋 I usually played it up and serve it with chips, sour cream, and avocado on top! Love it!! I do find that I have to leave it in the oven for closer to an hour instead of the 45 minutes, but maybe that’s just my oven. Thank you for sharing this recipe with us! As I mentioned, it’s been a favor of ours for a while!!
Delicious. Didn’t have black beans so I used Refried beans with green chilies. It’s a keeper.
Easy and delicious. I cooked a little bit longer due to the rice. Teenager approved.
Delicious! Made this exactly as directed but cooked at 370 instead of 350 based on some of the comments. It came out perfectly. Rice was cooked and tender. We topped it off with sour cream (which I know makes it less healthy) and that added a smoothness to the casserole. I will definitely make this again.
I followed this recipe precisely. After almost an hour of baking at 350 the rice is nowhere near cooked. Now it’s 7:00pm and I have no meal ready. If(and that’s a BIG if) I decide to try this again I will cook my rice ahead of time.
Sorry you had this issue, Michele. I just re-made this recipe a few weeks ago and did not have this problem. Did you make any substitutions?
I had the same thing happen. I even turned the temp up to 400 near the end & gave it extra time. The rice was crunchy. It’s not a bad recipe. I would cook the rice & chicken separately in the future & just heat it together in the casserole.
Instead of using raw chicken, I used leftover chicken from tacos the night prior. And instead of uncooked rice, I cooked the rice in the slow cooker first. Then I combined all of the recipe ingredients in a 9×13 pan and heated it in the oven at 350 covered for 30 minutes and 10 minutes uncovered. Served with some sour cream and avocado, and it was deliciously perfect! Even my picky eater daughter loved it!
So glad you liked it, Jenny! Sounds so good!!
Is there a way I can edit my post to say that I did the rice in the instant pot, not the slow cooker?
Can brown rice or other type be used? Thanks!
Hi! Every one of our blog post has a green substitutions box in it – this is covered in there 🙂 Pasting it below: You can’t substitute brown or short grain rice in this recipe. It will not work. Different types of rice cook differently.
I experienced the undercooked rice as well but I did not have a 12×9 pan so I used a smaller casserole dish I had… I also eye balled the ingredients, used water because I didn’t have broth either… I cooked it on 370 for 60 minutes and was cooked almost perfectly(the middle of the dish still had a small amount of not completely cooked rice but I xan get over it, I’m learning to cook). I think the undercooked rice people are experiencing might be due to the food to pan ratio and just need to keep cooking it longer and hotter? I don’t know but that’s what I experienced. After making it until the rice was done it was SOOO good! Definitely making it again.
Delicious would definitely make this again
Could this be made with rotisserie chicken
I haven’t tried that, so I’m not sure how it would work. You’d still have to make it for the same amount of time because of the rice. I worry the chicken might dry out because it’s being cooked twice! If you try it let me know 🙂
Question? Is the chicken cooked or uncooked?
It’s raw. You can brown it before if you’d like!
Turns out perfect every time and is a family favorite! I also added more veggies (zucchini, bell pepper, & riced cauliflower) and still turns out amazing!😻
I absolutely love this recipe, it’s easy to customize with your favorites. We use chicken thighs and canned corn and eat it with chips. Whole family enjoys it.
Unfortunately the rice didn’t full cook and had little hard parts. Taste was pretty good though.
I’m really sorry to hear this. We’ve had this complaint before but we’ve tested the recipe multiple times and haven’t been able to replicate the issue. Some people have mentioned adding more broth and cooking for longer!
Thank You for the recipe. My husband and I really enjoyed it. Will add to my rotation for sure
I read the reviews before making this and I love how simple it is to make! I did swap for brown* rice but increased broth by 1/2 cup to help the cook. And increased bake time by another 12- 15 mins or so. We added crushed tortilla chips to our portions on our plates to help any uncooked rice bites! Very delicious!
I was really excited for this meal but unfortunately.. my rice didn’t cook even tho I followed the recipe exactly.
I’m really sorry to hear this! What kind of rice did you use? I have tested this recipe so many times, and despite getting comments like this I never have an issue with the rice cooking.
I tried the recipe and it turned out wonderful! Absolutely flavorful and delicious. The only problem that I seemed to encounter was that the rice was undercooked. I added extra time and even still it didn’t seem like the broth was absorbing into the rice. Has anyone else run into this issue? If so, what was your fix for it? I would love to try this again without the problems!
I’m sorry you had this experience! Other people have mentioned this. I have tested this recipe multiple times and can’t replicate the issue. Did you make any substitutions to the recipe?
Very easy and tastes so good. My rice did not cook, so any advice would be great!
Hi! Happy to help if you could provide more info. What kind of rice did you use? Did you layer the ingredients like the recipe calls for? Did you keep it covered while cooking? Sorry to hear this.
Any suggestions on cooking time and temperature if doubling the recipe and using 9X13 pan? I’m currently waiting for the rice to be cooked in the casserole and it has been over an hour. I want to set realistic expectations if I make this again. TY.
I’m sorry but I haven’t tested doubling this recipe and I don’t know how this will impact cooking time. I wish I could be more help!
The overall taste is amazing; however, the temp and time didn’t completely cook the rice thoroughly 😞. I had to cook it for an additional 30-40 minutes so the rice would get done.
We tried this as is, wrapped in a tortilla, and scooped with chips – Was a hit with the whole family!
Can I use ground beef instead of chicken? If so how long would I cook it for ?
I’m sorry but I haven’t tried it with ground beef. Maybe you could brown the ground beef ahead of time and stir it in the pot? I’m not sure! Sorry!