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Home » Recipes » Chicken

Cheesy Mexican Chicken and Rice

Published: Apr 6, 2024 · Modified: Apr 6, 2024 by Sarah Baumeister · This post may contain affiliate links · Leave a Comment

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Cheesy Mexican Chicken with Rice Casserole features juicy chicken breasts in a zesty sour cream sauce and lots of shredded cheese and crushed tortilla chips. With just a few minutes of prep time and a quick bake in the oven you can have an out this world fiesta chicken on the table ready to be enjoyed.

cheesy mexican chicken plated  on a blue plate with casserole dish in the background.

This chicken delight mexican recipe was my first ever blog post from almost 6 years ago. Time flies! It is still a favorite in our household and one that is always in rotation for meal planning. For anyone that may be new around here, this recipe is easy to make, doesn't require a lot of dishes, and is really satisfying.

This mexican style baked chicken is a great weeknight meal for when you don't have a lot of time or energy to be doing loads of chopping. On busy nights, recipes like this are good to have in your back pocket.

As long as you have chicken breasts thawed and ready, the actual prep work this dish requires amounts to less than 5 minutes. More easy dinners like this include Slow Cooker Chicken and Stuffing and Chicken Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches.

Similar to the spices used in pollo loco (a mexican dish with chicken smothered in queso) the cream sauce that covers this chicken is instead made with half sour cream and half mayo. If you want a mexican chicken with cream cheese, try Creamy Salsa Chicken in the Crockpot!

Bake the rice within this casserole or serve on the side, whatever your preference! This cheesy chicken dish is super saucy and just begging to be paired with rice to soak up all of that delicious goodness.

cheesy chicken and rice plated on a blue plate.

Ingredients

  • Mayonnaise: I use Hellman's brand.
  • Sour cream: Or full fat greek yogurt.
  • Lemon: Fresh lemon juice cuts through the rich sauce and gives it some tang.
  • Spices: Garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, and cumin to be exact. See note below about subbing in taco seasoning.
  • Hot sauce: Use your favorite mexican hot sauce, I use Cholula.
  • Shredded Jack cheese: Or shredded cheddar cheese.
  • Crushed tortilla chips: Just take your favorite tortilla chips and crush them between your hands. Don't worry if the chips are a little stale, you won't notice once this dish is baked. 
  • Boneless skinless chicken breasts: I like to use thin cut for the dish cooks quickly and evenly. 
  • Cooked Rice: I prefer to use cooked rice when making this mexican chicken rice casserole so that the chicken doesn't dry out. 

Instructions for Easy Chicken Taco Casserole

sauce ingredients in a green bowl.

Step 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl mix together mayo, yogurt, spices, hot sauce, and the juice of one lemon.

4 chicken breasts in a clear glass dish.

Step 2. Place chicken pieces on the bottoms of a glass casserole dish.

sauce poured over top of chicken.

Step 3. Cover the chicken with sauce. If adding cooked rice, add over the chicken before pouring on the sauce.

cheese covered chicken and sauce.

Step 4. Crush up tortilla chips with hands and sprinkle over the chicken and sauce. Top with cheese. Cook for 22-25 minutes, depending the thickness of your chicken.

Recipe Tips

  • The spiciness level can be adjusted based on personal preferences-- just add more or less hot sauce (I suggest Cholula!) and chili powder.
  • If you want, you can omit the 3 spices (garlic powder, onion powder, and cumin) and sub in 3 teaspoons of taco seasoning instead.
  • If using thicker chicken breasts, slice the chicken breasts to be thin cut so they cook quickly and evenly.
  • I like keeping the rice on the side, as it allows the dish to cook faster and for the sauce to not all be soaked up in the rice cooking process. If you would prefer to have this all in the casserole together, I suggest using cooked rice. This way the cooking time doesn't change.

How to Serve Cheesy Chicken and Rice

Although we generally enjoy this as is, it can be fun to add toppings to this chicken dish once it comes out of the oven. Think anything you would put on top of a taco such as black beans, green onions, cilantro, jalapeno, salsa, avocado, diced tomatoes, and lettuce.

Did you enjoy this Cheesy Mexican Chicken and Rice? I would love for you to let me know by leaving a comment and star rating. I can't wait to hear from you!

taco chicken casserole plated featured

Cheesy Mexican Chicken and Rice

Sarah Baumeister
Cheesy Mexican Chicken and Rice Casserole features chicken breasts in a spicy, creamy sauce and topped with crispy tortilla chips and cheese.
4.80 from 5 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 25 minutes mins
Total Time 30 minutes mins
Course dinner
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 4 servings
Calories 556 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb. thin cut boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • ½ cup mayonnaise
  • ½ cup Greek Yogurt
  • 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 1 tsp. cumin
  • chili powder to taste (I like it spicy and use 2 tsp.)
  • 2 tbsp. hot sauce I use Cholula
  • 1 cup shredded Jack cheese
  • ¾ cup crushed tortilla chips
  • 2 cups cooked rice optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees 
  • In a small bowl mix together mayo, yogurt, spices, hot sauce, and the juice of one lemon.
  • Slice chicken breasts to be thin cut so they cook quickly and evenly, and place pieces on the bottoms of a glass baking dish.
  • Cover the chicken with sauce. If adding cooked rice, add over the chicken before pouring on the sauce.
  • Crush up tortilla chips with hands and sprinkle over the chicken and sauce.
  • Top with cheese.
  • Cook for 22-25 minutes, depending the thickness of your chicken. 

Notes

If you want, you can omit the onion powder, garlic powder, and cumin and instead at 3 tsp. of taco seasoning.

Nutrition

Serving: 1gCalories: 556kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 46gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 24gCholesterol: 140mgSodium: 710mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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Hi, I'm Sarah!

I am a wife, mother, and believer. I have been cooking since I can remember and love sharing recipes with all of you. You will find a variety of recipes here from healthy family dinners, to ways to prepare venison, to soups, to baked goods, anything and everything delicious.

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