My husband thinks I am a culinary genius after the delicious and easy dinner I served this weekend. I made a Southwestern Chicken Casserole, and while I did accept all of his compliments, I know what really bumped this dish up a notch was the four cheeses used in the chicken breading .If you love dinner casseroles be sure to check out our Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Casserole and our Stuffed Shells Recipe. You'll also enjoy these Buttermilk Fried Chicken Sandwich Recipe.
Southwestern Chicken Casserole
I made this in a 8 inch casserole dish since this was just for my husband and I and our young kids who don't eat very much. You can easily double the recipe and make it in a larger casserole dish.
Get your brown rice cooking and get to work on preparing the chicken. For this recipe, you'll be using nugget sized pieces of chicken.
Then it is simply a matter of combining the four cheeses with the Shake and bake seasoned panko bread crumbs and coating the chicken pieces. The chicken will get cooked separately.
While the chicken is baking, you can assemble the rest of your chicken casserole.
Then just add the chicken. Look how crispy the chicken is after being breaded in the cheesy panko bread crumbs. You could just serve this and your family would be happy!
Simply add the cooked chicken to the casserole, top with some yummy cheese and pop in the oven.
Bake and top with ranch dressing and tortilla strips for a little extra crunch.
The Southwestern Chicken Casserole got rave reviews. Even my kids liked it. Well, after they picked out the beans and corn. They are pretty picky. My husband had no idea how I prepared the meal, but he kept asking what I did to the chicken. He could tell this was no ordinary breading. I just told him that I am a wizard in the kitchen and he believed me.
FAQs For Southwestern Casserole
Yes! You can assemble it a few hours ahead and keep it in the fridge until you're ready to bake. Great for busy nights or meal prep.
It has mild heat, but you can easily adjust the spice level. Use mild salsa or skip the jalapeños if you're cooking for kids or sensitive eaters.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave or oven until warmed through.
📖 Recipe
Southwestern Casserole
Video
Ingredients
- 1 pack of Shake and Bake seasoned panko mix
- 1 cup Mexican four cheese blend
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- 2 cups of brown rice
- 6 frozen chicken breasts small to medium sized
- ½ can of black beans
- ½ can of corn
- 1 cup of shredded cheese – can use cheddar or a cheddar and jack mix
- ½ cup Tortilla strips salad toppers
- ¼ cup Ranch dressing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cook brown rice according to package directions.
- Cut chicken breasts into nugget size pieces.
- In a large zip top bag, combine the cheese and breadcrumb mixture with the chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and onion powder .
- Drop in your chicken pieces and shake to coat.
- Place on a greased tray and bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
- Spread the cooked brown rice on a greased 8 inch baking dish.
- Next, spread ½ a can of black beans and ½ a can of corn on top of the rice.
- Top with the cooked, breaded chicken.
- Sprinkle 1 ½ cups of shredded cheese on top of chicken pieces.
- Lower oven temperature to 325 and bake for 25 minutes.
- Drizzle some ranch dressing on top and sprinkle tortilla strips on top..
Nutrition
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georgie says
this looks really tasty! i love weeknight meals like this!
Veena Azmanov says
mmm ... this casserole is really impressive! I can not wait to try it. Very interesting combination of ingredients. I really like. I'm sure this is very tasty. THANK YOU for sharing this great recipe!
Alida | Simply Delicious says
Such a great dinner recipe.
Lauren Ivy Chiong says
Great recipe--tried it out last night and loved it!
Vicky says
Awesome, Lauren. It is one of our favorites!
Hailey Wood says
When did you put the tortilla chips on? And did you put the corn and beans on before putting them in the casserole dish?
Vicky @ Mess For Less says
Hailey, The tortilla chips can be put on the end after it comes out of the oven when you drizzle on the ranch dressing. The corn and black beans go on top of the rice in the casserole dish. One of the photos above shows the step. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!
Cheryl says
Wondering at which stage I can freeze? I like to have several go to to dinners in freezer at a time.
Vicky @ Mess For Less says
Cheryl, I would freeze it after I added the cheese but before the dressing. Thanks for stopping by!
Krista McPhee says
Yum! I'm going to try this tonight!
Vicky @ Mess For Less says
Thanks Krista!
Ginafer Gray says
are you draining the beans and corn?
Vicky @ Mess For Less says
Ginafer, Yes, both get drained. Thanks for stopping by!
Tosha Miller says
I'm not a big fan of brown rice, do you think that it would be good with white rice as well?
Tosha Miller says
I'm not a big fan of brown rice, do you think it would be good with white instead?
Vicky @ Mess For Less says
It would be great with white rice!