Fiesta Chicken Casserole – quick Mexican chicken & rice recipe that is ready in 30 minutes!! Cooked chicken, instant rice, cream of chicken soup, Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles, milk, taco seasoning, shredded cheese, and tortilla chips – SOOO good! Can make in advance and refrigerate or freeze for later. This is our go-to weeknight casserole. Everyone licked their plates clean!
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Pin This RecipeQuick Mexican Chicken & Rice Casserole
This Fiesta Chicken casserole is a new favorite at our house. It is very similar to King Ranch Chicken but with rice. This is a really quick weeknight meal. Chicken, rice, cream of chicken, Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles, milk, taco seasoning, cheese, and tortilla chips. I used some leftover rotisserie chicken for the casserole and it came together in less than 5 minutes. Super simple and super delicious! We both cleaned our plates and went back for seconds. It was hard to stop eating. It was even good the next day for lunch.
How to Make Fiesta Chicken Casserole
As I said, this casserole is very easy to make. Combine cooked chicken, instant rice, cream of chicken soup, Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles, milk, taco seasoning, and shredded cheese. Cover the dish and bake. Remove the foil. Add more cheese and crushed tortilla chips. Bake a few more minutes until the cheese has melted.
- I used rotisserie chicken for the cooked chicken in this dish.
- Is Fiesta Chicken Casserole spicy? We did not think this dish was spicy. If you are worried about the heat, make sure to use a can of MILD Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles.
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Taco Seasoning: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-taco-seasoning/
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-cream-of-chicken-soup/
- I used plain crushed tortilla chips. Feel free to kick this casserole up a knotch with some crushed Doritos or Cool Ranch Doritos.
- Can Fiesta Chicken Casserole be Made in Advance? Yes! Assemble the casserole and refrigerate until ready to bake. You may need to add a few mintues to the cooking time if baking straight from the refrigerator.
- Can Fiesta Chicken Casserole be Frozen? Yes! Assemble the casserole and cover with aluminum foil. Freeze the dish. When ready to bake, thaw the casserole and bake as directed. I freeze the casserole without the tortilla chips.
What to Serve with Tortilla Chip Chicken Casserole
This casserole is a weeknight favorite! We like to top the casserole with our favorite taco toppings – lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, and jalapeños. We usually serve this chicken and rice casserole with some black beans or a salad. It is also great with some cornbread. Give this a try for your next taco night. It is sure to be a hit!
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Fiesta Chicken Casserole
Ingredients:
- 3 cups cooked chopped chicken
- 1 cup instant rice uncooked
- 1 (10.5-oz) can Unsalted Cream of Chicken Soup
- 1 (10-oz) can Rotel diced tomatoes and chiles, undrained
- 1 Tbsp southwestern seasoning or taco seasoning
- 2 Tbsp milk
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- ½ cup crushed tortilla chips or Doritos
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF. Spray a 9×9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Combine chicken, rice, soup, Rotel, seasoning, milk, and 1½ cups of cheese. Pour into prepared pan.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Top casserole with crushed chips and remaining cheese and bake uncovered for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.
Notes:
- I suggest using Unsalted Cream of Chicken Soup in this dish to control the sodium.
- You can buy it by the case at Amazon: https://amzn.to/49n4uZE
- Need Gluten-free Cream of Chicken Soup? You can buy it here: https://amzn.to/3MtqQ1s
- Here is our recipe for Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup: https://www.plainchicken.com/homemade-cream-of-chicken-soup/
Steph
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Really enjoyed this casserole. So quick and easy to put dinner together when you have leftover chicken to use in the recipe.Thank you for posting. I have now made this recipe twice. It is a winner.
Made this last night and my husband and I really liked it! Has great flavor and love how easy it is. Will definitely be added to my menu rotation!
What size can of tomatoes do you use? Can I use regular rice instead of minute rice? Looks and sounds yummy. Thanks!
you will need to adjust the water and cooking time if using regular rice. I am not sure what that would be. The Rotel tomatoes only come in one size. I think it is around 11oz.
I have never had luck with rice cooking inside my recipes so I always cook my rice separately, add to the ingredients, and just continue from there.
Delicious recipe! Bringing to a potluck today.
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I enjoy so many of your recipes but this one was extra awesome. I keep most of these ingredients stocked and this is such a great way to use up extra chicken or corn chips! This is sure to become a regular in my rotation. Thanks!!
That looks sooo yummy! It's in my recipe queue!
Oh boy does this look good! Gotta try it! 🙂
This is a big favorite in my house!! I use Doritos too…the Spicy Sweet Chili flavored make it so good!!!
made this tonight, delicious!! i used shredded chicken. amazing! thank you!
I made this tonight with homemade tortilla chips, as I didn't have any store-bought but I did have corn tortillas on-hand. It was a great recipe! Husband and toddler loved it….win-win!
Miranda – I used the nacho cheese flavor.
I'm definitely making this next week! What kind of doritos would you suggest? The Nacho cheese?
This looks excellent, and how adorable is your page… I love it.
Laura @ A Healthy Jalapeño
We really like this one, Steph! Very creative spin.
I make this recipe with a block of velveeta instead of cheddar cheese and it is wonderful!! I also use doritos. We eat ours over rice but I will try this one with it in the casserole.
Yum, yum. This looks so easy to put together and we love all those great flavors.
I sent this recipe to my husband yesterday as soon as I saw it. He was so excited to try it, so we had it for dinner last night. It was REALLY yummy and very filling! We WILL be making this again!! Thanks Stephanie!
I have some sort of mexican casserole on our menu at least twice this month but this one might be making it to next month's! it looks yummy!!!
This looks like the perfect comfort food. Ole to you!
Thanks for this recipe! I am a new subscriber to your blog and so far, I have been saving most of your recipes in my recipe file. This one will be on the table this week!
This looks so delicious! I always enjoy seeing what you come up with and as an Auburn fan I love watching you succeed! I'm hosting a contest at kirbyathome.blogspot.com for a free digital scrapbook software that you may like! You should check it out! War Eagle!
Looks yummy! Now I know what I'll use the crock pot chicken for after today.
Where did you get the dish used in the picture? Love it.
I can see eating seconds (and maybe thirds) of that!
Hi! So, I made your butterfinger bites.. oh man, amazing. So delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe. I blogged about it today! 🙂 Happy Tuesday!
I have a couple of Mexi-casseroles that use Doritos… believe me, it makes a HUGE difference!