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This Mexican Chicken Casserole is one of our favorite easy recipes for Cinco de Mayo or any busy weeknight. It has layers of tortilla chips, creamy shredded chicken, salsa, black beans, green chiles, fresh tomatoes, and lots of cheese!
Table of Contents
- Why You’ll Love This Mexican Chicken Casserole Recipe
- What Ingredients Are In Mexican Chicken Casserole?
- How To Make A Simple Mexican Chicken Casserole
- What To Serve With This Mexican Chicken Casserole
- Mexican Casserole Variations and Swaps
- Make Ahead, Storage, and Freezing
- More Casserole Recipes To Love
- Mexican Chicken Casserole Recipe
Why You’ll Love This Mexican Chicken Casserole Recipe
My easy Mexican Chicken Casserole is the perfect main dish for Fiesta night – just serve with your favorite Mexican side dishes, like my Mexican Rice or Slow Cooker Mexican Beans.
Chicken Casserole recipes are perfect for a busy weeknight meal because they can be so easy to whip up. I always have shredded chicken leftover in the freezer which is perfect for this recipe!
The layers of flavors of this Mexican inspired dinner are simple yet incredibly tasty, and you can even serve this with tortilla chips for a delicious appetizer.
What Ingredients Are In Mexican Chicken Casserole?
This Mexican Chicken Casserole only needs a few ingredients that you likely already have on hand:
- Shredded or cubed chicken breasts – Try my Easy Instant Pot Shredded Chicken Recipe or make enough Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken to make enough to have on hand at all times. You can also whip up some flavorful Oven Baked Chicken Breasts (try them with taco seasoning instead!).
- Salsa – your favorite brand is fine. As long as you like the flavor it will work great in this recipe.
- Cream cheese – you only need 4 ounces, which is half of a brick of cream cheese. Make sure to buy the brick style and not the whipped. Also you want full fat for full flavor, trust me on this.
- Diced green chiles – I only use half of the 4 ounce can because I don’t like things really spicy. You can use the who can if you want a little more kick.
- Black Beans – pinto beans would be an easy swap for these if it’s what you have on hand. Again you only need half of the 15-ounce can. You can add them all if you want to bulk up the meal a little bit.
- Sour cream – Greek yogurt can be used as a substitute.
- Tomato – one medium to large sized ripe, red tomato. I prefer Roma tomatoes because they have a lot less juice, but you can use any tomato you can get your hands on. If you have extra, dice some up for a garnish.
- Green onions – thinly sliced. Save some for garnish.
- Shredded cheese – Shred yourself from a fresh block of cheddar. The taste is so much better than pre-shredded, and it melts better too.
- Tortilla chips – This is a perfect time to use up those crumbs and broken pieces at the bottom of the bag.
How To Make A Simple Mexican Chicken Casserole
This delicious Mexican Chicken Casserole is easily assembled in layers, and takes just about 10-15 minutes of prep. Fast comfort food is sometimes the best kind!
- Prep. Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees. You’ll want to also grease an 8 or 9-inch inch baking dish. You can use any shape – I like the oval – you just need it to be about 2 quarts in size.
- Cut up the chicken. Since the chicken is already cooked, just shred or cube the chicken into small, bite-sized pieces. If you’re making this chicken casserole as a meal, I recommend cutting the chicken into cubes. As an appetizer, go the shredded route.
- Mix ingredients. Combine the cream cheese and salsa with the chicken until smooth and creamy over low heat in a large pan on the stove. Remove from the pan and stir in the black beans and green chiles. If you want to add a little more flavor, add a tablespoon of taco seasoning or garlic powder.
- Casserole Assembly: Layer crushed tortilla chips in the bottom of the baking dish, then the chicken mixture evenly. Next, layer sour cream, diced tomatoes, green onions, and shredded cheese.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve as a meal with your favorite sides, or as a dip with tortilla chips.
What To Serve With This Mexican Chicken Casserole
This dish is fantastic served with a side of Cilantro Lime Rice, Authentic Mexican Rice or Refried Beans, and Homemade Flour Tortillas. Sometimes I’ll add a garden salad on the side for some fresh veggies.
For more Mexican-inspired recipes, try our famous Homemade Taquitos, Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas, Baked Chicken Tacos, and Cheese Enchiladas.
Mexican Casserole Variations and Swaps
Want to make this meal your own? This chicken casserole recipe is easy to customize!
- For an element of crunch and texture, add a handful of crushed tortilla chips on top before baking.
- Not a fan of black beans? Swap them out for pinto beans, or leave them out altogether and spread a layer of refried beans on top of the chicken mixture in the pan.
- Play around with your favorite cheeses. Cheddar and Jack are my favorites for this recipe, but you could use and favorite melty cheese, like Fontina, Mozzarella, or Pepper Jack for a little heat. Add some crumbled Cotija cheese on top after baking for a Mexican flair.
- Amp up the heat with some diced jalapeños in place of the green chiles.
- Try some Doritos or another flavored chip instead of tortilla chips.
Make Ahead, Storage, and Freezing
This is a great meal to take to a family in need! You can prep or fully bake ahead of time, and it travels well. Just make sure to include instructions for baking.
Can this casserole be made ahead of time? This recipe is a great make ahead option! Assemble the casserole and don’t bake it. Cover tightly with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours. Remove from the fridge while the oven is preheated, remove the foil, and bake as directed.
How to store: Cool completely then cover and store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Reheat small portions in the microwave or larger portions in the oven.
Can I freeze it? Yes! This casserole will actually freeze really well baked or unbaked. Assemble the layers and just don’t bake it. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and then foil. The double layer helps to prevent freezer burn.
To freeze a fully baked casserole, cool completely before covering and freezing. Thaw overnight in the fridge and set out while the oven is preheating and bake as directed. If already fully baked, just bake until warmed through.
More Casserole Recipes To Love
- Tuna Casserole Recipe
- Dorito Taco Salad Casserole
- Skillet Garlic Chicken and Rice Casserole
- Breakfast Enchilada Casserole
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole
Mexican Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 3 cooked chicken breasts, diced or shredded about 2 cups
- 1 cup salsa your favorite
- 4 ounces cream cheese ½ cup
- 2 ounces canned diced green chiles half of a 4-ounce can; use the whole can for more kick
- 7.5 ounces canned black beans half a 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup crushed tortilla chips
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 medium sized tomato diced
- 2 green onions sliced
- 2 cups shredded cheddar/jack cheese
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prepare an 8″ square or round dish.
- Place cooked chicken in a saute pan, add salsa and cream cheese and heat through until cream cheese is melted.
- Add black beans and green chiles and heat through.
- Layer ingredients in your prepared dish as follows: Crushed tortilla chips, Chicken mixture, Sour cream, Tomatoes, Green Onions, Cheese.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Garnish with sliced green onions or cilantro and fresh tomato.
Can you substitute chicken with beef?
I think you could with ground beef! But you’d want it to be really lean and drain it really well to avoid it getting too greasy.
Didn’t seem special when I was putting it together, but after baking, the flavors all changed. And yum!!!! Will definitely make this again!
It may not be the prettiest dish but it sure is tasty!
Please disregard my last comment. I seen where it states the sevings. I’m excited to make it.?
Made this for dinner last night. Turned out amazing and delicious. Brought some for lunch for me and my co-worker today. He liked it so much he washed MY dish too!
Hey Kristin! Thank you so much for this fabulous recipe. I made this last night, I had to modify to what I had – used thighs, only 1 cup of shredded cheese, and 8×8 square dish. Added 3 more green onions cause that’s how I roll. I guess I overlooked the recipe for boiling the chicken but I diced it up, tossed it with veg oil, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper and pan cooked it. This was a fast dinner and so freaking good! I can’t thank you enough for sharing! I will warn everyone this recipe is dangerously delicious. I don’t usually eat a lot for dinner but this recipe is so yummy I ate 2 helpings and my kid’s leftovers after I was already stuffed… and I’m not even embarrassed, it was so good! I look forward to trying some of your other recipes. You are so talented!
I made this 9/2/18 for my family. We all loved it.
My family really enjoyed this Mexican Casserole!! Easy to put together… I cooked the chicken in the microwave and it was a little dry… or try another cooking method for the chicken:(
Kristin, this is a great recipe. Didn’t change a thing and it was delicious! Will make it again and again! Thanks for posting. @cantstopcooking
Made this for dinner last night. My wife and I loved it. Substituted greek yogurt for the sour cream to make it a little less rich. Could not tell the difference.
really Fantastic recipes its my favorite recipe Thank you admin for this my favourite recipe post
It looks delicious.
Recipe needs a few more details:
1) state chicken to be cooked ahead of time
2) state how many servings and how long it takes total
3) state how to prepare pan and pan capacity, square and round 8” pans are different capacity – I used 2 qt pan – too small
4) cream cheese is measured by weight, not volume – state how many ounces to use
You should read through the recipe before you make anything. It states cooked chicken. She’s a busy mom so one would think this is a quick recipe. Spray the pan with cooking spray or butter it. She said an 8 inch square or round pan, not a 2 quart pan. 1/2 cup equals 4 ounces. Serving size depends on you and anything else you serve with it. Sheesh, you need a Snickers bar!
For real she did a great job on the recipe! If you some how manage to mess this up don’t blame her! Just be nice tell her thanks and move on
I want to make this tonite. I wish that you would have stated how many servings this recipes serves. I like to have plenty of leftovers for the next day. Maybe double the recipe.
It’s Mike Assish
I seasoned my chicken with taco season and sauteed it. I get my skillet rather warm on med high, coat it with butter and brown the outside of the chicken. Just a minute or two on each side. I then reduced heat to low and cover with a lid. I then let the chicken just barely simmer until it starts to fall apart to touch. The chicken is amazingly juicy and tender. I also used rotel tomatoes because there isn’t much of a selection of green chillies here. My chicken mixture ended up being slightly juicier than I wanted to put on the chips so I added a 1/2 to 1 cup of rice into my chicken, cream cheese, and salsa mixture which made for a nice taste and texture for the casserole. I would assume that if one added too much rice the dish would become too dry so be careful. Tasty and easy dish to fix.
I am going to try this recipe using cooked ground turkey. What do you think?
Can this be made ahead and frozen? Maybe too soggy?
I haven’t tried that, but I think the chips would get a little too soggy.
I’m assuming that the chicken in the Mexican chicken casserole is cooked prior to baking. Is that correct?
Yes, it is.
I made this with rotisserie chicken…and added pico de gellio. It is fabulous! Definitely going to be making it again!
Made this a couple of nights ago. It was yummy, but next time I think I’ll use hot salsa for a little more flavor, and add corn as well. Jalapeños on top was a nice addition.
I. Made this tonight, it was delicious, only I used rotell tomatoes because it already has green Chile and tomatoes.Everyone loved it,thanks!!!
Would it come out ok with out the beans?
I’m sure leaving the beans out wouldn’t make too much of a difference. 🙂