Southwest Chicken and Rice Casserole
This Southwest style chicken and rice casserole combines the greatest tastes of your favorite Tex-Mex dishes into one simple dinner.
Tex-Mex Deliciousness
This simple chicken and rice casserole has all of the flavors of your favorite Tex-Mex dishes, and it’s created with real ingredients that don’t include canned soup! Top your plate with fresh zucchini, tomatoes, jalapeños, and chili peppers cooked with 100% Whole Grain Brown Rice, Mexican seasoned sour cream, and melted Monterey Jack cheese.
This dish is ideal for a cheesy weeknight casserole for the family when you don’t have the energy to cook a full meal. Now you can! Gather everything you need and let the oven do the work.
It can also be used as a dinner prep dish. Simply create a casserole tray on Sunday and divide it into different containers to take for lunches throughout the week or to store for dinner leftovers.
Switch Up the Ingredients
No brown rice? Swap 3 cups cooked of any other Blue Ribbon® variety.
No cooked chicken breasts? Replace with rotisserie chicken or turkey, cooked ground chicken, turkey, beef, or pork. Chopped leftover fajita meat works well as an alternative. Make it vegetarian by adding tofu, more vegetables, or your preferred meat substitute.
No zucchini? Swap in your favorite vegetable: eggplant, yellow squash, chayote, pumpkin…
No Monterey Jack cheese? Swap in Pepper Jack, Mexican cheese blend, Gouda, Havarti, Colby, cheddar, Panella, or Oaxaca cheese.
No chopped green chilies? Replace with red or green salsa, hatch chilies, or chopped poblano peppers.
No jalapeño peppers? Replace with canned jalapeños, serrano chiles, padron peppers, or hatch chilies.
No tomatoes? Use 2 cups canned tomatoes, roasted red peppers, or cooked sliced beets.
No sour cream? Swap in plain Greek yogurt, pureed cottage cheese, or ricotta. You can also make your own sour cream by mixing 1 cup heavy cream with 2 tablespoons vinegar.
No onion? Use one teaspoon of onion powder or shallots.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked Blue Ribbon® Brown Rice.
- 2 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed
- 2 medium zucchini, sliced
- ¾ cup Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
- 1 (4 oz) chopped green chillies, drained
- 1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and diced (optional)
- 2 medium tomatoes, sliced
- #Topping Ingredients#
- 1 cup sour cream
- ⅓ cup chopped onion
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- Pepper, to taste
- ¾ cup Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded
Steps
This has proven to be a perfect weeknight casserole! The dish features savory chicken and vegetables, whole grain Blue Ribbon® rice, fiery green chilies and jalapeños, a tangy sour cream blend, and melted Monterey Jack cheese. Jack is not only quick but wonderfully tasty..
Step 1–Grease a 3-quart casserole dish or 9x13x2 inch baking pan and spread the brown rice over the bottom.
Step 2–Top with remaining ingredients; layering in the order listed.
Step 3–Mix topping ingredients together except for the cheese. Spread them over the casserole and, lastly, sprinkle with cheese.
Step 4–Preheat the oven to 350º F and bake for 30 minutes.–
Top Tips
To make this dish vegetarian, eliminate the chicken and substitute cooked black beans where indicated in the recipe.
Looking for a more sustainable diet? Why not test different Blue Ribbon® rice varieties? Non-GMO Project Verified.
Want to include more greens in your life? Layer with spinach or sliced broccoli.
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