Chicken Enchilada Rice Casserole – all the makings of a chicken enchilada but with rice. It’s simply delicious!
By now I’m sure you’ve figured out that I love my Chicken Enchiladas. It is in fact my favorite Mexican food and it usually is my dish of choice whenever I make it to a Mexican restaurant, which lately is not often.
While you can already find many different chicken enchilada recipes here on my blog, in no way does it deter me from coming up with new recipes for chicken enchiladas.
CHICKEN ENCHILADA RICE CASSEROLE
However sometimes my imagination lacks … well, imagination. I mean how many different ways can you roll up a chicken enchilada? But you know the saying I had a dream? I really did have a dream. About chicken enchiladas nonetheless! But not wrapped in a tortilla, but a rice casserole type of dish, with all the ooey gooey flavors of the enchilada.
So the next day after my big dream, off to the kitchen I went and started my enchilada adventure.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN ENCHILADA RICE CASSEROLE
I prefer to use Basmati rice, I simply love the flavor of it, so I decided to cook 2 cups of rice. Normally I only cook 1 cup of rice, so I don’t think I was expecting 2 cups of dry rice to give me so much cooked rice. But it’s all good, this is a good recipe, one that I don’t mind taking for lunch every single day of the week.
Of course you cannot have chicken enchiladas without the actual chicken. I used 3 chicken breasts, but feel to free to use any part of the chicken you prefer, and shred it.
After you took out your frustrations on that chicken and shredded it, smother it in some enchilada sauce. Now I buy my sauce, but if you prefer to make your own, feel free.
Because most chicken enchiladas will have refried beans, I was really on the fence about this ingredient. I just really didn’t know if it was going to make the rice all mushy and gross, but I also really wanted the flavor of some refried beans. So I went with it, I mixed in some refried beans and I did not look back.
Of course one also needs lots of cheese with an enchilada, otherwise it’s no enchilada! I decided to use a white cheddar and Monterey Jack cheese. I used a cup of each which I mixed together, then threw in a cup in the rice mixture and left a cup for the top of the casserole.
As you can see I also topped the casserole with some corn kernels, cause they’re so purrty, and I love corn!
HOW TO BAKE CHICKEN ENCHILADA RICE CASSEROLE
Bake the casserole for 30 minutes at 350 F degrees. After you bake this baby, I dare you to wait until it cools off a bit before you dig in.
It smells good, it’s got all the flavors of a chicken enchilada and it’s a gorgeous casserole. Not to mention I just made enough to feed the entire neighbourhood (yes I’m Canadian and that’s how we spell neighbourhood).
Now all you need for this yummy meal is a good cold pitcher of a Sangria!
Check out the video for these awesome Green Chile Chicken Enchilada Casserole from my book:
LOOKING FOR MORE MEXICAN INSPIRED RECIPES? TRY THESE:
- Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Soup?
- Quick and Easy Green Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- Mexican Rice and Beef Casserole
- One Pot Chicken and Sausage Rice Enchilada
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- White chicken enchiladas
- Chicken Enchilada Quinoa Bake
Chicken Enchilada Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups Basmati rice uncooked
- 1 cup white cheddar shredded
- 1 cup Monterey Jack cheese shredded
- 3 chicken breasts cooked and shredded
- 20 oz Enchilada sauce I used Old El Paso
- 16 oz refried beans I used Old El Paso
- 11 oz corn kernel drained (1 can)
- cilantro for garnish
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper freshly ground
Instructions
- Cook the rice. I cooked it with 4 cups of water and 1/4 cup of butter.
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.
- Mix the 2 cheeses together.
- In a large bowl mix the shredded chicken with the enchilada sauce, refried beans and half of the cheese. Add rice, season with salt and pepper if needed, and mix well. Pour rice mixture into a large casserole dish. Top with corn then with remainder of cheese.
- Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes or until cheese melts and is bubbly.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
I’m think about making this with green sauce not red how do you think it would turn out? Or should I stick to red?
I think it’ll be just as delicious!
I followed the recipe exactly and then added half the leftovers to some tomato soup, very good!
It looks like a lot of nice Chicken recipes – but what about other meats? Hamburg, steak, etc.
Got them all, just use the search bar to search for whatever you’re looking for.
This has become one of my staples. I love it! I tend to use a BBQ chicken rather than chicken breasts (although that would increase the fat content) . Very quick and easy!
Everything looks amazing! I love Mexican food too…i put my own spin on everything but I’m making the Chicken and rice enchilada casserole tonight. Can’t wait!!
What size of casserole dish did you use for the version with 2 cups of rice?
A deep 9×13 casserole dish should be more than enough for this.
Hi, have you tried making this in a InstaPot?
Just curious about timing and if i should precook the chicken first before adding to the InstaPot.
Thanks!
I have not. You could probably do it, and cook the chicken in the instant pot with the rice, then just shred the chicken and add it back. Would love to hear how it turns out if you try it.
I’m just learning to cook and am adding easy simple recipes I find to my list at home to make, is this something you eat by itself, or should you make any side dishes to help fill up the family?
This recipe is great on its own, but you can always add some vegetables on the side. Perhaps some beans, brussels sprouts, or broccoli.
After a solid month of making dinners that either missed the mark completely or were just kinda meh, I made this tonight and, with the addition of green chilies, I was absolutely blown away!!! It is absolutely delicious and my faith in my kitchen self has been restored!!! Thanks Jo!
Delicious ! I have made this recipe for my friends they loved.Definitely a keeper. Thanks for sharing the recipes.
My pleasure!
I used Knorr Spanish Rice for this instead and it came out amazing!
Love your recipes. Looking also for your Cinnabon roll recipe.
Thank you.
You can find it here: https://www.jocooks.com/recipes/cinnabons-cinnamon-rolls/
My boyfriend and I made this, we loved it. We be making it again for sure.
The recipe looks good and I plan to try it. However, for the record, I grew up about 20 miles from the mexican border in Arizona, and I have never seen anyone put refried beans inside of an enchilada. Served on the side yes, but never inside. Perhaps it is a canadian thing?
I was startled by beans inside enchiladas as well. Perhaps for us, it would be chicken burrito casserole.
Does it freeze well?
Yes, absolutely, just transfer it to an airtight container.
Could I prep this at nap time and refrigerate until dinner?
Thanks!
Absolutely!
Fantastic! Used a rotisserie chicken. My family loved it!
What size of pan would you recommend? I have to make this for dinner tonight!!
A 9×13 inch casserole dish would be great!
If anyone is wondering…. YES! This is amazing with cauliflower rice too!! We have made this many times before, but as we’re trying to eat more veggies, I made the swap. Awesome as always!
That’s a great idea! Thanks!
My family loved this recipe! It was SO good. We topped it with guacamole, sour cream and salsa. Yum!