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This Mexican casserole is an easy weekday dinner idea that is full of Spanish rice, chicken, and melty cheese. It’s flavorful and everyone will love it!

If you love Mexican food, you’ll love this casserole! It has all the flavors of Spanish rice, chicken,  salsa, and taco seasoning all combined into one cheesy and delicious dish!

Mexican casserole topped with cilantro in a baking dish


for Mexican Food Lovers

Do you love Mexican food? Do you love rice, chicken, and cheese? Then this casserole recipe is for you! This is a super easy recipe you can whip up during the week when you forgot to think about what to make for dinner.

Use any leftover Mexican or Spanish rice you have, or you can use a box mix of rice too. Throw everything into a casserole dish, bake in the oven, and dinner is served.

This is a GREAT dinner idea to bring to a friend or family member who is in need of a meal. It’s easy to transfer from your house to someone else’s. Bring along a fresh fruit salad and you’ve got the perfect dinner.

We also make this Mexican chicken and rice casserole when we have company coming over. It’s easy to put together and throw into the oven. So many reasons to make this Mexican casserole!

Spanish rice in a casserole dish for Mexican casserole

How to Make Mexican Casserole

  1. INGREDIENTS. You’ll need 1 1/2 cups of Mexican rice and 4 cooked chicken breasts that are cut into cubes. Add the cubed chicken to a large saucepan with vegetable oil and cook with taco seasoning and minced garlic. While the chicken is cooking, combine the cream of chicken soup, green chiles and salsa.
  2. ASSEMBLE. Layer 1/2 the rice, 1/2 the chicken and 1/2 the soup and salsa mixture in a greased 9×13 baking dish. Add 2 cups of the cheese on top. Repeat layers once more ending with the cheese.
  3. BAKE. Bake for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Take the casserole out of the oven and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. That’s it!

Easiest dinner ever, right?

Mexican Casserole Topping Ideas

No Mexican dish is complete without the classic toppings, right? Add any of the following to individual servings of your casserole:

Spanish rice and chicken layers for mexican chicken casserole

perfect for freezing!

Making Ahead. This Mexican casserole is great for making ahead of time. Just prepare everything in the casserole dish up until cooking. Instead of cooking it in the oven, keep it covered in the fridge until you’re ready to make it.

It will last about 3-4 days in the fridge. Or you could put it in a freezer-safe container and freeze it for 3-4 months until ready to bake. Perfect for meal prepping, taking to friends in need and more.

Leftovers. Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge- which should last for 3-4 days. Leftovers of this casserole make a great lunch for the next day- yummy!! Just heat it up in the microwave when you’re ready to eat it.

Easy Mexican casserole in a baking dish

great sides with this casserole:

For more mexican-style casseroles, try:

5 from 30 votes

Mexican Casserole

By: Lil’ Luna
Cheesy Mexican casserole is flavorful and filling, packed with layers of chicken, Spanish rice, and a creamy sauce!
Servings: 12
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 40 minutes
Total: 1 hour

Ingredients 

  • 2 cups Mexican Rice
  • 4 chicken breasts, cubed
  • 1 package taco seasoning
  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 4 cups Mexican cheese
  • 1 (10-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 can green chiles
  • cups salsa
  • cilantro

Instructions 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F and grease 9×13 dish.
  • Add cubed chicken to a large saucepan with vegetable oil and cook with taco seasoning and minced garlic.
  • Combine cream of chicken soup, green chiles, and salsa. 
  • Layer ½ the rice, ½ the chicken, and ½ the soup and salsa mixture in your baking dish. Add 2 cups of cheese on top. Repeat layers once more ending with the cheese. 
  • Bake for 40 minutes and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Notes

Making ahead of time. Prepare the casserole but do not bake. Keep it covered in the refrigerator for 1-2 days.
Freezer meal. Assemble it in a freezer-safe container, do not bake. Allow it to cool a bit before wrapping it tightly with plastic and again with aluminum foil. Label and freeze it for 3-4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before baking.
STORE. Keep any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days. Heat it up in the microwave when you’re ready to eat it.

Nutrition

Calories: 276kcal, Carbohydrates: 14g, Protein: 26g, Fat: 13g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 4g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 84mg, Sodium: 847mg, Potassium: 406mg, Fiber: 2g, Sugar: 3g, Vitamin A: 698IU, Vitamin C: 6mg, Calcium: 263mg, Iron: 1mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Additional Info

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Making this recipe? Tag us!
Share it with us on Instagram using the hashtag #lilluna, so we can see what you’re creating in the kitchen!


About Kristyn

My name is Kristyn and I’m the mom of SIX stinkin’ cute kids and the wife to my smokin’ hot hubby, Lo. My mom’s maiden name is Luna, and I’m one of the many crafty “Lil’ Lunas” in the fam. On this site I like to share all things creative - from recipes to home decor to gifts and home decor ideas. Welcome!

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Recipe Rating




28 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    We LOVE this casserole. It is SO good. IF there are any leftovers they are almost better the second day. And I LOVE cilantro.

  2. So I’m stupid here but are you talking about already cooked rice or just pour it in out of the package? You make no mention of cooked rice or uncooked.

    I would like to try this recipe but the rice issue has me confused.
    Thank you.

    1. You’ll want to use cooked rice. I like to use leftover Mexican rice from when I have made it or you can just use a box/bag mix from the store. Cook it fully, then begin this recipe. 🙂 Hope that clears up any confusion and that you enjoy the recipe!

  3. 5 stars
    We LOVE Mexican food around here. This quick fix meal was quite delicious! I used a prepared box of Zatarain’s Spanish rice mix in this recipe (it’s my fav!) and it came out great! If you need something that doesn’t require a lot of work and is delicious, then this is it! Thank you for this recipe!

  4. 5 stars
    It was good. I didn’t bother with layering it, I just mixed everything together and topped it with cheese. Delicious! Also, it didn’t need the full 40 minutes, everything already cooked so just did 20 minutes.

  5. Is the rice measurement before cooking it or after cooking it? I assume you cook it before assembling the casserole? Thanks!

  6. 5 stars
    Well, by the end of making this I don’t know if I truly “followed” the recipe, but it was delicious whatever it was. Haha. Very flavorful, creamy, satisfying.
    Here are the changes I made: I added cooked yellow and green pepper (chopped) to add some veggies; I used about 4 cups of leftover chicken instead of cooking it with garlic and taco seasoning; I accidentally used all of both cans of the cream of chicken soup, so to compensate I cut the cheese down to 3 cups; I used a combination of pepper jack, cheddar, and colby jack cheeses; and I didn’t bother with the cilantro since there was so little involved.
    Anyway, it was fantastic. The flavors were a bit much for my two year old, so I added some leftover white rice to his to make it a little more bland, and he gobbled it up.

  7. In your recipe you ask for Mexican rice. Is this a particular kind of rice as in short , long grain, or Jasmine rice?