'Chicken and cheese' is an often unbeatable combination, especially when paired with some of the most flavorful and punchy vegetables possible. One of the most difficult aspects of preparing an incredible one-dish casserole is managing to get a maximum amount of flavor out of a minimal amount of ingredients. While we all aim to stay within our respective dinner budgets, balancing our wallets with our expectations can often prove a trying task. That is, until a recipe comes along as wonderful as this one-dish queso chicken bake from
The Pinning Mama.
The Pinning Mama attributes the inspiration for this recipe to her profound love of all things nacho-related! As a self-professed nacho connoisseur, it's no wonder that this stunning dinner offers up all the wonderful notes of crave-quenching nachos, while still managing to satisfy our dinner needs. It's absolutely amazing how a mere 5 ingredients can pack such a mean punch, but with the simple combination of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, canned corn, canned black beans, velveeta cheese and
Ro*Tel — this dish does not disappoint!
You can easily substitute the Ro*Tel for a can of chopped tomatoes and 1/2 of a chopped green habenero pepper or a jar of your favorite salsa. If you can't find velveeta, we recommend trying your hand at this wonderful recipe for homemade velveeta from
Momables. If you're craving a slightly lighter texture, you can even opt to use cream cheese instead, as shown in this delicious recipe from
Key Ingredient.
Begin by preheating the oven to 375°F (or 190°C) before taking your chicken breasts and placing them in the bottom of the casserole dish. You can season them with salt and pepper to taste. A similar recipe for southwest chicken from
All Recipes calls for a pinch of cumin for an added punch of flavor, which would also work wonderfully in this recipe when seasoning the chicken. If you're using Velveeta cheese, dice this into cubes and reserve to one side.
You can then assemble your casserole by pouring the black beans, the corn and the Ro*Tel (or salsa) over the chicken breasts. If you're using Velveeta, place the cubes over the top of the dish, trying to make them as spread out as possible. If you're using either the homemade Velveeta sauce from
Momables, or the cream cheese as suggested by
Key Ingredient, use the back of a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to spread this evenly over the top.
Once everything is placed into the casserole dish, cover it with tin foil and place into the preheated oven for 45 - 55 minutes. This is a perfect dish to serve simply over fluffy white rice, but you can also get creative by slicing up the chicken and serving it in crunchy taco shells topped off with the delicious queso sauce. For an added crunch, don't shy away from sprinkling some freshly chopped scallions (spring onions) over the top of the casserole once cooked. If you're seeking out some fresh toppings for this flavorful feast, freshly diced avocado, picked cilantro (coriander) leaves, or thinly sliced red onions work perfectly.
