This may be too easy to be this good. Cheesy Southwest chicken casserole is crock pot easy and a great tasting everyday meal.

We all need easy meals. Just add a couple of cans, a little spice to uncooked pasta and chicken breasts. Shred the chicken and add some cheese late in the cooking. Your are rewarded for you laziness with cheesy tasty goodness.

I have almost stopped precooking anything other than ground meat that goes in a crock pot. Even ground meat would be ok in most situations but there is usually more moisture and fat released than you want. You also sometimes want a Maillard reaction to add flavor.

Rating

A nice solid 4.

Notes: Sometimes I think I’m back in a lab. I do read recipes, lots of recipes. But I prefer to make my own. This recipe started as a experimental beef recipe while my wife was out of town. The texture and the basic taste was right but spices were just way over. I didn’t give the RoTel enough respect. It does add taste but also some heat.

As written the heat is about 3-4 out of 10. Maybe a little too spicy for little ones.

Trim two skinless boneless chicken breast of any visible fat.

Add one 14 oz can tomato sauce, 14 oz can black beans rinsed, 10.5 oz can of RoTel, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1 cup dry pasta (uncooked) to a smaller crock pot. Here I use my 3.5 qt pot. Mix well.

Add 2 trimmed skinless boneless chicken breast. Push down into the liquid until covered.

Cook on low for 4 hours total. At 3 hours into the cooking, remove the chicken and shred.

Add chicken back along with 3/4 cup shredded cheese of your choice. Mix well then top with 1/4 cup of the cheese.

Cook for the final hour.

Last Updated
November 23 2014

Related