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I have made this over and over! It’s a staple in our family and a great meal to bring to meal train recipients.
Heidi
Hi there Wednesday!
Can I interest you in a mid-week pick me up of Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole involving a pan piled high with blistered peppers, salsa-ified quinoa, black beans, spicy chicken, and Pepperjack cheese? Suhhhweeeeet, that’s what I thought.
Bjork and I have a major interest in this casserole these days because it allows us the freedom to cook once and eat five hundred times. Er, back up for a second – “us” in reference to cooking might be a tiny bit of a stretch, kind of like “us” in reference to mowing the lawn or taking out the recycling. But basically what I’m saying is this Mexican Quinoa Chicken Casserole fills our dinner plates with colorful veggies, lots of protein, and stringy, melty cheese — and then, best of all, it fills our fridge with delicious leftovers that might taste even better the next day.
More importantly, it gives Bjork something really quick, easy, and healthy to grab on his way out the door to the office when he conveniently notices my subtle neon blue note taped just above the door handle, with an ALL CAPS MESSAGE: WAIT! DO YOU HAVE A LUNCH?
You guys, the fact that a person even has to be reminded to think about food is just beyond my realm of understanding.
Like, what is that kind of life even like?
How To Make Our Quinoa Casserole:
This recipe was actually going to be something else altogether. It was going to be a throwback to this Southwestern Quinoa Casserole that I made when we lived in the Philippines, which, obviously, is the perfect time to make a Southwestern Quinoa Casserole. Right? SMH.
(PS. Is that the right way to use SMH? I’ll come clean and say that I’ve never actually used it before this moment. Just trying to stay hip on this here bloggg.)
No, but seriously. I’ve had this idea that I’m going to go back through some old posts this summer and re-do the pictures and update the recipes and such, but I always have the same problem with all of the recipes – I start working on it, and I love it so much, and yet I absolutely can’t hold myself back from changing the recipe in some way, shape, or form. Adding this, taking out that, and topping everything with more cheese. I’ve obviously changed for the better over the years.
Take, for example, this Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole. I make it with the intent of re-photographing it for the original Southwestern Quinoa Casserole, but I also added chicken, changed how I prepared the peppers, and baked it all in a different sauce.
AHH! Self! Stop it.
The Curse of The Food Blogger is upon me – I honestly can’t just leave a recipe be, even when it’s my own recipe. It’s a very sad curse to live with.
Except that then I get to eat this for days, which isn’t sad at all.
I made this a few times, and this picture (scroll down) of me digging my chips into the bowl of casserole was from a previous test run with the casserole that included more liquid for the sauce and more cheese for the sauce. Both of which I find are almost always a good thing, but in the case of this Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole, my rogue recipe tweaks needed some adjusting.
The true, final version as it’s written in the recipe here doesn’t have that much liquid for the sauce OR that much cheese in it. It was just too runny for me.
But I mention this because if you’re look at that picture of what is essentially a cheesy quinoa chicken dip (again, scroll down) which is too runny for a casserole but highly delicious and a great excuse to bring chips into your life, and you simply MUST HAVE IT that way, might I suggest that you just make the recipe as written but add a little extra water or broth to the sauce? Keep an eye on it as it’s baking and add more or adjust as needed.
Confession: I might actually love when casseroles just become full 9×13 pans of cheesy chicken dip to feed my chip obsession.
But I also love when casseroles are just casseroles, sticky and cheesy and packed with lots of YUMMY THINGS, meant to be passed around the table and enjoyed at least 48 more times as leftovers. I especially love when they are loaded with color, flavor, and nutritious ingredients like dis one.
GET IT!
Easy Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
Easy Mexican Chicken Quinoa Casserole! Piled high with blistered peppers, salsa-ified quinoa, black beans, spicy chicken, and Pepperjack cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
- 1 14 ounce can cooked black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 1/2 cups salsa
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (plus 1/2 cup more if needed)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1–2 cloves minced garlic (optional)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheese, divided
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 jalapeno, minced
- 1 onion, sliced
- 4 bell peppers, sliced
- 1 1/4 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
- 1 tablespoon taco seasoning (I just use a mix of chili powder, onion powder, cumin, salt)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375. Mix the quinoa, black beans, salsa, chicken broth, salt, garlic, and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese in a large bowl. Transfer to a well-greased casserole dish (something close to 9×13). Bake for 30 minutes.
- While the quinoa is baking, heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the jalapeño, onion, and peppers. Sauté until golden brown and tender-crisp, like you would for fajitas. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Toss the raw chicken with the taco seasoning. When the quinoa is done with the first 30 minutes of baking, stir it up really well and add the raw chicken. Stir the chicken into the mixture to get the chicken mostly covered by the mixture, and return to the oven for another 30 minutes of baking. If you notice there are a few uncooked quinoa pieces on top, just give it a stir and bake it a little longer (a few readers also commented that it helped them to add a little extra broth at this point). It’s usually fully cooked on the bottom but those top pieces sometimes need a little extra love.
- When the quinoa is done, top with the peppers and remaining cheese – bake another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted to your liking.
Equipment
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Buy Now → - Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 10 mins
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: mexican casserole, chicken casserole, chicken and quinoa, easy casserole
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our best healthy chicken recipes page. Check it out!
I’d like to adjust this recipe in two ways and could use your advice:
1) I need a vegetarian version. Obviously, omit the chicken. But aside from that, I’m assuming I should use veggie stock rather than chicken stock. Should I still incorporate the taco seasoning at some point?
2) I’d like to do incorporate cooked ground chicken rather than raw chicken cubes. Should I add that at a later time?
Thanks very much. Looks yummy!
My husband loved this recipe. It’s very versatile, as I added a can of corn. We used the leftovers to put into wraps.
This is a delicious recipe. My whole family loved it. Even my brothers who normally won’t eat quinoa, liked it! He even had some for leftovers the next day. You could have blown me over with a feather!
Definitely will make again! Thank you for the recipe!
This was delicious. The only change I made was to add some more liquid when I added the raw chicken because it looked dry. I added 1/2 cup chicken broth and 1/2 c more salsa.
Then I served it with taco sauce. We will make it again.
To make it vegetarian- just omit the chicken? any adjustments?
I’m wondering if I will have any liquid issues – I don’t want it being soggy or dried out.
THANKS
This is delicious! I poached the chicken in broth and shredded it while the quinoa mixture baked. My family prefers shredded to cubed chicken.
I enjoyed mine atop a bed of romaine. My son loaded his up with chips, sour cream, and a flour tortilla; he had seconds.
Excellent recipe! Thank you.
If you were omitting chicken, maybe adding another can of beans, would you cook this for an hour still? I’m thinking I would still add the taco seasoning though
I think you could potentially reduce the time to 30 minutes! I’d check it at that point and see if it’s cooked and add more time as needed.
This was great! Hearty, flavorful, and just all around tasty! Will certainly make this again!
could you make this in 2 smaller pans that serve 4 each? if so, how would that affect the cook time? Would it be less? thx.
Hi, Lily! We haven’t tested that out before, but we’d guess it would work. We just are unsure of the cook time. We’d check things at 20 minutes and go from there.
Hi there! Can this be frozen? If so, at what stage and how would you recommend reheating it?
Thank you!
We haven’t tested this out in the freezer yet so we can’t give exact freezing instructions, but we think it should work. Let us know how this goes for you, Jaclyn!
This is excellent. I had to leave out the cheese due to a cheese allergy and it was still fantastic. Thanks.
What are the taco seasonings
You could use taco seasoning from a packet or we just use a mix of chili powder, onion powder, cumin, and salt.
PEOPLE!!! I’ve been loving this recipe for years! A big THANK YOU! I usually make a few at a time to freeze; however, I haven’t figured out the best way to reheat in the oven so I always microwave (which I’d prefer not to do). Or is there a way for me to pre-prep this way in advance? I was wondering if I could bake and stop before adding the chicken, then freeze, defrost when needed and then complete the rest of the recipe? (Trying to avoid RE freezing the chicken for taste.) Would love tips & ideas! THANKS!
The video included in this blog fails to include the step where the raw chicken is added to the Quinoa salsa mixture and baked before the step where the peppers are sautéed and added on top!
This was delicious and easy to make! I have a feeling this will go into regular rotation for us!
😊
It’s quarantine season. I’ve learned I need something pre-made for lunch or lunch ain’t happening while working from home. My goal with this was to make something that would taste decent and be dinner once and lunch for the rest of the week. I had moderate expectations. But holy $%*@ this was amazing. I will be saving this with my favorite recipes. So flavorful and it’s got great textures. It is fine with no toppings. We had it with Greek yoghurt and it was transcendent. I never leave comments. But dang. This was so amazing. Definitely a silver lining of This Quarantine. Thanks for sharing!
So glad you enjoyed this, Tenaya!
delicious! I have been following your blog since the beginning and every recipe I have tried (and I have tried many) are amazing!
So happy you enjoyed this! 😊
Is there a good way to freeze this?
We haven’t tried freezing this before, but it’s worth a shot! Let us know how this goes for you. 😊
Love this recipe!
Thanks for the recipe
Can this be frozen
We haven’t tested this out in the freezer yet, but we think it should work. Let us know how this goes for you, Patti!
Can this recipe be frozen?
We haven’t frozen it before, but think it should hold up just fine!
LOVE THIS RECIPE!!!! It’s been my go-to for any meal train and I always get compliments. I go ahead and give the recipe along with the meal (so they can see the ingredient and) so they have it… because they’ll want it. Just made four tonight… one for myself, of course. I think it’s even better day 2! We like mixing it up by eating in a tortilla and adding avocado so it’s a new meal. Question, if you make and freeze, what’s the best way to reheat it without over cooking? Thanks!
I have made this over and over! It’s a staple in our family and a great meal to bring to meal train recipients.
Could I use already cooked quinoa and would I just omit the chicken broth? I have a Tupperware of cooked quinoa in the refrigerator that I prepped for another casserole but this one looks better!