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Mix and Bake Chicken Taco Casserole. Our new weeknight staple! Chicken seasoned with taco spices, baked, and shredded. Then everything goes right into the pan — dry rice, onions, peppers, corn, a can of tomatoes, and beans. Cheese on top and bake until bubbling. No need to cook the rice separately. Just mix, bake, eat, and finish with all your favorite taco toppings. It’s so simple and so delicious.
I always get excited to share these mix-and-bake recipes. They’re perfect for nights when you just want to toss everything together, bake, and forget about it until dinner. Zero fuss, maximum comfort.
When I had the idea for a taco casserole, I knew my family would love it, we all love tacos! And after making this a few times now, we’ve all agreed it’s best with shredded chicken and rice. So flavorful, so cozy.
Even my brother Kai got in on it. He made this the other night for game night and said it was the perfect dish. He swapped the beans for extra bell peppers and topped it with spicy cheddar and pepper jack – he loved it. Kai is a casserole guy through and through (chicken noodle is still his favorite #1)!
The Quick Details
Ingredients
- boneless chicken tenders or strips
- taco seasoning
- olive oil
- salted butter
- dry rice
- a yellow onion
- poblano peppers
- fresh or frozen corn – I use fresh summer corn when available
- Rotel tomatoes
- black beans
- mixed Mexican cheeses – I love a cheddar, colby jack, and pepper jack blend
Ingredients – for topping
- plain Greek yogurt – sour cream is good too
- shredded lettuce
- bcilantro and green onions
- cubed or sliced avocado
- lime zest and lime juice
- tortilla strips
Special Tools
You’ll need a large oven-safe casserole dish with a lid. No lid? Foil works too!
Steps
Step 1: Season and cook the chicken
In a casserole dish, toss the chicken with taco seasoning, olive oil, and butter. Bake until the chicken is fully cooked through.
Shred the chicken right in the dish using two forks. It should pull apart easily — shred into bigger or smaller pieces depending on what you like best.
Step 2: Add everything else
Stir in the dry rice, onions, peppers, corn, tomatoes, and beans — everything except the cheese. Pour over water to help the rice cook as the casserole bakes.
Step 3: Add cheese and bake
Sprinkle cheese over the top, then cover and bake for 20–25 minutes, until the rice is tender. Uncover and bake a few more minutes until the cheese is bubbling and just turning golden. The rice will finish cooking and the edges will get a little crispy — so delish!
Top it and serve
Finish with shredded lettuce, fresh cilantro, a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream, sliced avocado, lime zest and juice, and green onions. Add a pinch of flaked sea salt for extra flavor.
Serve with tortilla strips or chips for crunch. Yum!
Looking for other easy chicken and rice dinners? Here are my favorites:
One Pan Lemon Pepper Yogurt Chicken and Rice
One Skillet Louisiana Style Chicken and Rice
Broccoli Cheddar Chicken and Rice Casserole
Cheesy Zucchini Chicken and Rice Bake
Slow Cooker Herbed Chicken and Rice Pilaf
Spicy Sesame Chicken and Ginger Rice
One Pan Chipotle Honey Chicken and Rice
Lastly, if you make this Mix and Bake Chicken Taco Casserole, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Mix and Bake Chicken Taco Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken tenders/strips
- 1/4 cup taco seasoning
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- 1 cups dry rice
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 poblano peppers, chopped
- 1 cup fresh or frozen corn
- 1 can (10 ounce) Rotel tomatoes
- 1 cup black beans
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.2. In a 9x13 inch baking dish, toss the chicken with taco seasoning, olive oil, and butter. Bake 15 minutes, until fully cooked. Reduce the oven to 400°F.3. Shred the chicken in the casserole dish using 2 forks. 4. Add the rice, onions, peppers, corn, tomatoes, and black beans. Pour over 1 1/2 cups of water. Mix it up. Top with cheese. Cover and bake 25 minutes. Remove the lid and bake another 10 minutes. If the rice is hard, add 1/3 cup more water and cook for an additional 10 minutes.5. Serve the casserole topped as desired. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Did you make this recipe? Please rate & comment below.
Due to the other comments, I decided to use chicken broth instead of water and I added a little extra- made it super flavorful! This recipe was super easy and delicious for a weeknight dinner!
Hey Audrey,
Happy Friday!! Thrilled to hear this recipe turned out well for you, thanks so much for making it and taking the time to comment!
Yum!!! Reduced it by half for the two of us. Delicious recipe.
Hey Col,
Fantastic! Love to hear this dish turned out nicely for you, thanks for trying it!
This is not good. It’s dry, lacking of flavor, and seems put together just to take a picture. Truly, your recipes are so much better than this. This rushed and tastes cheap.
Hi Kristen,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear it was not enjoyed!
I love your recipes but you need some quality control. What type of rice? Do you rinse the beans? We love you but your directions are lacking on this one. It’s also lacking flavor. Y’all- add more spices.
Hi Emily,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback. Sorry for any confusion! I used white rice for this recipe and I did drain the beans.
Please let me know if I can help in any other way!
I found this to be bland. It took much longer for the rice to cook also. I do think it is a good idea but needs some tweaks.
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for trying this recipe and sharing your feedback, sorry to hear it was not enjoyed!
The rice was crunchy in mine too. Weird I made this two times and both times the rice turned out crispy and crunchy. Won’t make again
Hi Alexa,
I appreciate you trying this recipe and your feedback, so very sorry to hear it did not turn out for you!
I had high hopes for this – I love taco seasoning. I usually look at reviews before I make a HBH recipe, but did not look at them for this recipe. It lacked flavor, was soupy, and the rice was not cooked. I’m not sure it needs the rice and water. I may try my own variation next time.
Hi Cindy,
Thanks for trying this dish and your comment, I’m so sorry to hear it did not turn out for you. Next time, you could cook the rice first to see if that helps.
I usually love the recipes on this website but there is definitely something off with the rice. The rice maybe shouldn’t be mixed until after it has cooked? The top layer is crunchy – even with it being covered and adding additional water.
Hi Courtney,
Very sorry to hear the rice did not turn out for you! What kind of rice did you use? Again, my apologies it didn’t turn out!
I just made this tonight and it was absolutely gorgeous. I did make few tweaks after reading the comments – I parboiled the rice, I used the juice from the chicken on the rice to add more flavour, I added more seasoning and few sauces to add depth.
Hi Safa,
Fantastic! I’m so glad to hear this recipe turned out well for you!
Thanks for giving it a try and your comment! Have a great week ahead!
I really loved this recipe! It does take a decent amount of assembly to get all the ingredients together but I love a recipe that allows me to clean up my prep materials while it cooks. I enjoyed the flavor too.
I read many comments about people having trouble with the rice. I am not a professional cook, but I wonder if it might have to do with the cooking vessel they used. I initially planned to use a glass casserole dish but after reading those comments, I decided on an enamel cast iron pan instead. It was 3.6 quarts and it fit everything perfectly. I didn’t need to add any extra water or cooking time, so I wonder if others were using a vessel that didn’t conduct heat as well. Just a guess. The only modifications I made were to the amount of chicken and the ratio of beans to corn. Very tasty! Thanks Tieghan for another great dish that I don’t need to plan sides for. ❤️
Thanks so much for your kind message, Brittany! I appreciate you trying this dish and sharing your notes! I’m glad it was enjoyed:)
It seems like it would be better if the rice was not mixed and left in the bottom of the dish to bake. The rice towards the top was crispy and the rice at the bottom was not. Still quite a bit of water remained in the bottom of the dish. It also lacked flavor. Seasoning definitely needed to be added to more than just the chicken. Sorry I had high hopes!
Hi Erica,
So sorry to hear you did not enjoyed this dish, thanks for trying it and sharing your feedback!
typo: undercooked rice
I’ve tried a couple of your recipes, and I have found they arent always really clear in ingredients prep or steps. This was a huge fail. I trusted the process, but the rice was way overcooked– and there was so much liquid. In addition to the extra ten minutes suggested for hard rice (not the extra water), I baked the dish covered for another 20 min. I cooled and stored in the fridge overnight, and all of the liquid seems to have finally absorbed.
Perhaps were intended to add boiling water to the casserole to start cooking the rice immediately– maybe instant rice — or maybe this is not brown rice-friendly, not sure. Also, not sure why we should add cheese so soon, when it is questionable when the rice will be done.
Thanks for sharing your feedback, Sara. Sorry to hear this recipe was not enjoyed. I did not test this with brown rice, just white rice. If there is anything that I can help with, please let me know!
The additional cooking time (and maybe the overnight in the fridge) saved this– it is tasty.
Loved the simplicity of this one! However, think the end product lacked a bit of flavor. Will probably add more seasoning / maybe more vegetables (tomatoes or peppers and even more onion) next time. The rice to meat/bean/veg ratio wasn’t perfect (felt like too much rice). That said it cooked up so easily, will definitely make again with some changes!
Hi Ella,
Thanks so much for trying this dish and sharing your feedback! So glad to hear you will make it again! Happy fall Friday!
I cooked this for 30 minutes and the jasmine rice was still hard, I even soaked the rice in hot water for 30 mins before I dumped it into the larger cass dish. I think you need to parboil the rice before for this to fully cook.
Hi Jess,
Thanks for trying this dish and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear the rice didn’t turn out for you!