Easy, effortless midweek meal! Rice with shredded chicken cooked in a homemade enchilada sauce (or use store-bought!), topped with cheese. All made in one pot!
All you need is chicken, rice, tomato passata (or canned tomato) and a handful of pantry essentials to make this incredible flavour loaded, comfort-food-central meal. Oh wait – cheese. Of course you need cheese. This would not be “Enchilada” without cheese!
I’ve been overloading on Mexican over the last couple of weeks, sharing my Mexican Shredded Beef and Freezer Friendly Beef Burritos. I feel a bit silly sharing yet another Mexican(-esque) recipe today, but I hadn’t actually planned to! I had Cashew Chicken all ready to go, then I got the sweetest message from TWO readers in one day asking me to please share more one-pot recipes because they loved my One Pot Greek Chicken & Lemon Rice so much. 🙂 So I decided to shuffle my posting calendar a bit and share this today. I hope you don’t mind!
I love this kind of food for midweek. I call it Couch Food. The definition of Couch Food is “any meal that can be served in a bowl and eaten with a fork or spoon without taking your eyes off the TV”.
This qualifies. 100%. 🙂
There are quite a few spices required for this recipe because the sauce the rice is cooked in is essentially homemade Enchilada sauce. I’ve marked the ingredients that make up the Enchilada Sauce with an asterisk (*) so you could in fact substitute with a store bought Enchilada Sauce and it will become even easier to make!
My key tip for making this is to take it off the stove while it is still quite saucy because the rice will continue to absorb water while it is resting – and even while you are serving it. You want it pretty saucy – not sloppy, but not dry.
And please please please don’t overcook the rice so it is mushy! The liquid quantities I’ve provided will not yield mushy rice – I like mine tender but firm (it’s an Asian “thing”), but I know some people have a tendency to get stressed that the rice isn’t cooking and add more water. Which is totally fine, cook the rice to your taste but just don’t let it turn into baby food! 🙂
Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Back on Wednesday with something a bit different – but super easy, super tasty and totally irresistible! – Nagi x
PS Check out how bubbly and golden it looks…..ugh. Help me. I just want to dive in and grab a spoonful.
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One Pot Chicken Enchilada Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 400g (13oz) chicken breast, about 1/3"/1cm thick, sliced horizontally into thin steaks (Note 1)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 red bell pepper/capsicum, diced
- 680g (24oz) tomato passata or crushed canned tomatoes* (Note 2)
- 3 cups chicken broth or water (750ml)
- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn (250g)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper* (spicy - adjust to taste)
- 1 tbsp dried oregano*
- 2 tsp cumin*
- 1 1/2 tsp coriander*
- 2 tsp onion powder*
- 1 tbsp brown sugar*
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 cups (270g) white rice (short, medium or long grain , uncooked (Note 4)
- 1 - 1 1/2 cups grated cheese (about 125 - 150 g)
To Serve
- Chopped cilantro/coriander optional
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium high heat in large skillet.
- Add chicken and cook each side for 2 minutes or until cooked, then remove onto a plate.
- Add extra oil if the skillet is looking dry. Add onion and garlic, cook for 1 1/2 minutes until starting to soften.
- Add bell peppers and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients except rice and cheese. Bring to simmer, then add rice.
- Stir, cover with a lid and turn down heat to medium low. Cover and cook until rice is cooked but not mushy and most of the liquid is absorbed - about 15 to 18 minutes. (Note 3). Do not stir while it cooks.
- Meanwhile, shred or roughly chop chicken.
- When rice is cooked, quickly stir chicken through, sprinkle with cheese then pop under broil / grill until golden and bubbly.
- Serve, garnished with fresh cilantro/coriander if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition per serving, assuming 6 servings.
Very tasty, thanks Nagi!
Holly x
You’re so welcome Holly!! N x
Very tasty and so filling, no cheating with the sauce either, starting to feel like a master chef here 🙂 x
Very tasty! I Added a jalapeno pepper and black beans just because….delicious.
Another winner Nagi- LOVE the Mexican flavours, the ease to prepare and the CHEESE!
Will be making again, and again, and again……
Nagi as you know i make lots of your meals but for this one you have surpassed yourself – i have made this for the family 3 times in 2 weeks – my Daughter who is nearly 18 loves what i cook and just can not stop going on about this – in fact she made a statement that she is going to come and live with you and you can cook for her everyday 🙂
Can I just add cooked rice to the sautéed mixture and simmer it. Also, can I used quinoa or mix it with rice to make it low carb meal? Thanks
Thank you for this wholesome meal.
This recipe tastes realllly good. Thank for sharing it! I do want to note that you didn’t mention warming up the oven or transferring the food into an oven-proof skillet. So I ended up transferring the food to another skillet. Tho I admit its partly me since, by the time I have to cook, I’m exhausted. So I read the ingredients I need, I buy what I need and I just follow the recipe as it is, without reading through it first. I believe cooking for 5 is a sweet point – we get left overs for lunch and the ingredients are the perfect measurements LOL.
Have cooked this many times and the whole family love it! We each add our own personalised toppings, including avocado slices, sour cream and extra coriander leaves. Every time I cook it I think how delicious a beef burrito version would be. Something for the future maybe Nagi?
Yum! You’ll like this one if you want a beef version Emma! https://www.recipetineats.com/mexican-ground-beef-casserole-with-rice/ N x
Such an easy one pot recipe and delicious! Whole family loved it.
Delicious. Everyone in the family ate it. Not too spicy for picky eaters. It made a large pot. I garnished with sour cream, chopped avocados, salsa, and cilantro. I will totally make again.
YUM! Sounds like you nailed it Laura! N x
My wife and I love this recipe, thank you so much. For the past few years we’ve been making a big batch and freeze extra for 2-3 future dinners. For reheat we fry it up, bibimbap-esque – some delicious crispiness. Would highly recommend to others. Thanks again – a true staple for us!
Yuummmm 😍
I couldn’t decide if i wanted ghis or the stuffed capsicums…. so i smooshed the recipies together and created something great! Thank you for always publishing delicious recipes and giving me inspiration to cook dinner!!!
So so delicious
Also sorry for my terrible spelling. I was just so excited to tell you how tasty it was!!
😂 Love this!! N x
Made this today and it was really good…. one note for anyone else making it, its not one for a make ahead meal. For me i made it about midday to have in the evening. The rice was absolutely perfect and lovely and saucy at 12.. by the time we ate it, it had gone quite mushy, but the flavours were still fab. So i will definitely make again, but make it fresh! Thanks Nagi, your recipes are always spot on x
Hi Leonie, sorry it wasn’t great reheated. I definitely prefer saucy rice dishes fresh 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi! Would this work with tinned corn rather than frozen?
Yes! I did this tonight and added it when I stirred through the chicken prior to topping with cheese.
Hi, wondering if I can use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock/water? Or would it change the taste?
Thanks!
Hi Amina, yes you can – enjoy! N x
Thanks! It was really tasty!! Will def make it again
Tried this tonight and it was wonderful! Husband cannot eat corn, so substituted frozen peas and carrots. Delish! Wish I could post a picture!