When I think of quick family favorites this cheesy chicken casserole tops the list! It's even better with a few candied jalapenos on the side! You'll also want to try the BEST chicken spaghetti you ever put in your mouth!
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❤️ Why you'll love it
Monterey chicken casserole is full of Tex-Mex goodness in every bite. Here's why you'll make this again and again.
- It's done in less than 30 minutes and it's the BEST way to use up tortilla chips that have gone a bit stale.
- You can make it ahead of time.
- Lots and lots of gooey cheese!
🧾 Ingredients
Add the following to your grocery list-
- Tortilla chips (stale is fine)
- Boneless chicken breasts or thighs
- Salt and pepper
- Cream-style whole kernel corn
- Chunky medium hot picante sauce (or your favorite)
- Pitted ripe olives
- Colby-jack cheese
- Onion
- Green pepper
- Fresh cilantro
🔪 Instructions
This is such an easy chicken recipe!
Note: This is an overview of the instructions. The full instructions are in the green recipe card below.
- Preheat the oven and oil a 13x9-inch baking pan.
- Cut the chicken and season with salt and pepper.
- Chop the onion and green pepper.
- Saute the meat in a hot pan with a little olive oil.
- Add the onion and green pepper after about 5 minutes.
- Saute until done.
- Layer the chips, chicken, vegetables, and cilantro in the baking dish.
- Add creamed corn, sprinkle with cheese, then olives.
- Top with picante and add chips and cheese.
- Bake until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly.
🥫 Storage
You can make this a few days ahead of time but leave the tortilla chips off the top until you're ready to bake it.
Leftovers should be covered tightly and refrigerated for up to three days - or you can freeze for up to three months. If you'd like to freeze this cheesy chicken casserole unbaked just make sure you leave the top layer of chips off of it.
💭 Tips
Monterey chicken casserole got 100% thumbs up at our table. All of the kids liked it... a lot. Comments like, "Wow Mom, it's delicious!" made me smile.
Expert Tip: Keep your knife sharp and change cutting boards and knives between the chicken and the vegetables to prevent cross contamination. The more uniform the sizes of the chopped foods the better it will cook.
- Grab a rotisserie chicken on your way home to save time!
- Substitute pork or turkey.
- This Monterey chicken casserole recipe can be made ahead and even frozen - just leave the tortilla chips off the top until ready to bake.
- If you don't have creamed corn use regular corn and add 1 can of undiluted cream of chicken soup. You may need to add ⅓ cup of milk to make it "saucy".
- Vary the cheese. Pepper Jack or Cheddar work well.
- I like to keep bags of chopped onions and peppers in the freezer to keep it easy and save even more time. They work really well in this.
- Garnish with green onions if you like them.
- Serve with a dollop of sour cream or guac on top!
- If you make extra chicken you can assemble this easy chicken spaghetti casserole at the same time and freeze it for later!
Try these easy chicken empanadas next! They are a great grab and go meal!
👩🏻🍳 Frequently asked questions
Here are the questions I am most frequently asked about this recipe.
Think of highly flavored ingredients like chiles, tomatoes, garlic, etc. This casserole gets a lot of its flavor from the salsa.
This cheesy chicken casserole starts with cooked chicken so all you are doing is making sure it's warmed through. As a general rule your dish is done when it registers 165F in the center on an insta-read thermometer.
📚 Related recipes
If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need. Don't forget that you can click on "add to collection" to save it to your own, private recipe box!
If you love this recipe please give it a 5 star rating. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
📖 Recipe
Monterey Chicken Casserole
Print Add to Collection Pin RecipeEquipment Needed
Ingredients
- 3 cups tortilla chips, broken in coarse pieces
- 4 boneless chicken breasts, or thighs
- Salt and pepper
- 15 ounces Cream-style whole kernel corn
- 1 ½ cups Medium hot Salsa
- ½ cup Pitted ripe olives, sliced
- 1 cup Colby-jack cheese, shredded
- 1 cup Onion, chopped
- 1 cup Green pepper, chopped
- ¼ cup Fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F.
- Oil a 13 x 9 inch pan.
- Cut the chicken into uniform sized chunks.
- Chop the onion and green pepper.
- Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
- Saute the chicken in a hot pan with a little olive oil.
- Add the onion and green pepper after about 5 minutes.
- Saute until chicken is done (165F) and vegetables are tender.
- Put half of the crumbled chips on the bottom of the casserole dish.
- Add the chicken and vegetables.
- Sprinkle with cilantro.
- Pour the creamed corn over.
- Sprinkle the half the cheese and the olives over the corn.
- Spoon the salsa over.
- Add another layer of crumbled chips and top with cheese.
- Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly.
Notes
- You can save time by starting with cooked chicken.
- Substitute pork or turkey.
- Monterey Chicken Casserole can be made ahead and even frozen - just leave the tortilla chips off the top until ready to bake.
- If you don't have creamed corn use regular corn and add 1 can of undiluted cream of chicken soup. You may need to add ⅓ cup of milk to make it "saucy".
- Vary the cheese. Pepper Jack or Cheddar work well.
- I like to keep bags of chopped onions and peppers in the freezer to keep it easy and save even more time.
- Garnish with green onions if you like them.
- Serve with a dollop of sour cream or guac on top!
- Store leftovers in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 4 days.
Nutrition Facts
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We'll never share your email or send you spam. Pinkie swear.First Published January 26, 2012. Last Updated March 1, 2021 to add more tips and clearer instructions.
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