Monterey Chicken Casserole

When I think of quick family favorites this tortilla chicken casserole tops the list! It's done in less than 30 minutes and it's the BEST way to use up chips that have gone a bit stale.

Love this with a few candied jalapenos on the side!

🧾 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 recipe card below.

1. Preheat the oven and oil a 13x9-inch baking pan.
2. Cut the chicken and season with salt and pepper.
3. Chop the onion and green pepper.
4. Saute the chicken in a hot pan with a little olive oil.
5. Add the onion and green pepper after about 5 minutes.
6. Saute until done.
7. Layer the chips, chicken, vegetables, and cilantro in the baking dish.
8. Add creamed corn, sprinkle with cheese, then olives.
9. Top with picante and add chips and cheese.
11. Bake until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly.

💭 Tips

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.

• 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 1/3 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.

☕ KaffeeKlatsch

Monterey Chicken Casserole got 100% thumbs up. All of the kids liked it... a lot. Comments like, "Wow Mom, it's delicious!" made me smile.

I live for moments like that - how about you?!

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 5 stars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

5 from 1 vote

Monterey Chicken Casserole

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Tex-Mex Monterey Chicken Casserole is so easy to make! Creamed corn and sauteed vegetables are layered with chicken, cheese, salsa, and tortilla chips in this family friendly (and budget friendly) meal. Difficulty level 2/10

Course Main Dish - Chicken

Cuisine American - Vintage

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Servings:8

Calories:450

Author:Marye Audet-White

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Equipment Needed

• 13x9-inch pan

Ingredients

1x2x3x

• 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 1/2 cups Medium hot Salsa
• 1/2 cup Pitted ripe olives, sliced
• 1 cup Colby-jack cheese, shredded
• 1 cup Onion, chopped
• 1 cup Green pepper, chopped
• 1/4 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 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

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.

• 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 1/3 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

Calories: 450kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 945mg | Potassium: 510mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 620IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 221mg | Iron: 2mg

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First Published January 26, 2012. Last Updated July 15, 2020 for better images and easier to read format.