Thursday, July 18, 2013

Southwest Chicken and Rice Casserole

We have Braum's ice cream and dairy stores in Oklahoma.  I ran in the other day to pick up some items and they had recipe brochures at the check out.  This is one of the recipes it included.  I'm going to type it out as in the brochure and then I'll type out how I made it for just the two of us.

It's super, super fast to make and delicious too!  The recipe says to bake in the oven, but I think it would work just fine in a crock pot for these hot summer days.


SOUTHWEST CHICKEN AND RICE CASSEROLE

1 bag fully cooked chicken fajita meat, chopped
3 packages Uncle Ben's Ready Rice
2 cups Braum's shredded Mexican-style cheese
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1 onion, chopped
1 cup salsa

Preheat oven to 350°, and spray a 9 x 13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.  In a medium sized bowl, combine the soups, onion, and salsa.  Place 1/2 of the rice in the bottom of the pan, then 1/2 of the chicken, 1/2 of the creamy soup mixture and then 1/2 of the cheese.  Repeat.  Top with cheese and bake  for 30-40 minutes or until bubbly.

The recipe doesn't say how many this will feed.  I'd estimate 6-8 generous portions.

Since there's just myself and DH, I had to cut the recipe down.  It still made an 8" square pan full and would easily be enough for four portions.



As you see, I had to sample it before I posted it on here!


My version of Southwest Chicken and Rice Casserole

1 cup Minute Premium Rice
1 cup water

Prepare rice according to box instructions and set aside.

1 package John Soules fajita chicken strips, chopped
1/2 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 can Cream of Mushroom soup
1/2 cup Pace Medium salsa
2 cups finely grated Mexican cheese blend
1/2 large onion, chopped

Combine the soups, onion and salsa.  In an 8" square baking dish, layer 1/2 of the rice, 1/2 of the soup mixture, 1/2 of the chicken and 1 cup of the cheese.  Repeat the layer, ending with the cheese.

I put the remaining half cans of soup in a container and froze them to use another time.  I'm too cheap to throw away half a can!  

I cooked mine on high in the microwave for 4 minutes to heat it thoroughly so it didn't take so long to bake in the oven.   Then I finished it in a 350° oven---since the dish was already hot, it only took about 10 minutes.

This would be so pretty on the table if you made it in individual ramekins and topped it with some pepper slices before you serve it.

This is another recipe "keeper"  and worthy of a recipe layout, IMHO!

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