Fiesta Chicken Casserole
53 Comments Dec 12, 2016
Updated Jun 13, 2025
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My Fiesta Chicken Casserole is a comforting Tex-Mex meal made with tender chicken and rice in a rich, cheesy sauce. Big flavor, no fuss—just set it and let it cook.
Key Ingredients
Here’s what goes into this bold and cheesy Tex-Mex casserole.
- Chicken – Cooks up perfectly tender in the slow cooker.
- Boxed Rice – Use a seasoned rice mix with all its fixings.
- Seasonings – Garlic powder, chili powder, and pepper bring the flavor.
- Soup – Cream of chicken soup gives it a creamy base.
- Veggies – Mexicorn, white onion, and jalapeño add texture and spice.
- Cheese – Sharp shredded cheddar adds richness and that gooey finish.
How to Make Fiesta Chicken Casserole
- Season the chicken and layer it with a few flavorful ingredients in your slow cooker.
- Let it cook low and slow while you prep the rice on the stove toward the end.
- Shred the chicken, then stir in the rice, cheese, and a creamy finishing touch.
- Top with more cheese, warm it through, and you’re ready to serve.
Cook’s Notes & Variations
- The rice must be cooked on the stove top – the slow cooker doesn’t cook up rice properly.
- No Spanish rice? Use 4 cups of cooked white rice and double the seasonings.
- Chicken thighs can be used as an alternative to chicken breasts.
- Use pepperjack cheese for a spicy kick.
- If you don’t like heat, use a bell pepper instead of a jalapeno.
How to Serve
- This easy chicken and rice meal has everything you need, just scoop onto plates.
- You can round out the meal by serving with a side of charred flour tortillas or hunks of cornbread.
- You can top the casserole with additional jalapeno, tomato, and sour cream if desired.
Featured Comment
“This is our new family favorite! Everyone in my house at it without complaining! “
– Katie
Fiesta Chicken Casserole
How to Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- ¼ garlic powder
- ½ tsp. chili powder
- 10.5 oz. can cream of chicken soup , don't add water
- ½ cup diced white onion
- 11 oz. can Mexicorn, drained , (this is corn with peppers in it)
- 1 seeded jalapeno, minced
These ingredients are added at the end:
- 6.9 oz. box Zatarain's Spanish Rice, (follow stove-top instructions)
- 14 oz. can diced tomatoes , needed to make the rice
- 1 Tbsp. salted butter, needed to make the rice
- 1 ½ cups water, needed to make the rice
- 3 cups shredded sharp cheese, divided
- ½ cup sour cream
Instructions
- Add the chicken to the slow cooker. Sprinkle over the pepper, garlic powder and chili powder.
- Spread over the cream of chicken soup. Add the onions, Mexicorn, and jalapeno. (DO NOT ADD RICE, CHEESE OR SOUR CREAM YET!)
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours, without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- Towards the end of the cooking time start preparing the Zatarain's Spanish Rice in a pan on the stove-top, you will need the diced tomatoes, butter and water to prepare. (If you use a different brand of Spanish rice use the ingredients listed on the box you buy)
- Shred the chicken with 2 forks, add the prepared rice, sour cream and 2 cups of the shredded cheese. Stir. Add remaining cheese on top and place the lid back on.
- Put the slow cooker on to HIGH and cook for an additional 20 minutes to let the flavors come together and to allow the cheese to melt.
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More Slow Cooker Chicken Recipes:
Chicken and Gravy, and Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken all offer cozy, comforting flavors perfect for any night of the week.
Chicken with Potatoes and Green Beans or Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole are full meals with minimal prep.
For bold flavor, try Slow Cooker Garlic Butter Chicken or Chicken Enchilada Casserole—both rich, saucy, and satisfying.
This recipe sounds so delicious!! Would using chicken broth to cook the boxed Spanish rice in instead of water add to the flavor, or would the broth’s ingredient flavors be incompatible with the Spanish flavorings of the rice?
I think that would work great!
This looks great and going to make it today! Can you freeze leftover. Thanks!!
Yes, this freezes well.
Can’t wait to try this! I can only find the Knorr rice sides here but they don’t add the tomatoes to make theirs. Can I just add them at the end with the rice instead?
Yes, that would work fine!
Can you leave out the rice? Has anyone done this? Trying to make it more diabetic friendly.
Yes, it will just be saucier.
Cauliflower rice might work, too
will this recipe work for a 4 quart slow cooker?
I think it should fit.
Love this recipe. I did increase the amount on the onions, garlic & ground pepper.
I made this recipe tonight and it was great. The whole family emptied their plates,so it is a keeper! I cannot buy boxed Spanish rice or Mexicorn where I live. For the Mexicorn, I substituted a can of corn and a fresh green and red bell pepper. I looked up a recipe for Spanish rice and with just a few ingredients, it was easy to make.
How much rice did you end up putting in?
2nd time I’ve made this receipe. I absolutely love it
Made this tonight was excellent but I added taco seasoning packet to spices on chicken and used southwestern corn because I couldn’t find mexicorn (same as Mexicorn but has black beans) and it was great!!
OMG this recipe is truly amazing. Thanks for sharing. It is very budget friendly and I think we have enough to feed an army. Hope the hubby loves it as much as I did.