Green Chile Chicken Casserole
46 CommentsUpdated Jun 18, 2025
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Green Chile Chicken Casserole has the flavors of green chile enchiladas but with rice instead of tortillas, and is easily made in the slow cooker
Recipe Highlights
- This meal is a unique creation of mine. If you made slow cooker chicken and rice, this is the Tex-Mex version!
- One-pot comfort food with rice stirred right in
- Creamy, cheesy, and full of green chile flavor
- Great for leftovers and meal prep
Key Ingredients
Here’s a quick look at what makes this casserole so flavorful and satisfying.
- Chicken breasts – Tender and easy to shred after slow cooking.
- Green enchilada sauce – Is the base of the recipe.
- Poblano pepper & white onion – Brings great heat and flavor.
- Sour cream & cheddar cheese – Makes it rich, creamy, and extra decadent.
- Cooked white rice – Soaks up all that goodness and makes it a complete meal.
Sarah’s Tips & Variations
- Swap cheddar with Monterey Jack or pepper jack for a change up.
- Add black beans or corn to make it more hearty and feed more people.
- Use rotisserie chicken to cut down cook time—just stir it in with the sauce and warm through.
- If you don’t like spicy, use a green bell pepper or canned mild green peppers instead.
Featured Comment
“This was super easy and very delicious! Hit the spot on a cold wintery night. Thanks for sharing!”
– Misty
Green Chile Chicken Casserole Recipe
How to Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. pepper
- 2 tsp. chili powder
- ½ tsp. garlic powder
- ½ tsp. onion powder
- 1 small white onion, diced
- 1 poblano pepper, diced (about 1/2 cup)
- 19 oz. can green enchilada sauce
Add these ingredients at the end:
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese,, divided
- ¼ cup sliced green onion
- 3 cups hot cooked white rice
Instructions
- Add the chicken breasts to the slow cooker. Sprinkle over the salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder over the chicken. Add the onion, poblano pepper. Pour over the enchilada sauce.
- Cover and cook for 6-8 hours on the low setting.
- When the cooking time is done, shred the chicken with two forks. Add the sour cream, half cup of the cheese and the green onion. Stir. Add the cooked rice and stir. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
- Place the lid back on and cook for 15 more minutes or until the cheese is melted. If your rice has cooled and not hot, you will need to cook longer about 45 minutes on high.
Sarah’s Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More chicken and rice recipes
No Peek Chicken and Lemon Chicken Rice Soup are cozy slow cooker classics perfect for busy nights.
Try Basil Chicken and Rice or Fiesta Chicken Casserole for an easy all-in-one dinner.
Meals made with love and served with rice—like Crack Chicken and Artichoke Mushroom Chicken—are always a hit.
Is there a substitute for the green enchilida sauce I could use? Don’t think I can get it where I am.
Can you find green salsa?
I love this recipe! I’ve seen other similar recipes, but this one uses fresh ingredients like the pepper and onion, which is why I like it. I’ve made this for my family a bunch of times. I usually serve the rice separately and pour the chicken and sauce over.
Great to hear! We love this meal too!
We also served the chicken and sauce separately from the rice. My husband has diabetes, so this helps him better regulate the carbs. Easy and very tasty. 🙂 Well done, Sarah!
Hello, This is the second recipe I have made from your website…and it was DELISH! I followed the recipe as is, rice and all, and it turned out perfect. Great flavor and the chicken wasn’t dried out as it does in many slow cooker recipes. I’ll be saving this one and using it again. I love filling up my freezer with ready-to-go tasty recipes. (BTW–the other recipe I made was the pineapple spoon cake–I’ve made it 4 or 5 times now because it’s really that good.)
My husband loves anything with green chiles so I will be adding this into my dinner rotation for sure. Thanks for the amazing recipe. It looks so good!
Such an easy recipe and tastes great! I ended up using 2 small cans of green chilis, a can of rotel, a 10 oz can of enchilada sauce, and threw in some cayenne pepper and cumin for good measure. I ate it over rice, but honestly, I think leaving out the rice and eating it like soup is amazing, too! Thanks for sharing!!
Susan – Do you think I could use minute rice like you do in your lemon pepper chicken & rice recipe?
Hi! I think you could do dry minute rice if you used way less, like only a cup. Or you could fix it up on the stove top and stir in.
I just made this and used minute rice. It works well.
Do you think Brown rice would work?
I really think it would be fine!
I’m not much of a cook but even i couldn’t spoil a meal done in a slow cooker. Thank you Sarah for these lovely recipes the only problem I have is American measures are different to here in England so a bit of guess work is needed. Some of the ingredients I don’t know what they are example cilantro I have to google in future. THANKYOU once again.
Hi Alan. I’ve forgotten that cilantro is called something different else where. I hope you are able to adapt the recipes to what you have and figure out the measurements.
What do you think of substituting plain Greek Yogurt for Sour Cream in the Green Chili Chicken and Rice Casserole?
Hi Steven, if you are used to cooking with it, then I think it would be fine!
Sarah, have you ever added a small can of mild dice green chilies?
Yes! That would work just fine!
Steve, I would substitute Crème Fraiche for the sour cream. Be ready for a big surprise using CF.
My whole family loves your recipes. Keep them coming, please!
Thank you Donna! I do enjoy making them.