Easy, effortless midweek meal! Rice with shredded chicken cooked in a homemade enchilada sauce (or use store-bought!), topped with cheese. All made in one pot!
All you need is chicken, rice, tomato passata (or canned tomato) and a handful of pantry essentials to make this incredible flavour loaded, comfort-food-central meal. Oh wait – cheese. Of course you need cheese. This would not be “Enchilada” without cheese!
I’ve been overloading on Mexican over the last couple of weeks, sharing my Mexican Shredded Beef and Freezer Friendly Beef Burritos. I feel a bit silly sharing yet another Mexican(-esque) recipe today, but I hadn’t actually planned to! I had Cashew Chicken all ready to go, then I got the sweetest message from TWO readers in one day asking me to please share more one-pot recipes because they loved my One Pot Greek Chicken & Lemon Rice so much. 🙂 So I decided to shuffle my posting calendar a bit and share this today. I hope you don’t mind!
I love this kind of food for midweek. I call it Couch Food. The definition of Couch Food is “any meal that can be served in a bowl and eaten with a fork or spoon without taking your eyes off the TV”.
This qualifies. 100%. 🙂
There are quite a few spices required for this recipe because the sauce the rice is cooked in is essentially homemade Enchilada sauce. I’ve marked the ingredients that make up the Enchilada Sauce with an asterisk (*) so you could in fact substitute with a store bought Enchilada Sauce and it will become even easier to make!
My key tip for making this is to take it off the stove while it is still quite saucy because the rice will continue to absorb water while it is resting – and even while you are serving it. You want it pretty saucy – not sloppy, but not dry.
And please please please don’t overcook the rice so it is mushy! The liquid quantities I’ve provided will not yield mushy rice – I like mine tender but firm (it’s an Asian “thing”), but I know some people have a tendency to get stressed that the rice isn’t cooking and add more water. Which is totally fine, cook the rice to your taste but just don’t let it turn into baby food! 🙂
Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Back on Wednesday with something a bit different – but super easy, super tasty and totally irresistible! – Nagi x
PS Check out how bubbly and golden it looks…..ugh. Help me. I just want to dive in and grab a spoonful.
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One Pot Chicken Enchilada Rice Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 400g (13oz) chicken breast, about 1/3"/1cm thick, sliced horizontally into thin steaks (Note 1)
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 red bell pepper/capsicum, diced
- 680g (24oz) tomato passata or crushed canned tomatoes* (Note 2)
- 3 cups chicken broth or water (750ml)
- 1 1/2 cups frozen corn (250g)
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper* (spicy - adjust to taste)
- 1 tbsp dried oregano*
- 2 tsp cumin*
- 1 1/2 tsp coriander*
- 2 tsp onion powder*
- 1 tbsp brown sugar*
- Salt and pepper
- 1 1/2 cups (270g) white rice (short, medium or long grain , uncooked (Note 4)
- 1 - 1 1/2 cups grated cheese (about 125 - 150 g)
To Serve
- Chopped cilantro/coriander optional
Instructions
- Heat olive oil over medium high heat in large skillet.
- Add chicken and cook each side for 2 minutes or until cooked, then remove onto a plate.
- Add extra oil if the skillet is looking dry. Add onion and garlic, cook for 1 1/2 minutes until starting to soften.
- Add bell peppers and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients except rice and cheese. Bring to simmer, then add rice.
- Stir, cover with a lid and turn down heat to medium low. Cover and cook until rice is cooked but not mushy and most of the liquid is absorbed - about 15 to 18 minutes. (Note 3). Do not stir while it cooks.
- Meanwhile, shred or roughly chop chicken.
- When rice is cooked, quickly stir chicken through, sprinkle with cheese then pop under broil / grill until golden and bubbly.
- Serve, garnished with fresh cilantro/coriander if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Nutrition per serving, assuming 6 servings.
At the end of the recipe it says to broil. Am I supposed to transfer the pot to the oven and broil it?
Hi Candace! My oven has the broiler in it so I just flick the switch to broil 🙂
Hi Nagi! I’ve been having an enchilada craving for a while now and was so happy when I discovered this recipe yesterday! It was quick and easy and tastes just like enchiladas! I made the recipe as is, except I needed to add more liquid while the rice was cooking (I used normal white long grain rice), and I also added a good hit of sriracha! Thank you for another amazing recipe! 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Jamieanne! I love the sriracha addition! N x
Nagi,
This sounds delicious and can’t wait to cook it up for dinner next week! This sounds like a yummy crowd pleaser for these colder fall months 🙂
xoxo
-Emma Kathryn
http://www.SweetTeaTactics.com
Hi Emma – hope you do!!! This totally is a crowd pleaser!! N xx
Hi Nagi,
Apologies but I am not the best of cooks and always struggle cooking rice. If I was to make this for 2 people how many cups of rice would I use and how many cups of water?
When you say cup I am assuming a Mug? The typical size?
Laura
Hi Laura! A cup is a measuring cup – standard size in Australia is 250 ml. 🙂 Unfortunately this recipe is best made as is rather than scaling down but leftover rice is FAB!
Hi,
I was looking for some kind of comfort food, but I don’t really cook lol. However, I stumbled upon your recipe and decided to try it. By the time I decided, it got late, so I bought a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking chicken and my boyfriend shredded the chicken for your recipe. It was beyond-sooooo good delicious. I shocked myself! I will be making your recipe more often.
And it only required 1 pan, I love that. That’s amazing! I have saved your link so I can easily come here from now on. Why go anywhere else! I am feeling a little bit more confident and want to try more of your recipes. I can’t wait. Thank you very much for sharing your recipes. You’re great….?
Sincerely,
Maria
Woo hoo! I’m so glad you enjoyed this Maria, thanks so much for taking the time to come back and let me know! N x
I forgot to mention that there was a lot left over which I really really loved because it meant I had left overs for 3 nights! I think I will add black beans to it the next time I make it, (noticed I said next time?) lol. I never enjoyed cooking plus I never have time anyway. But with one pot recipes, I might enjoy cooking more often.
I’m hoping this weekend I can try another one of your recipes. Looking forward to it. Yay….:)))))
Thanks again,
Maria
Made this tonight for supper it was delicious really tasty and so easy, there is an awful lot left over as there are only two of us, could you suggest quantities to serve two.
So glad you enjoyed this Diane! To make a smaller quality, half it but please ensure you cook it in a smaller skillet otherwise it will cook too quickly 🙂
Sounds amazing, want to try this for Sunday but just alittle confused are the ‘cups’ actual ‘cups’ measurements as in the American and Australian measurements or are we meant to just fill a cup… 3 cups of corn sounds an aweful lot! Thanks 🙂
You had me worried for a moment there Jenn! It’s 1 1/2 cups of corn – think you are reading the line above which is 3 cups of chicken stock!! Yes, use Australian / US measuring cups, they are close enough for the purposes of this recipe!
Thank you, just wanted to double check before trying the receipe.. yes I read the wrong line good job I checked!
I wish you had a YouTube channel, would love to see you cook these recipes, I am trying this tomorrow looks delicious.
Hi Diane, I do actually have a YouTube channel but unfortunately I can’t do videos for every single recipe! I will try to remember to add this one though 🙂 N x
I made this today…ummmm..it was so good I impressed myself!!
I just burst out into laughter! You SHOULD be impressed with yourself!! N x
I made this with brown rice and it turned out just fine and delicious!
I’m glad you enjoyed it Belinda! Did you find you needed to cook it for much longer? 🙂
Yes, I cooked it for much longer, probably about 40 minutes x
This reminds me of a dish a friend made for me many many years ago – a sort of deconstructed moussaka with orzo but no white sauce. All the deeply satisfying flavours of a good moussaka, it was one of the most memorable meals I have ever had and I have never been able to recreate it. SO if you are open to suggestions (hint hint) I know you like to use orzo. Many thanks, you are such an inspiration.
Hi Carol! Oooh, that sounds delicious….so it had eggplant in it like moussaka?? Made with lamb?
I want to try this dish, but I am a little mixed up on the part where your note indicates the spices with a * can be substituted with 24 oz enchilada sauce. Since these are dry spices wouldn’t you need to reduce the chicken broth/or water? Otherwise would it be too runny?
John
Hi John! You are bang on, which is why the tomato passata / canned tomato is also marked with a * 🙂 “24oz/680g tomato passata or crushed canned tomatoes* ” So leave that out too!
Hi Nagi,
I am new to your blog and absolutely love it!
Can you suggest vegetarian style? I am thinking of adding beans but I want to make it as equally as delish as everyone is saying it is! Might do for dinner tonight!
So glad you are enjoying my site Jo! For vegetarian, I would add chopped zucchini and beans. That will fill it out!
I made this for dinner last night Nagi and it was lick the bowl good! I made it work with brown basmati rice and I used chicken thighs with I cooked slowly in a pan next to the rice with some piri piri seasoning for extra spice, until they were fall apart tender. Plus it was just for the two of us so had to rejig the quantities but it’s still recognisable as your recipe. Superb recipe – thank you for another winner dinner!
? I’m SO GLAD you enjoyed this Jo!!! THANK YOU for coming back to let me know! N xx
Your recipe is MIND BLOWING
I’m crying because I didn’t find you earlier on Instagram!
Now to try out healthy week night dinners everyday … 🙂
I’m so sorry for the late reply Janaki!!!! I’m glad you found me too!!!
Thank you so much for answering. Before finding the original on your site, I had found this recipe on Pinterest at the following link:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/23925441748055288/
Evidently someone mistyped it. My cooking sense thought that 2 cans was too much — so thanks for confirming it. As I look at the web page now, it looks like the “2” should have been after “Note”, as on your page. No need to post this comment–I just wanted to explain that I was not totally crazy. I am making this recipe for company tonight. Looking forward to it!!
–Nancy
Oh, I know what the problem is, it’s Pinterest! It scrapes information from websites and sometimes it misreads it 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi, I am confused on the amount of Passata. One place indicates 2 each 24-oz cans, another place says 1 24-oz can. Which amount is right?
Hi Nancy! It’s 1 x 24 oz can. I read over the recipe again and can’t see where I’ve written 2 cans, sorry if I confused you somewhere! 🙂 N x
I’ve been hunting for the perfect chicken enchilada casserole for a looooong time. Many mediocre meals later, and I decided to give yours a try. I did have to cobble some things together (used part canned enchilada sauce and then had to wing it with plain tomato sauce and spices), but it turned out fantastic. My husband and 3 year old daughter loved it as well. I might add black beans to it next time.
Ooh! So glad you enjoyed this Kate, thank you for letting me know! N x
Hello,
I’d like to ask what kind of cheese should i use for this recipe?
Like, is it parmesan, mozarella or else?
Please help. I’d like to try this recipe.
Thank you!:)
Hi Chibi! Any cheese that melts is fine 🙂 Cheddar, tasty, mozzarella, colby, gouda – anything! 🙂
My family would go crazy for this cheesy deliciousness.
It’s a crowd pleaser, that’s for sure! Hope you had a wonderful Mother’s Day Barbara!