Healthy Mexican Rice Casserole

This healthy Mexican rice casserole is an easy and great recipe to whip up in one dish and throw in the oven for a perfect weeknight meal that your entire family will love.

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With a variety of pantry staples and fresh ingredients, this is the perfect comfort food that tastes like your favorite burritos or Mexican dish.

It’s easy, low effort, healthy, high in protein, and a great macro friendly family meal. Talk about a hearty meal!!

As a mama, time is precious. I usually have my toddler as my shadow everywhere I go, so when I can….I try to make dinner prep short and sweet.

This is one of my favorite Mexican dishes to throw together that requires minimal effort but still has an insane amount of flavor for your main dish. You can prep this the day of, or even ahead of time and when you’re ready to make it, just pop in the oven.

The best part about this meal? It’s wonderful for meal prepping. Just throw some of this in glass containers, and when your ready to eat, add all your favorite toppings!!

It’s so customizable, you can eat this right out of the casserole dish, throw it on some romaine as a salad, or in a burrito for a tasty meal.

So next time your craving delicious Mexican food, you have to try this easy one pan Mexican rice casserole to satisfy that craving. 

Why you’ll love this and it will become one of your favorite recipes:

• Low prep, one casserole dish = minimal effort, minimal dishes
• Macro friendly and high in protein
• Customizable
• Jammed packed with flavor

Ingredients you’ll need to make this Healthy Mexican Rice Casserole:

• Brown Rice – quick cook or instant rice; feel free to use other rice options such as white rice or jasmine rice! 
• Veggies: Onion and Red Bell Pepper – you can use frozen or fresh, but will need to adjust liquid if using frozen
• Fajita seasoning – homemade or store bought will work
• Corn – canned or frozen. If using canned, you will need to drain
• Black Beans – reduced sodium; drained and rinsed
• Cooked Shredded Chicken 
• Chicken Broth – reduced sodium
• Green Chilis – I use mild, but feel free to kick up the spice level for medium heat or even high heat!! 
• Olive Oil – to eliminate the rice from sticking together
• Tomato Paste
• Cheese – Mexican blend cheese or Monterey Jack cheese is my go to for this meal
• Fresh Cilantro, green onions for garnishes (optional, but highly recommend for added flavor)
• Optional: Cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes

My recommendations and notes for this healthy Mexican dish:

Veggies

I use onions and bell peppers, but feel free to get creative!! I have actually made this dish several ways. I’ve used fresh and frozen.

My usual method, and this is one I do often for meal prepping, is cut fresh veggies and freeze, then they are ready to go when making a dish such as this one.

If you opt to use a bag of frozen onions and peppers, I would recommend deducting a half cup of the chicken broth since the frozen vegetables will release additional water into the dish. 

Chicken

Any cooked chicken will work.

You can use rotisserie chicken that’s already precooked and shredded from the grocery store, left over chicken, or cook some fresh boneless skinless chicken breasts in the air fryer for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees and shred with a large fork or chicken shredder.

If your not sure what a chicken shredder is, my friends…..this is a GAME CHANGER. I saw this and decided to give it a try, and it was worth every penny. I’m all about those time saving gadgets, you can find it here and let me know what you think in the comments.

You will need 4 cups of shredded chicken for this recipe, which equates to roughly 2lbs of chicken. 

Customize

This is where this dish is completely customizable. Feel free to swap out some of the items I have above and incorporate your own.

Want more veggies? Lower the onion and pepper content or remove completely and add in broccoli instead.

Want to add some additional heat? Add some of your favorites like chili peppers, fire-roasted tomatoes. There really isn’t a wrong way to go. 

How to make healthy Mexican rice casserole:

Step 1:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add onion, pepper, rice, fajita seasoning, and cayenne seasoning (optional) to a 9×13 baking dish.

Step 2:

Add in the chicken broth, green chilis, tomato paste, and olive oil. Stir everything together in the baking dish until everything is well combined. 

Step 3:

Add in the shredded chicken, black beans, and corn. Stir again until everything is well combined. 

Step 4: 

Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 60 minutes, make sure all of the liquid is absorbed. 

Step 5: 

Remove from the oven and sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until the cheese melts to your liking. 

Step 6:

Remove the casserole from the oven and allow to cool down for 10 minutes. Spring with fresh cilantro, green onions and your other favorite toppings and enjoy!! 

You can enjoy this meal as is out of the dish, over a yummy salad and add some salsa and a dollop of sour cream, or in a delicious burrito!

Optional Toppings to increase your cravings and flavors, a great way to level up this yummy recipe:

• Sour cream or plain greek yogurt as sour cream substitute
• avocado
• tortilla chips
• salsa or enchilada sauce
• diced jalapeno peppers
• tomatoes
• SO MANY MORE!!

How to reheat and store this healthy dish:

Store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and simply reheat in the microwave.

For meal prepping, portion into small airtight containers without the toppings and add the toppings when you are ready to eat. This tasty casserole is just as delicious the next day. Here are my fav meal prepping containers to use.

Can you freeze this Mexican rice casserole?

Absolutely!! I am the freeze machine! I love freezing so nothing goes to waste. Be sure to store any leftovers in a freezer-safe container or freezer safe bags.

You must let the food cool completely before freezing and can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

When ready to eat, thaw completely overnight and follow instructions above. 

You can find this recipe and others by Yummymacrolife.com already preloaded on My Fitness Pal.

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