Name: Chicken Taco Casserole
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 20.1 ounces cream of chicken soup; 1 cup chunky-style salsa ((I use the PACE Mild brand)); 4 ounces diced green chilies; ½ cup sour cream; 0.85 ounce chicken taco seasoning ((I use the Old El Paso brand)); 3 cups white meat chicken, (shredded); 15 ounces seasoned black beans, (drained (I use the Bush’s brand)); 15 ounces corn kernels (drained); 3 cups crushed tortilla chips; 2½ cups Colby jack cheese, (shredded); 1 cup Monterey jack cheese, (shredded); fresh cilantro, (chopped)

This chicken taco casserole is what I make when I want a hot dinner on the table in under an hour. There’s no chopping, no browning, and every ingredient is from the regular grocery store aisle. Once the chicken is shredded (rotisserie chicken makes it easy), the whole thing takes 5 minutes to put together.

A baked Chicken Taco Casserole in a glass dish, topped with melted cheese, chopped herbs, and bits of tortilla chips, with a serving removed to reveal layers of beans, sauce, and tender chicken inside.

It’s taco night baked into a single pan. Seasoned shredded chicken, black beans, corn, and chunky salsa get mixed with cream of chicken soup and sour cream. It’s layered into a baking dish with crushed tortilla chips through the middle and on top, then baked under cheese until the edges bubble.

Read Before You Start

If you have never made a Mexican-inspired casserole before, the most common thing that goes wrong is that it falls apart on the plate. That happens for one reason: too much liquid in the filling.

I fixed that issue here. How? Most chicken taco casserole recipes you find use a can of diced tomatoes that gets dumped in with its juice. This one uses chunky salsa instead, which is thicker. In addition, the beans and corn both get drained of all liquid.

A serving of cheesy Chicken Taco Casserole topped with sour cream, salsa, and cilantro sits on a white plate. In the background, there’s a bowl of salsa and the rest of the casserole in a baking dish. — The slice you want from a chicken taco casserole is the one that holds its shape on the spatula and you can see chicken, beans, chips and corn through every layer. Wait 10 minutes after it comes out of the oven to cut.

When you’re choosing your salsa for this recipe, get chunky-style, not the thin restaurant-style salsa you would eat with chips at a Mexican restaurant. The thicker kind holds the filling together.

How To Get 3 Cups Of Shredded Chicken

The fastest way to prep chicken for this recipe is a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store. Pull the meat off with your hands and one bird gives you roughly the 3 cups the recipe needs. This is what I do 90% of the time.

If you are cooking your own, 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 1.5 pounds together) will give you the 3 cups you need once shredded. Any method of cooking them works. Poach, slow cooker, instant pot, leftover from another night. Cool them for five minutes, then pull the breasts apart with two forks.

For beef versions of this recipe, try my Mexican casserole or, even, my taco pie.

Tip From Recipe Testing

Put the tortilla chips in a Ziploc gallon bag and crush with your hands or a rolling pin, not in a food processor. You want pieces about the size of a quarter, not fine crumbs. Fine crumbs vanish into the casserole.

A wooden spoon serves a portion of cheesy Chicken Taco Casserole topped with crushed tortilla chips and chopped parsley from a glass baking dish.

Plenty of readers reach for a bag of Doritos when they’re out of plain tortilla chips. If that’s your case, it’s my Doritos chicken casserolw recipe you’re looking for.

Make-Ahead and Freezing

This is a great make-ahead casserole. You can put the whole thing together in the morning and bake it at dinner. Cover it with foil and keep it in the fridge until you are ready. Serve it alongside my Spanish rice, corn salad or Mexican street corn salad.

For freezing, freeze it before you bake it, not after. Wrap the assembled but unbaked casserole in foil and then plastic wrap. It keeps for 2 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake from cold with 10 extra minutes added.

Freezing it after baking does not work well because the chips go soft.

Storing Leftovers

This casserole will keep for about 2 days in the fridge. To reheat, put it in a 350°F oven, uncovered, for 12 to 15 minutes. This is the only way to get any chip crunch back. A microwave will steam the top and make the chips soft.

Originally published in February 2023, rewritten and retested for this version.

Chicken Taco Casserole

5 from 23 votes

Chicken taco casserole with shredded or rotisserie chicken, black beans, corn, and tortilla chips. One pan, 35 minutes, slices clean on the plate.

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Servings

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Ingredients

20.1 ounces cream of chicken soup
1 cup chunky-style salsa (I use the PACE Mild brand)
4 ounces diced green chilies
½ cup sour cream
0.85 ounce chicken taco seasoning (I use the Old El Paso brand)
3 cups white meat chicken, shredded
15 ounces seasoned black beans, drained (I use the Bush’s brand)
15 ounces corn kernels drained
3 cups crushed tortilla chips
2½ cups Colby jack cheese, shredded
1 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded

Optional Garnish

fresh cilantro, chopped

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with a cooking spray.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together the cream of chicken soup, chunky-style salsa, diced green chilies, sour cream, and chicken taco seasoning.
To the large mixing bowl, add the shredded chicken as well as the drained corn and black beans. Stir together to incorporate all the ingredients fully.
Layer half the chicken taco filling on bottom of the prepared pan. Spread it into an even layer.
Sprinkle 2 ½ cups of the crushed tortilla chips evenly over the first layer of the chicken taco filling.
Spread the remaining chicken taco filling over the top of the crushed tortilla chips.
Top the entire casserole with the shredded Colby jack, Monterey jack cheese, and the remaining ½ cup of crushed tortilla chips.
Bake the casserole for 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.
Top the chicken taco casserole with a sprinkle of chopped fresh cilantro.

Notes

Freshly shredded cheese is the best choice for this dish, as pre-shredded cheese often has a preservative coating that keeps it from melting as smoothly.
Place the tortilla chips into a Ziploc gallon bag and crush them with your hands or a rolling pin.
Stick to mild salsa unless you want a spicier dinner.
To make this casserole fast, shred a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.

Nutrition

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Chicken Taco Casserole

Read Before You Start