SOUTHWEST SPICY
CHICKEN CASSEROLE
This tasty and mildly spicy casserole loaded with Tex Mex flavors will quickly become a favorite in your house! This Mexican casserole makes a wonderful one-pan dinner that the whole family will love.
If you prefer, you can use chicken breasts cubed and cooked in the frying pan in olive oil with the seasonings. Or, if you like cook the chicken breasts in some chicken stock in your slow cooker for a few hours on high, shred the chicken and use in this casserole.
This meal can easily be served in a taco or low-carb tortilla topped with lots of sour cream and some chopped green onions.
Often these sorts of casseroles contain corn. You can add some baby corn, chopped, which is much lower in carbohydrates.
If you are a spice chicken, you may not like the jalapeno peppers in this, even if the seeds and ribs have been removed. You can use 2 small green peppers or one large green pepper, diced, instead.
I used black beans; however, they are carbier than soy black beans and only possible to eat them during the maintenance phase, so if you are dieting, or if you have diabetes, black soy beans are what I recommend instead. Black beans are the one legume my husband likes. Soy beans are not the greatest for me on account of soy is a goitrogen and I have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.
If you are sodium-sensitive, then spicy dishes like this are great, as you can easily substantially reduce added salt or use a salt substitute, as the spices create a very tasty dish regardless.
I use fresh garlic - actually not fresh, but bottled minced garlic that I buy from Price Smart. It is so convenient to have it in the refrigerator at all times. I guess I am lazy about using fresh cloves of garlic. You can also substitute garlic powder, however, you would need less.
I used Mexican-style Four Cheese Blend; however, you can mix Cheddar and Mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheeses instead, depending on what you have in your refrigerator.
I like to serve this dish with plenty of sour cream and chopped green onions. This Southwest chicken casserole recipe is very versatile and you can certainly play with some of the ingredients, depending on what you have on hand.
You can also serve this dish with your favorite guacamole. The calories for this dish are quite modest, so feel free to have two servings. The carbs are not too bad either.
I used canned diced tomatoes; however, you can use fresh roma tomatoes, diced, and cook until softened.
Other recipes you may enjoy:
Quick, Easy Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients:
Olive oil
4 cups chopped cooked chicken, rotisserie works well (1 L)
1 tbsp minced garlic (15 ml)
2 tsp chili powder (10 mL)
11/2 tsp red pepper flakes (10 mL)
11/2 tsp salt (7 mL)
1 tsp Montreal chicken seasoning (5 mL)
1/2 tsp black pepper (2 mL)
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (411 g)
2 jalapeno peppers, seeds and ribs
removed, chopped
2 yellow peppers, chopped
15-oz can black soy beans, OR (425 mL)
black beans (maintenance-style eating)
6 slices bacon, cooked and diced
2 cups shredded Mexican-style Four-cheese Blend (500 mL)
Topping:
1/4 cup chopped green onions (60 mL)
Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
In large nonstick frying pan in olive oil, cook diced chicken over medium heat briefly. Add minced garlic, chili powder, red pepper flakes, salt, Montreal chicken seasoning seasoning and black pepper. Stir well. Then add in diced tomatoes and cook until the tomatoes have softened more. Set aside.
In another nonstick frying pan, in olive oil, cook jalapeno and yellow peppers until softened. Add black soy beans, OR black beans. Use a potato masher to mash the beans as they cook to the texture preferred. Add to chicken and stir to combine. Scoop into a 9 x 13-inch (23 x 33 cm) glass baking dish and spread evenly. Top with bacon and cheese. Bake 20 to 25 minutes uncovered. Allow to cool 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with green onions, if desired. Serve with sour cream.
Yield: 9 servings
1 serving
334.1 calories
27.2 g protein
15.0 g fat
3.5 g fiber
5.0 g net carbs
Low-Carbing Among Friends makes money through affiliate partner links; if you click on a link, we may earn a commission. Also we may earn from qualifying purchases made on Amazon