If you love queso then this recipe is for you! A ooey, gooey, cheesy dinner recipe that takes only one dish and a few minutes to make! This is perfect for a weeknight family dinner your family will love.
I have to let you in on a little secret… I am OBSESSED with nachos. There is just something about the salty crunchy chip covered in rich warm melted cheese that is the ultimate comfort food for me. Any good nacho connoisseur has a special place in their heart for RO*TEL. You have seen me use it in quite a few recipes on my site, so a big THANK YOU to RO*TEL and ConAgra foods for sponsoring this post so I can bring you my newest (and cheesiest) chicken bake recipe.
I have so many memories of family gatherings growing up. The counters were always packed with dishes everyone brought and there always was a huge variety. The one staple that had to the there though was the RO*TEL cheese dip. It was a given. If we gathered it was there. It is one of those foods that kind of defined those moments…. and maybe where the nacho obsession began.
I will admit that I eat nachos far more than I probably should. I do try to pack them full of healthy extras to justify it, like corn, black beans, avocado, fresh cilantro, and tomatoes. Doesn’t that sounds delicious? So why stop there? I mean the nachos are good because of all the stuff topping them, so why not take all that good stuff and bake it with some tender, juicy chicken breast? BINGO! The Queso Chicken Bake was born!
The reason I love to make chicken bakes so much is that life is BUSY! It is hard to balance it all, and when you have to spend a ton of time in the kitchen daily to make and and then clean up a hot fresh dinner, there is not much time left for family time. If we can make and clean up dinner fast, then we get to do some of our favorite things together like going on walks around the neighborhood in the summer, and snuggling up and watching our favorite TV shows together in the winter.
If you need more super simple, super delicious easy dinner recipes, check out my other Easy Chicken Bake Recipes here! Reader favorites include: Italian Chicken Bake, Fajita Chicken Bake and the Bacon Ranch Chicken Bake. Give them a try!
But back to the food. This recipe is so fantastic because as I mentioned above it is easy so it gives us more time with the fam. Also, it’s queso! I mean let’s be honest, I have 3 small kids, so I go through my fair share of dinnertime battles, but when you are serving queso (packed with wholesome chicken, black beans, tomatoes and corn) the kids gobble it up. Heck! I gobble it up!
Queso Chicken Bake Recipe
To make this dish you need 5 ingredients. That is it.
- Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
- Corn
- Black Beans
- RO*TEL Tomatoes with Green Chilis
- Melty Queso Cheese {I used Velveeta- you want something that will melt well and mix in with the juices to make creamy queso dip!}
Start with a large baking dish. I used a 9×13 glass dish for 4 chicken breasts. Place your chicken flat on the dish. If the chicken breasts are especially thick, you may want to butterfly them (cut in half) to reduce the cooking time.
Open drain and rinse the beans, and open and drain the corn. You will use the full can of RO*TEL. Pour the corn, beans and RO*TEL over the chicken breasts. I use canned corn, because that is what we usually keep on hand, but you could use frozen corn as well, as long as you thaw it.
Next cut the block of Velveeta into small cubes, around 1/2 inch. No need to be exact, but it makes it cover the dish a bit more evenly. I bought a 32 oz block and used half. If you want extra cheese you can use a little bit more. Then spread over the top of the chicken and veggies.
Cover the dish with foil and put it into an oven preheated to 375˚F and bake for 45-55 minutes or until the chicken is done and the juices run clear.
If you like the cheese to be a little crispy on top, remove the foil the last 5 minutes of the cook time. Either way, it is just oooooooey, gooooooey, cheesy goodness topping the delicious chicken and wholesome veggies ready to fill your family up right.
When you take this out of the oven, the cheese will be melted, but the juices from the chicken and all of the veggies will be “watery” at the bottom of the pan. I removed my chicken breasts, then mixed this delicious mixture of chicken broth, RO*TEL, and veggies together with a fork to make the creamiest best queso sauce then spooned the extra sauce on top of the chicken and rice when I served it. A fork or whisk works well to get the cheese to combine into the juices smoothly.
I served this with some Spanish rice I picked up, but you could also serve it with chips, tortillas or even a salad. It is a great way to have a warm comforting meal to the table quick.
Thanks again to ConAgra for sponsoring this post and the Mom It Forward Network for the opportunity. You can find more recipes with RO*TEL and other ConAgra foods on their Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.
ConAgra Foods products can be found in 99 percent of American households, and include many iconic brands such as Hunt’s, Hebrew National, Swiss Miss, Manwich, PAM Cooking Spray and many more. Whether on their own or as part of a delicious recipe, ConAgra Foods brands are perfect for nearly any eating or entertaining occasion.
Hungry for more family-friendly recipes? Sign up for my free recipe club to get new family-friendly recipes in your inbox each week! Find me sharing daily meal-time inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram.
One Dish Queso Chicken Bake {Easy Dinner Recipe}
Ingredients
- 3-4 chicken breasts
- 1 can RO*TEL
- 1 can corn drained
- 1 can black beans drained and rinsed
- 16 oz Velveeta
Instructions
- Place the chicken breast in a baking dish flat. Butterfly breasts if they are especially thick.
- Layer the corn, black beans, and RO*TEL on top of the chicken.
- Dice the queso cheese into 1/2 inch cubes and spread them evenly over the top of the dish.
- Cover the dish with foil and bake in a preheated oven at 375F for 45-55 minutes or until the chicken is done and the juices run clear. *if you want the cheese to be a little crispy remove the foil for the last 5 minutes of baking.
- Remove from oven then remove the chicken breasts from the pan and use a fork or whisk to work the extra cheese into the juices to form more queso sauce.
- Enjoy! Serve over rice, with chips, or with tortillas
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Mike Julian says
The cook times are wrong. I turned the oven to 400 degrees and cooked it for 40 minutes and still wasn’t done and I cut the breast in half and still chicken was not done.
Cortney Daviddon says
What u suggest to cook it at
Jeff says
Operator error.It’s you not the recipe
Melissa Gamache says
Do you have any nutritional content??
Amber Moore says
How many does this recipe serving? I didn’t see a serving amount for how many this feeds.
Kimber says
Generally I use 3-4 chicken breasts when making this. If you do a standard 4 oz portion you would have roughly 6 servings. If you serve a whole large chicken breast to each pursuit would be closer to 4. If you chop up the chicken and serve it over rice you could likely stretch it to 8.
Camille Schaeffer says
The sauce was good and we broke out the chips. Although tender, the chicken did not have any flavor.