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Get a family-friendly dinner on the table fast with this Dump-and-Bake Chicken Taco Casserole! Since there’s no prep work involved, you can serve an easy one dish meal to your hungry family on even your busiest weeknights…and clean-up is a breeze!
If there’s one consistent theme to all of the recipes that I share on this blog, it would definitely be the “quick and easy” dish. At this point in my life, I just don’t have the time, energy, or desire to spend hours crafting the perfect pie crust or simmering the perfect pot of risotto.
Instead, I’m looking for practical solutions that will get my constantly-staaaarving boys a delicious, wholesome meal as easily as possible.
My favorite recipes are those that require minimal prep and don’t necessitate a lot of chopping, mixing, or dirty dishes. And you know what? Today I’m back with another on of those winners! Winner, winner chicken dinner?!
Here’s What You Need:
- Tortilla chips – crushed
- Chicken breasts – boneless and skinless
- Green chilies – chopped
- Corn – frozen
- Taco seasoning
- Condensed cheddar cheese soup – (NOT diluted) I used Campbell’s Healthy Request
- Milk – I used nonfat, but any type will work
- Tomatoes – diced and drained
- Cheddar cheese
Ideas for Toppings
For topping the taco casserole I use a mix of sliced green onions, sliced black olives, diced avocado, sour cream, salsa, and additional crushed chips.
I love this mix of flavors and textures but you can choose whatever toppings you like!
How to Assemble Dump-and-Bake Chicken Taco Casserole:
To make this Chicken Taco Casserole, you’ll start by coarsely crumbling some tortilla chips into the bottom of your baking dish.
Top with chicken breasts (raw), corn (still frozen is fine), and a drained can of mild green chilies.
Sprinkle with taco seasoning (no measuring necessary!), and then spread the cheese sauce over top!
After the casserole bakes in the oven for about 30 minutes, you’ll just add some drained diced tomatoes on top along with a layer of shredded cheese.
Once the cheese is melted and golden brown and your casserole is hot and bubbling, just pull it out of the oven, garnish with any additional toppings that you love, and serve!
You’ve got everything you need in this ONE DISH, friends! Chips! Meat! Veggies! Cheese! Basically, it’s the recipe for a calmer weeknight dinner and a table of happy eaters!
How to Store Leftover Taco Casserole
If you have leftovers then you can store it in the fridge up around 3 days. It can then be reheated in the oven until hot all the way through.
You can also freeze this casserole but I recommend doing this without the toppings.
Serving Suggestions
This chicken taco casserole is a meal all in itself but if you’re serving this for parties or when you have a lot of people to feed you could also serve it with some Mexican rice, salad or chips, and dips!
Top Tips and Variations
- You can prep this casserole in advance and keep it covered in the fridge until you are ready to bake.
- Make sure to grease your baking dish to make sure nothing sticks or burns underneath.
- Feel free to add extra spices to the mix such as red pepper flakes for extra heat.
- You can add whatever toppings you like to this casserole, there are no limits.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Cooking Just for Two? Cut the ingredients in half and prepare the casserole in an 8-inch square baking dish. The cooking instructions remain the same
More Delicious and Easy Casseroles:
- Dump-and-Bake Chicken and Mushroom Casserole
- Dump-and-Bake Chicken Parmesan Casserole
- 4-Ingredient Dump and Bake Pizza Casserole
- Dump-and-Bake Wagon Wheel Pasta Casserole
Dump and Bake Chicken Taco Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 cups coarsely crushed tortilla chips
- 1.5 lbs. skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies
- 1 ½ cups frozen corn
- 2-3 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cheddar cheese soup (NOT diluted) I used Campbell's Healthy Request
- 1/2 cup milk I used nonfat, but any type will work
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- For topping: sliced green onions, sliced black olives, diced avocado, sour cream, salsa, additional crushed chips
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 13-by-9-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Place broken tortilla chips in the bottom of prepared dish. Top with chicken, green chilies, and frozen corn. Sprinkle with taco seasoning.
- In a small bowl, whisk together condensed soup and milk to form a cheese sauce. Spread sauce evenly over top of casserole.
- Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove foil, sprinkle with tomatoes and shredded cheese, and return to oven (uncovered) for approximately 10-20 more minutes (or until chicken is cooked through and cheese is melted). The total cooking time will vary, depending on the thickness of your meat.
- Garnish with desired toppings and serve!
Notes
- Cooking Just for Two? Cut the ingredients in half and prepare the casserole in an 8-inch square baking dish. The cooking instructions remain the same.
- You can prep this casserole in advance and keep it covered in the fridge until you are ready to bake.
- Make sure to grease your baking dish to make sure nothing sticks or burns underneath.
- Feel free to add extra spices to the mix such as red pepper flakes for extra heat.
- You can add whatever toppings you like to this casserole, there are no limits.
- Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days.
That looks really good! I am going to have to try your recipe. I am all about quick dinners too – especially this time of year when the kids have me running all over the place picking them up from various activities. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Jen! Me too — with crazy kids’ schedules there’s no other way to get a meal on the table!
This looks so comforting and easy! I’m all about just throwing things together in a pot for dinner – and it’s a bonus if it ends up tasting fantastic like this would 🙂
Thanks, Holly! Throwing stuff in the pot is the way to go! 🙂
Yum! Love the flavors happening here!!This looks like the perfect week night meal! This just made my list of must makes! Hope that you are doing great Blair! 🙂
Cathy
Thanks, Cathy!!
You always come up with such fabulous, easy-to-make, main dishes!! I LOVE this taco casserole; it’s packed with so much yummy flavor! I bet this one’s gonna be a hit over at my house! Looking forward to making (and eating!) this!
Thanks so much, Anna!
OMG this might be my husband’s heaven! I gotta pin and make it! or can you just come visit? haha
Totally man-friendly food, right?! 🙂
This looks really great and I love how easy it is. I’ve never seen those sauces in England though so I’d have to come up with my own. No worries, I love cooking from scratch! Actually, I’ll have to look up taco seasoning too as I’ve not come across ready made ones here either lol. But I do love the look of this Blair!
Thanks!! Do you have cans of campbell’s condensed soups in England? If so, you could probably use a can of the cheddar condensed soup and dilute it a bit with milk to make it more saucy. Just an idea!! 🙂
Chicken taco casserole sounds delicious! If it’s as easy as dump and bake, I’m all over it.
Exactly, Jen! The best way to cook!
Is a subsitute for the cheese sauce? My local Smith’s does not carry it.
Hi, Yvette! I haven’t tried this exact dish with any other substitutes, so I’m not positive…BUT, it would probably work well to use a can of Campbell’s Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup, but make sure that you add some milk to the soup so that it is more “saucy” as opposed to a thick consistency. You don’t want it runny and soup-like, but definitely more of a sauce. Hope that helps!
Amazon?.. Walmart delivery us similar to Amazon & May be less expensive too…
You can make a cheese sauce with Velveeta and milk
Could this be made in a crockpot
Ty
Hi, Susan! I think it would probably work, but you’ll have a lot more moisture in the dish, so it might seem soggy. The condensation from the top of the slow cooker will drop down onto the casserole. Since you can’t remove the cover and let the top crisp (as you would in the oven), it will also impact the texture of the finished dish.
Where do you find the sauce packs in the grocery store?
Hey, Cassandra! I think it depends on the store, so I’ve even had to ask a store clerk when I wasn’t able to find them on my own. In some stores they are on the same aisle as the soups, and in other stores I have found them near pasta sauces and near seasoning packets (like the chili packets). Hope that helps!
RE: DUMP AND BAKE CHICKEN TACO CASSEROLE
I can’t recall exactly how I was sent this recipe, but it came through on one of the cooking newsletters that I receive. This recipe is definitely quick and easy, but I found the sodium content to be extreme. The current dietary guidelines state that sodium intake should not exceed 2,300 mg/day for adults. Intake below this level is recommended for children younger than 14 years old (children 1-3: 1500 mg/day; children 4-8: 1900 mg/day) and people who have prehypertension or hypertension. A rough estimate of the sodium in one serving of this casserole is 1200 mg. That’s really a lot. I appreciated the ease of the damp and bake method, but I feel compelled to post a suggestion to your readers to consider ways to reduce the sodium content (for example – substitute Campbell’s low sodium condensed soup for the oven sauce; use low sodium cheese; use low salt/no salt added taco chips).
All great ideas! Thanks Carole!!
Is cheeses sauce found in frozen food section? Need to try this.
Hey, Betsy! Nope, it’s not frozen. I have found it in the canned foods — usually near the soups and other Campbell’s products. I have also seen it by the jarred sauces (like the pasta sauces).
Dump & Bake Chicken Taco Casserole:
It can prob be made with ground beef also, would you think? I was thinking just replace the chicken with ground beef and maybe just use the taco seasoning and go thru the same steps? I haven’t seen the Campbell’s seasoning sauces yet, so I’m not sure if there’s one for ground beef but maybe the taco seasoning would be enough spice? Any suggestions I would appreciate? Thank you.
Hi, Darla! Yes, you can definitely use ground beef, too. I would use about 1 – 1.5 lbs. of ground meat, and make sure that you cook it in a skillet with the taco seasoning first. Then use that taco meat in place of the chicken, following the rest of the steps as described in the recipe.
Since you’re using meat that’s already cooked in the skillet, you can probably decrease the baking time by about 10 minutes.
If you omit the cheese sauce entirely, the texture of the dish will be completely different. If you can’t find the Campbell’s cheese sauce, then I would look for a can of Campbell’s condensed cheddar cheese soup and try diluting it with a little bit of milk (maybe 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup) to make the same thick, cheesy sauce. It won’t have exactly the same flavor, but it will still be delicious! 🙂
Blair!
I love that u make your recipes using low fat healthy ingredients which are so important to me! Gonna try this one this week too! Thanks so much!
Wonderful. This one is always a hit!
If a person has ever made Velveta cheese dip with Rotel tomatoes and green chilis should be able to make the cheese sauce for this recipe. Or is just a Southern Recipe? We have it every family get together. I would just melt my Velveta Cheese with a small amount of milk in a crock pot.
Will this make the chips soggy?
Hey, Samantha! It’s kind of hard to describe. They’re maybe a little bit soggy, but it’s more like a crust that forms. We love it!
Of course, if you’d rather, you can always just skip the layer of chips on the bottom and then crumble tortilla chips over top of your chicken right before serving. That would be good as well.
This sounds super comforting, just what I need after a hectic day!
This is a great recipe for busy weeknights. This dish comes together quick with minimal effort and tastes delicious! We love Mexican flavors around here, so this was a winner. Bonus prize, it didn’t break my WW bank either!
That’s great to hear, Christine! Thank you so much for your note. 🙂
This recipe is really delicious! I made it twice now and each time I added all the toppings suggested. Mmm… My new favorite!
That’s awesome, Marilyn! Thanks for your note!