This easy Salsa Chicken requires just one dish and about 10 minutes of prep for a nutritious and family-friendly dinner!
You asked for it, so here it is: a healthy, dump-and-bake dinner with zero points! This easy Salsa Chicken requires just one dish and about 10 minutes of prep for a nutritious and family-friendly dinner!
Whether you serve your chicken in tacos, over rice, on a salad, in a bowl, or stuffed inside quesadillas, the options are endless. This is truly a meal that makes everyone at the table happy.
I’m not exaggerating when I say that every.single.day. I receive emails from lovely readers with almost identical pleas for help.
You’re looking for:
- New, healthy dinner ideas that the whole family can enjoy — not just the person on a “diet;”
- Quick recipes that come together easily at the end of a busy day;
- Affordable options that won’t blow your grocery budget.
And you know what? This Salsa Chicken checks ALL of the boxes!
I’ve never done Weight Watchers, and I don’t know much about how the system works, but I do know that a lot of my readers are finding success with the program.
You’re always looking for new ways to incorporate nutritious low-points dinners into your weekly meal plan, and I’m excited to help you out!
I’ve been preparing a version of this Salsa Chicken for my own family for years, so when I realized that the few ingredients required to make it were all ZERO POINTS on the flexible Weight Watchers list, I knew that I had to share it with you. Whether you’re on Weight Watchers or not, I know that you’re going to love this meal.
It’s approved by me, my husband, and our 3 kiddos!
How to Make Zero Point Salsa Chicken:
While my Dump-and-Bake Salsa Chicken is obviously a nutritious, low-calorie dish, it’s definitely not lacking in flavor!
Best of all, the prep (which only takes minutes) is as easy as 1-2-3. Here’s how it goes:
Step 1: Stir together frozen corn, black beans, diced tomatoes, and salsa in a dish, along with minced garlic and cumin.
Step 2: Place your chicken breasts on top, and season with salt and pepper.
Step 3: Pour additional salsa on top of the chicken; cover; and bake for 45-60 minutes (or until your chicken is done).
In the end, you’ll have zesty, flavorful, tender, and juicy meat that serves as the base for a variety of easy dinners.
How to Serve Salsa Chicken:
- In soft tacos! Stuff the chicken, salsa, corn, and beans into warm tortillas. Top with shredded cheddar cheese, lettuce, sour cream, green onions, olives, guacamole, or any of your other favorite toppings.
- In burrito bowls! Fill a bowl with rice (or cauliflower rice) and top it with the salsa chicken. Add shredded cheddar cheese, lettuce, sour cream, green onions, olives, guacamole, or any of your other favorite fixin’s.
- In quesadillas! Slice (or shred) the chicken and stuff it inside quesadillas. Use the corn and bean salsa as a delicious topping just before serving.
- On taco salad! Keep it really light and enjoy the salsa chicken over a bed of crispy romaine. Add toppings if you like, but it’s certainly not necessary!
I hope that your family loves this meal as much as we do, and that it makes your healthy lifestyle just a wee bit easier!
Cook’s Tips and Recipe Variations:
- For a quicker cooking time, cut larger chicken breasts in half lengthwise to create thinner pieces of meat. Thin, small chicken breasts will be done in about 25-30 minutes.
- Prepare this dinner in the slow cooker! Just place the chicken breast in the bottom of a Crock Pot. Add the remaining ingredients on top. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or on HIGH for 2-3 hours.
- Cooking Just for Two? Cut all of the ingredients in half and prepare the recipe in an 8-inch square baking dish. The cooking time will remain the same.
Other healthy chicken recipes that you might enjoy:
- Chicken Teriyaki {Instant Pot or Slow Cooker}
- Dump-and-Bake Chicken Parmesan Casserole {Lightened Up}
- Crispy Roast Chicken with Vegetables
- Dump-and-Bake Jerk Chicken
Dump-and-Bake Salsa Chicken
This easy Salsa Chicken requires just one dish and about 10 minutes of prep for a nutritious and family-friendly dinner!
Ingredients
- 1 (14.4 ounce) bag frozen corn kernels (about 3 cups)
- 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (15 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 cup salsa divided
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic I like to use a squeeze bottle of fresh minced garlic from the produce section for a shortcut
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Spray a large (9 x 13-inch) baking dish with cooking spray.
- In the prepared dish, stir together frozen corn, black beans, diced tomatoes, ½ cup of salsa, garlic, and cumin.
- Place chicken on top of corn mixture. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Pour remaining ½ cup of salsa over chicken.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for approximately 45-60 minutes, or until internal temperature of chicken reaches 165 degrees F. The total length of cooking time will vary depending on the size of your chicken breasts.
- Remove chicken from dish and slice (or shred with two forks). Return to dish, stir to combine, and serve.
Recipe Notes
- For a quicker cooking time, cut larger chicken breasts in half lengthwise to create thinner pieces of meat. Thin, small chicken breasts will be done in about 25-30 minutes.
- Prepare this dinner in the slow cooker! Just place the chicken breast in the bottom of a Crock Pot. Add the remaining ingredients on top. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours or on HIGH for 2-3 hours.
- Cooking Just for Two? Cut all of the ingredients in half and prepare the recipe in an 8-inch square baking dish. The cooking time will remain the same.
How to Serve Salsa Chicken:
- In soft tacos! Stuff the chicken, salsa, corn, and beans into warm tortillas. Top with shredded cheddar cheese, lettuce, sour cream, green onions, olives, guacamole, or any of your other favorite toppings.
- In burrito bowls! Fill a bowl with rice (or cauliflower rice) and top it with the salsa chicken. Add shredded cheddar cheese, lettuce, sour cream, green onions, olives, guacamole, or any of your other favorite fixin's.
- In quesadillas! Slice (or shred) the chicken and stuff it inside quesadillas. Use the corn and bean salsa as a delicious topping just before serving.
- On taco salad! Keep it really light and enjoy the salsa chicken over a bed of crispy romaine. Add toppings if you like, but it's certainly not necessary!
Jeannie says
March 11, 2018 at 9:20 pmBlair,
I’m not a huge fan of salsa, but my kids are, so this looks like one we should try. I’d like to try it in the crock pot. Do you recommend maybe on low for 2-3 hours or would I just end up with very mushy corn/beans/tomatoes?
Blair says
March 12, 2018 at 5:21 amHi, Jeannie! Yes, the slow cooker should work well! It’s hard to say exactly how long it will take, since different slow cookers run at different temps. In general, if you’re cooking chicken breasts, I think it’s safe to cook them for 3-4 hours on low. You just need to be careful because chicken breasts can dry out pretty easily in the slow cooker, so you don’t want to cook them for too long. Chicken thighs work really well in the slow cooker as an alternative, if you like dark meat. 🙂
Kristy from Southern In Law says
March 12, 2018 at 9:34 pmWe rarely use salsa because we always have leftovers – but now I know what to do with it! I think we’ll have to have salsa on our tacos tonight and then make this later in the week!
Blair says
March 13, 2018 at 6:28 amYou’ll love this dish, Kristy! Thank you!
Cindy says
April 1, 2018 at 10:45 pmWondering if you can freeze this meal in its raw condition and later, thaw and bake?
Blair says
April 2, 2018 at 5:04 amHi, Cindy! Yes! This is a perfect freezer meal!
Kerrie says
May 7, 2019 at 2:16 amHi
Could you freeze this once it is cooked Aswell not raw?
Blair says
May 7, 2019 at 5:17 amHey, Kerrie! Yes — the leftovers freeze really well!
Susan says
May 31, 2018 at 11:54 amThank you for this quick put together chicken recipe. I’m making it tonight. Sounds wonderful.
Blair says
May 31, 2018 at 3:45 pmAwesome! Enjoy, Susan!
Amy says
June 7, 2018 at 10:09 pmThanks for saving dinnertime tonight Blair!! I got home exhausted from work, with my husband and hour behind me, also exhausted from work. Our 19.5 month old toddler needed supper, a bath, etc etc. What to make for dinner?! I had a look through your chicken recipes and this one jumped out. Lo and behold, I had all the ingredients! We’ve not even eaten it yet, but it smells so good I know it’s going to be delicious. Quick, easy, healthy: exactly what we needed on this tired, hungry, busy summer weeknight. Thank you so much!!!
Blair says
June 8, 2018 at 7:51 pmThat’s wonderful, Amy! I hope that it was a hit! 🙂
Chasity says
June 10, 2018 at 5:52 pmHow many days do you recommend to be consumed once cooked separated and put back in fridge.. (Basically meal prepping!)
Blair says
June 10, 2018 at 8:05 pmHi, Chasity! I have enjoyed it for at least 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator. I even eat it cold — wrapped up in a tortilla or on top of a salad! 🙂
Kim H. says
June 21, 2018 at 5:07 pmI am confused. The ingredients here are all zero points, but the nutritional facts below come up to 7 points. Are you able to provide a breakdown of where the totals came from?
Blair says
June 21, 2018 at 5:59 pmHey, Kim! If you use the Recipe Builder on the Weight Watchers app or website, it will show you that the zero points ingredients all add up to a zero points meal. Don’t use the total calories and nutrition facts, because that will give you the wrong point value. Just like plain nonfat Greek yogurt, for example — that’s a zero points food, but if you just enter the nutrition facts for the yogurt, it will give you a point value. Hope that makes sense! 🙂
Lindsey Ducker says
May 13, 2019 at 10:35 pmI made this tonight and it is DELICIOUS! Thank you for the amazing recipe. It will definitely be a keeper.
Blair says
May 14, 2019 at 5:20 amYay! Thanks, Lindsey!
Rachel says
July 5, 2018 at 1:56 pmCan I use canned corn
Blair says
July 5, 2018 at 4:26 pmHi, Rachel! Yes, you can definitely use drained, canned corn. 🙂
Jennifer says
September 7, 2018 at 11:08 pmI cooked my meal for 50 mins and my chicken was no where to be done. It’s going to cook uncovered for 25 more minutes. I pounded out my chicken too. Very strange to me.
Blair says
September 8, 2018 at 4:59 amHey, Jennifer! That’s definitely strange! The chicken breasts (especially if they’re thin) should definitely be cooked through in 50 minutes! Hope that the additional time helped. 🙂
Abbie says
February 12, 2019 at 11:43 pmI have made this twice and it has always taken considerably more than 45-60 minutes. Maybe wrong oven temp?
Blair says
February 13, 2019 at 7:30 amHey, Abbie! The cooking time for chicken breasts can vary drastically, depending on the size of your meat. You’re probably using very large chicken? If you want to cut down on the cooking time, just use cutlets, tenderloins, or boneless breasts that you slice in half. 🙂
Abbie says
February 13, 2019 at 9:16 amI butterflied the chicken breast last time and still needed to cooked them for another 30 minutes uncovered.
Bella says
September 27, 2018 at 1:20 pmWhat can you use instead of corn?
Bella says
September 27, 2018 at 1:22 pmIf you are unable to eat corn, what would you suggest using?
Blair says
September 27, 2018 at 1:24 pmHi, Bella! You can use an equal amount of additional black beans (or sub with another kind of bean like pinto beans), an equal amount of frozen lima beans, frozen diced carrots, chopped onion, or just about any other vegetable that you enjoy! 🙂
Michele says
November 8, 2018 at 3:16 pmI cook for my parents every week, I am thinking of putting this together in the morning and having my mom get to my house before I get home from work to throw in the oven — this way she doesn’t have to do any of the work and it’s ready sooner rather than waiting to get home and put it together. Do you think that would be ok??
Blair says
November 8, 2018 at 8:03 pmYes! That will work perfectly! Enjoy, Michele!
Joanne Hall says
November 29, 2018 at 2:06 pmI have just made this and it was delicious – I used sweetcorn from our farm that I froze way back in summer, and Quorn because my partner is vegetarian. It worked really well!
Blair says
November 30, 2018 at 5:16 amSounds perfect, Joanne! Thanks so much!
April says
January 29, 2019 at 6:00 pmDo you think you could cook trice directly IN this recipe while it’s in the oven? Is there enough liquid? Thanks !
April says
January 29, 2019 at 6:01 pm*rice
Blair says
January 29, 2019 at 6:58 pmHi, April! It will depend on how much rice you use and what type of rice. If you’re using long grain rice, you will probably need to add some broth or liquid before baking. If you use instant rice or parboiled rice (which absorbs less liquid), then it may be enough. Sorry I can’t be more specific — I just haven’t tested it this way. 🙂
Tara J. says
February 7, 2019 at 3:15 pmHi – I would love to make this tonight, I have thin slice chicken cutlets from Wegmans. How long do you think I should try cooking for? They are not as thick as a chicken breast. Is your recipe for pounded even chicken breasts?
Blair says
February 7, 2019 at 4:34 pmHi, Tara! The thinner chicken cutlets will bake much faster than the thicker chicken breasts that I used. I would start with about 30 minutes, check the meat, and then return it to the oven if it’s not quite done at that point. Enjoy!
Jane says
March 5, 2019 at 5:56 pmHi Blair , I made your Salsa Chicken last night for dinner .. at the last few mins I sprinkled on some cheddar cheese and let it melt and it was amazing … we put jalapenos and sour cream on top and it just brought it all togather ..its a keeper that’s for sure ….yummmm
Blair says
March 6, 2019 at 7:30 amWonderful! That sounds delicious, Jane!
Joann says
March 10, 2019 at 12:59 pmCan this be cooked in an Instant Pot pressure cooker?
Blair says
March 10, 2019 at 4:06 pmHi, Joann! I bet it would work well in the Instant Pot! I haven’t tested it myself, so I can’t give you specific timing, but I would look at this Instant Pot chicken recipe and start there for the timing and settings: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/slow-cooker-root-beer-barbecue-chicken/
Let me know if you give it a shot!
Beth says
May 30, 2019 at 5:42 pmDid you try this recipe in the instant pot? If so, how did you adapt the recipe, please?
Ellen W says
March 10, 2019 at 4:47 pmSo glad I found this recipe! My husband (the picky eater) likes it! Of course I had to leave out the black beans… but its still delicious. I add a big squeeze of lime and some cilantro before serving.
Blair says
March 10, 2019 at 6:10 pmThat’s wonderful! Thank you, Ellen!
Tiffany says
April 3, 2019 at 3:39 pmHi does the chicken need to be thawed first or would this work for frozen chicken. I always forget to take the chicken out of freezer. Thanks love your recipes
Blair says
April 4, 2019 at 5:54 amI always thaw the chicken first, but I suppose you could bake it frozen — you’ll just have to extend the baking time. I would think that a frozen chicken breast should take about twice as long as the thawed version. 🙂
Jo says
April 6, 2019 at 7:01 pmBlair, could you us chicken tenders for this meal? Would make it eazy to put in tortillas when done.
Blair says
April 7, 2019 at 5:15 amHi, Jo! Yes — that would be a great option. The tenders will cook faster than chicken breasts, so it will cut down on your baking time too. 🙂
Rachelle says
April 15, 2019 at 9:14 pmDelicious
Theresa says
May 2, 2019 at 5:13 pm❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Trying your jerk and Parmesan chicken recipes next. Thanks
Blair says
May 3, 2019 at 5:26 amThanks, Theresa! I hope you enjoy the recipes!