Salsa Chicken

This Salsa Chicken recipe is easy to bake in a casserole dish and serve with rice. It has layers of cream cheese, refried beans, salsa, and melted cheese!

Prep Time15

Cook Time40

Total Time55

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Servings: people

Calories: 612kcal

Author: Stephanie

Ingredients

2 large boneless/skinless chicken breast about 1 ¾ lbs.
1 oz. packet Taco Seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 oz. cream cheese at room temperature
16 oz. Refried Beans
16 oz. Salsa equal to 2 cups
3/4 cups cheddar cheese shredded
3/4 cups Monterey Jack cheese shredded
Fresh Parsley or Cilantro, to garnish

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°.
Slice the chicken in half lengthwise to create 2-3 thinner slices. Place in a gallon freezer bag (or in between saran wrap) and use the textured side of a meat mallet to pound it to ½ inch thick. Pat completely dry.
Season each side with taco seasoning.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken in batches for 3-4 minutes per side, until a golden crust has developed. Set aside.
Spread the softened cream cheese in an even layer on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish. (You can also use a round 12-inch baking dish.)
Spread the refried beans on top, then add the salsa, followed by the chicken.
Add the cheese on top of the chicken. Cover and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove the cover and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
Garnish with cilantro and serve!

Notes

Pro Tips

Shred the cheese from a block instead of using packaged shredded cheese if possible, it will melt and taste much better. I use a combination of Cracker Barrel Yellow Cheddar and Cabot Monterey Jack Cheese.
Any kind of salsa works great for this recipe, I actually like this super affordable and easy to find Pace salsa. You can also make my homemade salsa recipe.
I use Philadelphia cream cheese and Old El Paso Refried Beans for this recipe as well.

Storage

Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Nutritional Facts are per serving. There are 4 servings in this recipe. Note that the nutritional information shared is an estimate.

Nutrition

Recipe Source: TheCozyCook.com - For pro tips, step-by-step photos, storage information, and to save it to your account, visit https://framework-keystone.live/salsa-chicken/%3C/strong%3E%3C/p%3E%3C/div%3E%3C/div%3E%3Cscript%3Ewindow.wprm_recipes = {"recipe-32358":{"type":"food","name":"Salsa Chicken","slug":"wprm-salsa-chicken","image_url":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Salsa-Chicken-Recipe-f.jpg","rating":{"count":37,"total":184,"average":4.98,"type":{"comment":37,"no_comment":0,"user":0},"user":0},"ingredients":[{"uid":0,"amount":"2","unit":"","name":"large boneless\/skinless chicken breast","notes":"about 1 \u00be lbs.","converted":{"2":{"amount":"2","unit":""}},"id":6666,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"","timestamp":1778511512000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"","unitParsed":""},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"2","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}},{"uid":2,"amount":"1","unit":"oz.","name":"packet Taco Seasoning","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"1","unit":"oz.","unit_id":12936}},"unit_id":12936,"id":8283,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"1","unit":"oz.","timestamp":1778511512000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"1","unit":"oz.","unitParsed":"oz."},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"1","unit":"oz.","unitParsed":"oz."}}},{"uid":12,"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","name":"olive oil","notes":"","unit_id":12930,"id":3645,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","timestamp":1778511512000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"2","unit":"tablespoons","unitParsed":"tablespoons"}}},{"uid":3,"amount":"8","unit":"oz.","name":"cream cheese","notes":"at room temperature","converted":{"2":{"amount":"8","unit":"oz.","unit_id":12936}},"unit_id":12936,"id":4388,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"8","unit":"oz.","timestamp":1778511512000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"8","unit":"oz.","unitParsed":"oz."},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"8","unit":"oz.","unitParsed":"oz."}}},{"uid":4,"amount":"16","unit":"oz.","name":"Refried Beans","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"16","unit":"oz.","unit_id":12936}},"unit_id":12936,"id":8284,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"16","unit":"oz.","timestamp":1778511512000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"16","unit":"oz.","unitParsed":"oz."},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"16","unit":"oz.","unitParsed":"oz."}}},{"uid":5,"amount":"16","unit":"oz.","name":"Salsa","notes":"equal to 2 cups","converted":{"2":{"amount":"16","unit":"oz.","unit_id":12936}},"unit_id":12936,"id":4949,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"16","unit":"oz.","timestamp":1778511512000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"16","unit":"oz.","unitParsed":"oz."},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"16","unit":"oz.","unitParsed":"oz."}}},{"uid":10,"amount":"3\/4","unit":"cups ","name":"cheddar cheese","notes":"shredded","converted":{"2":{"amount":"84.75","unit":"g","unit_id":12941}},"unit_id":12935,"id":4429,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"3\/4","unit":"cups ","timestamp":1778511512000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"3\/4","unit":"cups ","unitParsed":"cups "},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"84.75","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":11,"amount":"3\/4","unit":"cups","name":"Monterey Jack cheese","notes":"shredded","converted":{"2":{"amount":"84.75","unit":"g","unit_id":12941}},"unit_id":12935,"id":4257,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"3\/4","unit":"cups","timestamp":1778511512000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"3\/4","unit":"cups","unitParsed":"cups"},"unit-system-2":{"amount":"84.75","unit":"g","unitParsed":"g"}}},{"uid":9,"amount":"","unit":"","name":"Fresh Parsley or Cilantro, to garnish","notes":"","converted":{"2":{"amount":"","unit":""}},"id":11971,"conversion_item_snapshot":{"amount":"","unit":"","timestamp":1778511512000},"type":"ingredient","unit_systems":{"unit-system-1":{"amount":"","unit":"","unitParsed":""}}}],"originalServings":"4","originalServingsParsed":4,"currentServings":"4","currentServingsParsed":4,"currentServingsFormatted":"4","currentServingsMultiplier":1,"originalSystem":1,"currentSystem":1,"favorite":false,"unitSystems":[1,2],"originalAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"currentAdvancedServings":{"shape":"round","unit":"inch","diameter":0,"width":0,"length":0,"height":0},"collection":{"servingsUnit":"people","servingsUnitRaw":"people","originalServings":"4","originalServingsParsed":4,"type":"recipe","recipeId":32358,"name":"Salsa Chicken","image":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Salsa-Chicken-Recipe-f-500x500.jpg","servings":4,"parent_id":"32340","parent_url":"https:\/\/thecozycook.com\/salsa-chicken\/","cachedAt":1778511512,"modifiedAt":1743589748}}}