Salsa Verde Chicken Skillet Bake
Salsa Verde Chicken Skillet Bake- Rotisserie chicken is coated in salsa verde, loaded with cheese, and layered with refried beans and fresh corn in this quick and delicious one skillet meal.
May 3, 2021 by Nicole Collins
Ole, ole, ole, ole.
I can't believe we're in the month of May.
I also can't believe my second favorite holiday is only 2 days away! Give me all the chips, all the guac, all the tacos, and ALLLLLLL the Corona with lime on Cinco de Mayo!
You guys know I live for all things Mexican food. There will never be a day that you'll find me without chips, salsa, avocados, or limes in the house. But yesterday, I opened my pantry and chuckled at myself when I saw the 3 jars of salsa verde stacked sky high on the shelf.
When I was testing today's recipe, I tried Aldi's brand of salsa verde for the first time. And, I think I found heaven. It's sooooo freaking good. But, anyone that shops at Aldi knows that's it can be dangerous to fall in love with any products from Aldi. I didn't know if this salsa was a special find or not, so I panicked at the thought of never having it again.
So I was chatting with my mom about this incredible salsa verde, and I told her my fears of it not being there the next time I went Aldi shopping. And, bless her heart. She ordered me like 4 jars in her next Instacart order!
Side note, after seeing this salsa verde there multiple times now, I'm thinking it is a regular item. So, I don't feel like I have to hoard the jars I have which is awesome! And, that means today's recipe will be on repeat whether it's Cinco de Mayo or not!
Today, we're making Salsa Verde Chicken Skillet Bake!
This one skillet meal takes a couple grocery store shortcuts, but the final result is a super delicious, super simple family style skillet bake. And if this meal wasn't already easy enough, it's on the table in under 30 minutes!
Layer one starts with a simple schmear of store bought refried beans. We're adding so much other goodness to this layered bake, we don't even need to do anything to the beans first to doctor them up. Just scoop the beans out of the can, cover the bottom of your skillet in an even layer of beans, and we can call step one done!
The next layer of our skillet bake is where we get to the good stuff. I started with a store bought rotisserie chicken that I shredded, but if you have leftover chicken in your fridge or have some chicken in the freezer that you need to cook up and use, that will totally work too. To the chicken, we'll add our favorite brand of prepared salsa verde and some shredded pepperjack cheese. Mix it all together, and spread it right over top of the beans. Then, for good measure, we'll add another layer of pepperjack cheese on top of the chicken mix, and to the oven the skillet goes to start heating up the chicken and melting the cheese.
After about 10 mins, we're going to add some corn to the party. So, sprinkle some corn kernels right over top of the cheese, and back to the oven the skillet goes, but this time on broil. We'll let the bake broil until the cheese is golden and bubbly and the corn just starts to char.
To cool down our hot chicken skillet, we're going to top the whole thing with some mashed avocado, some thinly sliced radishes, and a drizzle of sour cream. And, that's it! We're ready to eat after less than 30 minutes!
Here's the cool thing about this skillet bake. You can choose your own adventure of how you want to eat it! You can serve it family style right from the skillet like a warm, gooey dip. You can use it as a filling for a hard or soft taco. You could go straight at it with a spoon. There are sooooo many ways to devour this amazing meal! So, that makes it perfect for family dinner or as a potluck party dish.
Despite adding a couple spicy elements like the salsa and the pepperjack to this bake, this dish is not spicy at all. The spicy peppers are completely balanced out by the creamy beans and cool avocado to create a beautiful harmony. The beans are savory. The cheese makes the chicken gooey. The corn adds a pop of texture. And, the cool garnishes on top add a nice temperature contrast that makes every bite ultimately enjoyable.
Can you think of any better reason to fiesta then siesta???
Ok, everyone! Even though Cinco de Mayo is on Wednesday, we're actually not traveling to Mexico with our meal. Instead, we're switching it up and traveling to Italy thanks to a special Instagram collaboration I'm participating in. And, it's a good one, so stay tuned!
Until then, enjoy! And, let's eat!
Salsa Verde Chicken Skillet Bake
Serves: 4 Print
Ingredients:
1 can (16 oz) refried beans
2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 ½ cups prepared salsa verde
1 cup shredded pepperjack cheese, divided
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1 cup corn, thawed if frozen
1 avocado, mashed
juice of ¼ lime
salt, to taste
1 small radish, thinly sliced
sour cream, if desired
tortilla chips, for serving
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread refried beans all over the bottom of a 10 inch oven safe skillet.
To a mixing bowl, add chicken, salsa verde, ½ cup pepperjack, and ½ cup cheddar cheese. Mix well to combine. Spread chicken mix over top of the refried beans in the skillet. Top with remaining cheese. Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cheese has melted.
Increase the oven temperature to broil. Spread corn over the top of the cheese in the skillet. Broil for 5-10 mins until the cheese starts to brown and the corn starts to char.
Meanwhile, add avocado, lime juice, and a pinch of salt to a small mixing bowl. Mix well to combine.
To serve, top skillet bake with mashed avocado mix, radishes, and sour cream, if desired. Serve with tortilla chips. Enjoy!
Recipe notes:
*If you want your sour cream to be a thinner, drizzling consistency; add a splash of water and mix well.
*I recommend shredding the cheese yourself for this recipe. It will be much meltier and have better cheesepull than using the prebagged stuff.
*You could certainly use chicken you cooked yourself for this recipe, but store bought rotisserie chicken is just too easy. I used a mix of light and dark meat for this recipe, but you can use whatever you like.
*I was craving corn on the cob, so that's what I used for this recipe. I like to roast fresh corn in the oven by putting it on a baking sheet while it's still in its husk, and roasting at 350 degrees for 30 mins. When it's cool enough to touch, remove the husk, and cut the kernels off the cob. You could use fresh or frozen corn for this recipe. Your choice!
