Mexican Chicken and Rice Bake

Recipe By:

Perfect Italiano

perfectitaliano.com.au [1]

Prep Time:

10 minutes

Cook Time:

45 minutes

Serves:

Easy oven baked Mexican chicken and rice dinner recipe that takes only 10 minutes to prepare. Full of flavour and topped with Mexican Style cheese blend, this Mexican chicken and rice recipe is also a one-pan recipe so there's less washing up.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil
500g chicken thigh fillets, thickly sliced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 cups long-grain white rice
2 tsp Mexican chilli powder
375g jar mild enchilada sauce
4 cups (1 litre) salt-reduced chicken stock
310g jar roast capsicum strips, drained
1 ⅔ cups (150g) Perfect Italiano™ Perfect Mexican cheese
⅓ cup fresh coriander, chopped
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1 fresh long green chilli, thinly sliced, to serve
1 tbsp chopped pickled jalapenos slices, to serve
Lime wedges, to serve
Sour cream, to serve

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 180°C fan-forced.
Heat oil in a large ovenproof saucepan pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken, stirring, for 5 minutes or until browned.
Add garlic and red onion and cook, stirring for 5 minutes or until softened. Add rice. Stir to coat. Add sauce, chilli powder, stock and capsicum. Stir to combine. Bring to the boil. Cover. Transfer to oven. Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove from oven. Uncover. Stir half the Mexican cheese into rice mixture. Level top. Scatter with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, for 15 minutes or until rice is tender and cheese is golden and melted.
Scatter with coriander and spring onion. Serve with, chilli, jalapenos, lime wedges and sour cream, if desired.

Tips & Hints

Perfect Italiano™ Perfect Melt cheese works well in this recipe too.