Great Casserole I like to make it a little hotter
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 can cream of chicken soup
- 1 1/3 cups rice uncooked
- 2 2/3 cups water
- 4 cups colby jack cheese shredded
- 4 chicken breast halves boneless, skinless
- 1 cup salsa hot or mild your preference
- 1/2 cup salsa verde
- 1 can southwestern black beans with spices, drained
- 1/2 can green chiles chopped
- 1/2 tb good chili powder or more
- 3 or 4 shakes good hot sauce or more
- Carbohydrate 49.2087868958012 g
- Cholesterol 94.265 mg
- Fat 28.3057073458038 g
- Fiber 3.29438878188897 g
- Protein 32.8827529170832 g
- Saturated Fat 13.6919881875081 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (475g)
- Sodium 1863.60569212096 mg
- Sugar 45.9143981139122 g
- Trans Fat 3.9406269915911 g
- Calories 599 calories
Step-by-step
- Place rice and water in saucepan and bring to a boil, reduce to low cover and simmer 20 min.
- While rice is cooking, place chicken in large saucepan, cover with water, bring to a boil then simmer for 20 minutes or until done. Remove from water, cool then chop into bite size pieces.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees, lightly grease 9 x 13 pan.
- In a large bowl mix soups, onion, salsa, green chiles, beans, chili powder and hot sauce. Mix well.
- Layer 1/2 the rice, 1/2 the chicken and 1/2 the soup mixture and 1/2 the cheese. Repeat 2nd time ending in cheese. Bake for 40 min or until bubbly.
Standard baked casseroles fail most often because cooks underestimate the moisture released by canned soups and vegetables during baking. When building layered dishes containing uncooked starches alongside wet ingredients, moisture management dictates the final structure. Rice continues absorbing liquid as the oven heats, but excessive water from undrained elements or unreduced salsas creates a soggy grain bed rather than distinct, tender kernels. Pre-cooking the rice for twenty minutes in a measured ratio of water prevents this saturation by allowing the starch granules to gelatinize before hitting the oven. Control the thermal environment of the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit so that the dairy proteins in the four cups of shredded colby jack cheese melt smoothly without breaking or releasing excess grease before the interior reaches a bubbling 160 degrees. Chopping the poached chicken breasts into uniform bite-sized pieces ensures that heat penetrates the dense protein fibers at an even rate during the forty-minute bake time. Stirring the chopped onion, condensed mushroom and chicken soups, black beans, green chiles, chili powder, and hot sauce into a cohesive base before assembly distributes the seasoning evenly throughout the dish, preventing pockets of raw spice. Layering half the components sequentially guarantees that the cheese blankets both the center and the top crust, creating structural integrity when portioned into eight servings. Texture relies on balancing the moisture of the salsa verde and standard salsa with the dry heat of the oven, allowing the top layer of cheese to brown slightly while the interior stays cohesive and moist without pooling liquid at the bottom of the nine-by-thirteen-inch baking pan.
