Mexican Chicken Taco Casserole

Turn tasty tacos into a crowd-pleasing casserole. Chicken, olives and peppers are layered in this family-friendly recipe.

In our family, we need very few excuses to eat olives. When I was a kid, holiday dinners with my aunt, uncle and cousins were an opportunity for the kids to scarf down as many black olives as we possibly could before the adults noticed. Of course, the adults were onto our ploy and, eventually, they started buying California Ripe Olives with the pits still in them. That way, they could track the number of olives consumed (and set a cut-off point) by the number of pits on our plates. Foiled again!

National Taco Day, on October 4th, was as good an excuse as any to crack open a can or two of California Ripe Olives. The first can was used for this hearty Mexican Chicken Taco Casserole. The second can was quickly absconded by my two boys, as they plucked the olives out of the can and firmly planted them on their fingers, to be savored one-by-one.

To make the assembly of this casserole as easy as possible, use chicken breasts from a supermarket roasted chicken, and your favorite pre-prepared enchilada sauce. I prefer the green enchilada sauce, but red will work just as well here.

Simply layer the corn tortillas, chicken, sautéed and spiced peppers, black beans, queso fresco cheese, enchilada sauce and California Ripe Olives to form a towering lasagne-like casserole. Pop it in the oven and you’ll be rewarded 45 minutes later with a hearty, satisfying meal for your family.

The recipe:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add onion, and Anaheim and bell peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender.

Coat a 7- by 11-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread ½ cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of the dish.

Lay 4 tortillas over the sauce, tearing the tortillas as necessary to make them fit properly.

Spread ⅓ each of the pepper mixture, chicken, olives, black beans, queso fresco cheese and cilantro over the tortillas.

Top with ½ cup of the enchilada sauce and 4 additional tortillas. Repeat the layers two more times, ending with corn tortillas, ½ cup enchilada sauce and queso fresco cheese.

Cover the baking dish with foil and place it on a baking sheet. Bake until the casserole is bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes.

Remove the foil and cook for additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.
Let the casserole cool for about 15 minutes to allow it to set. Cut and serve.

Printable Recipe

Mexican Chicken Taco Casserole

Turn tasty tacos into a crowd-pleasing casserole. Chicken, olives and peppers are layered in this family-friendly recipe.

4.75 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Entrees

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: Poultry Recipes

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 55 minutes minutes

Cooling Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 Servings

Calories: 268kcal

Author: Dara Michalski | Cookin' Canuck

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion chopped
• 1 large Anaheim pepper thinly sliced
• 2 red bell peppers thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 ½ cups enchilada sauce I prefer green
• 16 corn tortillas
• 2 cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, shredded
• ½ cup sliced California black olives
• 1 14 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 4 ounces queso fresco cheese crumbled (plus more for garnish)
• ¼ cup minced cilantro plus more for garnish

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Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet set over medium heat. Add onion, and Anaheim and bell peppers. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
• Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender.
• Coat a 7- by 11-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Spread ½ cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of the dish.
• Lay 4 tortillas over the sauce, tearing the tortillas as necessary to make them fit properly.
• Spread ⅓ each of the pepper mixture, chicken, olives, black beans, queso fresco cheese and cilantro over the tortillas.
• Top with ½ cup of the enchilada sauce and 4 additional tortillas. Repeat the layers two more times, ending with corn tortillas, ½ cup enchilada sauce and queso fresco cheese.
• Cover the baking dish with foil and place it on a baking sheet.
• Bake until the casserole is bubbling, 40 to 45 minutes.
• Remove the foil and cook for additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.
• Let the casserole cool for about 15 minutes to allow it to set. Cut and serve.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Serving (⅛ of Recipe) | Calories: 268kcal | Carbohydrates: 35g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 1124mg | Potassium: 326mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1775IU | Vitamin C: 42.2mg | Calcium: 142mg | Iron: 1.8mg

Tried this recipe?If you make this recipe, I'd love to see it on Instagram! Just use the hashtag #COOKINCANUCK and I'll be sure to find it.

Disclosure: This post was sponsored by Kitchen Play and California Ripe Olives. Additionally, they provided product to make the recipe. All opinions are my own. I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.