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.
Mexican Chicken Taco Casserole with Olives, Peppers & Queso Fresco Cheese
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
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
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.
Gwen @SimplyHealthyFamily
That's so funny and so true. Olives ment Thanksgiving as a kid and now we eat them almost every day (great MUFA 😉 of course)
queso fresco is a fav of mine and luckily it's readily available here in the south west.
Deborah
I love this!! And I love watching all of the kids every holiday, grabbing for the olives to put on their fingers like your adorable boys did.
Julie
Just wanted to let you know, the translation of "queso fresco" is "fresh cheese". So, every time you type "queso fresco cheese" you are saying "fresh cheese cheese". 🙂
Gwen @SimplyHealthyFamily
😉
addie | culicurious
oh my, this looks great, Dara. I love olives too 🙂
Lauren @ Part Time House Wife
Black olives are the one food I just can't trick myself into loving... but this dish...this dish looks incredible! I'll take it minus the olives! lol
Jen @ Savory Simple
This looks great! I love how it's a healthy Mexican meal. It's hard to come by those!
Cathy @ Noble Pig
Ah yes, the olive fingers at Thanksgiving, I remeber it well. But this is a fantastic way to eat olives, what a beautiful dish!
Brenda @ a farmgirl's dabbles
This recipe would go over fabulously in our home. Especially preparing it with the girls, with olives on our fingers! I've completely enjoyed getting to know you in OR, Dara - hope we can meet up again soon! 🙂
Lana @ Never Enough Thyme
Oh, wow, this looks incredibly delicious. Love everything single thing about this recipe! Yum.
Cassie
Totally digging this, Dara, this would be an instant hit in my house!
Nancie McDermott @
Gorgeous and irresistible. I love the play-by-play illustration of how this casserole comes together, from corn tortillas on the bottom to black olive-abundance on top. Favorite photo: chopped onions and pepper/blue bowl of black olives/sauteed vegetable in all their glory. Cannot wait to make this.
Laura (Tutti Dolci)
I love this casserole, what great flavors!
Elizabeth@ Food Ramblings
I want to eat this right now! Love olives!!!
Liz @ The Lemon Bowl
My husband could eat an entire jar of black olives!! This recipe looks delish.
Traci
What a fantastic looking good for you casserole! I love it!
Katrina @ In Katrina's Kitchen
I am a fool for olives!!
Sprigs of Rosemary
I remember -- quite well -- doing that with olives myself. This looks wonderful, and a kid pleaser, to boot. Saved!
Bev @ Bev Cooks
Have. Mercy.
Robyn | Add a Pinch
This looks so delicious, Dara. Love anything with olives!
bellini
It looks so delicious. I even have all of the ingredients including California olives.