By blog team member, Kiran. To learn more about Kiran, check out our team page or her blog!
We all have go-to recipes we turn to on busy nights when we don't have time to cook. Or nights when we just don't feel like cooking. This Easy Mexican Chicken is one of ours.
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My husband and I came up with this recipe back when we were dating. Yeah, that'll take us back 16 years ago - yikes! It was a go-to for us because we always had most ingredients on hand, and it was always one that we could tweak with minor changes. It's basic upon basic, I know. I mean, if you can rip open a bag and open a can, you're halfway there! So we came up with these silly names for it to make it sound fancier than it really is - El Pollo was one and Chicken Especial was another. Ah, the dating days ...
Back then, we used whatever canned chicken we could find. I had yet to learn about the importance of organic, real food and did not even realize until last year there is now an organic canned chicken option from Valley Fresh! Part of what makes it a better product is that it has minimal ingredients - three to be exact: chicken, water (or broth), and sea salt. You won't find any unwanted preservatives or artificial ingredients. Lisa created a chicken salad recipe with it, and you can substitute it in most recipes that call for shredded or chunks of chicken.
In the meantime, I hope you'll try this recipe, and I'd love to hear what you did with it. Did you make nachos out of it? Serve it atop a bed of greens? Make some tasty burritos out if it? Comment below and let me know if you love this classic as much as my hubs and I do.
Easy Mexican Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 ½ teaspoons olive oil
- ½ onion (medium, diced)
- ½ cup frozen corn
- 1 ½ teaspoons cumin
- 1 10-oz can chicken (Valley Fresh organic, drained (see note))
- 1 can diced tomatoes (drained)
- 1 can black beans (rinsed and drained)
- cheese (shredded, optional)
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a skillet or cast iron pan. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 - 3 minutes.
- Add corn and cumin and cook for 1 minute.
- Add chicken, tomatoes, and black beans and cook for 4 - 5 minutes with an occasional stir.
- Add cheese and cook to combine for one minute.
- Serve on tortillas, with rice, or on tortilla chips.
chris says
We had this tonight for dinner; super good!
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
Yay! Glad that you loved it:).
Carlyn H says
What is the can size for tomatoes and black beans?
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
15 oz black beans; same for tomatoes (though I sometimes use the larger - think it's 28 oz - can to get more tomatoes in). HTH!
Karen P says
Has anyone figured out the calories, fat, protein and carbs in this dish?
Susan says
Quick and easy. I used fresh chicken and ran it through a food processor. Added garlic, salt and pepper with maybe triple the cumin. I like it spicy! I also added cilantro and lime juice. Put it in a flat out wrap with guacamole, Spinanch, and low fat sour cream with 2% mexican cheese. Next time I make it I won't drain the tomatoes and I may add some organic tomato paste.
Kelly Jo says
I just made something similar last night, but added some cream cheese. It was delicious! Put in in a corn tortilla and baked it to get it crispy.
Courtney says
This looks delicious! I love Mexican and am always looking for new ways to spice up my dinners. Check out my latest salmon recipe at https://courtneylivin.wordpress.com/2016/11/19/super-delicious-atlantic-salmon/
Heather says
Delicious! I made it tonight and used leftover chicken from Lisa's crockpot chicken recipe. Served it with rice on tortillas with a little cheese and sour cream. Thanks for a quick and easy weeknight meal that tastes great!
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
Yay! So glad that you loved it.
Allison says
I really appreciate this recipe. I work really hard to have ingredients on hand to make quick meals. Sometimes it's just not possible to keep up or replace used items in the freezer in a timely manner. I love the idea of having canned chicken to throw something together fast.
Kiran Dodeja Smith says
We all need easy go-to meals here and there. Canned chicken is so versatile; hope you get to try this!
Bunny says
Please don’t kill me, my girlfriend made a blog about her everyday problems while becoming vegan and trying to stay active via workouts. She doesn’t really get any comments or like/shares so i’m trying to make commercial for her without her knowing it.
http://healthysmartprincess.com/2016/11/13/fitness-routine-every-little-counts/ Please be nice and read, maybe you like it. Or share it?!