"One Pot" recipes have become favorites of mine, since a) I hate washing dishes and b) I hate washing dishes. By the way, did I mention that I hate washing dishes? Because I do. I hate it.
But you know what I don't hate? Delicious chicken, beans, corn, rice, tomato, avocado, onions, and cheese all cooked together in one pot with salsa and Mexican seasonings and ready to eat in 30 minutes. Nope, I don't hate that at all. In fact, I love it very much.
So much that I'll be making One Pot Cheesy Chicken Taco Rice again this week.
Now I know this is called "One Pot Cheesy Chicken Taco Rice", but if you're more of a beef or turkey fan, feel free to switch out the ground meat. If you don't like beans, nix them. If you prefer quinoa, be my guest. Throw some jalapenos in there if you like heat. Really, this dish is quite versatile, so work with what you have on hand!
Speaking of work, can I just say how weird it feels to be back at work after the 4th? Yesterday I could not focus. Today, I'm totally zoned out. I'm in a creative slump and I still have no idea what I'm going to be cooking tomorrow. This blog post? Well I really have no direction and I'm just hoping for your sake that you overlook most of it and focus instead on the pictures.
See how cheesy that is? Look at all of the colors. It's way more enticing than anything I could write right now. OOOOH. AHH.
But you know what? These kind of one pot meals-- the ones you just kind of throw in a skillet and grunt at or something, maybe stir every once in a while if you're feeling up to it-- are the kind people like me need on days like today. No nonsense. No challenge. Hardly any clean-up. Tons of taste.
Now if you'll pardon me, I'm going to leave you with the recipe and go do some jumping jacks or something to get the blood pumping again. Let me know what you think of this recipe if you give it a try, and feel free to leave some "Morgan, this is how you can get your brain to function again after a long weekend" tips in the comments section.
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One Pot Cheesy Chicken Taco Rice
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
Ingredients
- 1 - 1.5 lbs lean ground chicken
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon canola oil, plus an extra drizzle for cooking the rice
- 1 ½ cups uncooked instant brown rice
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
- 1 (14.5 oz) jar salsa
- 1 cup corn kernels
- 1 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 Roma tomato, diced
- ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 avocado, peeled and diced
- 1 green onion, chopped, to garnish
- Fresh cilantro, to taste
Instructions
- Add oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add in the ground chicken and break it up a bit with a wooden spoon. Add the diced onion and cook until the chicken has browned and the onion is translucent.
- Move the chicken and onion over to one side of the pan and drizzle just a bit more oil on the empty side. Add in the uncooked rice and toss it around briefly to toast it.
- Stir in the spices, chicken broth, salsa, corn, and black beans. Bring the liquids to a simmer and then reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 18 minutes, or until rice is tender and liquid has absorbed.
- Taste the rice and adjust seasoning to your liking. Sprinkle the tomato, cheese, and avocado over the rice and then cover once more until the cheese melts, about 2 minutes. Then sprinkle with green onion and cilantro and serve!
Notes
Feel free to sub in pinto beans for black beans (or use them in addition) if desired!
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 25 mins
Jenna says
Could you use cooked shredded chicken for this instead of ground chicken? Going to try this soon thanks!
Morgan says
You can definitely do that! Just add the chicken in later in the recipe, as you don't want to overcook it. =)
Gurinder says
This looks amazing, I can't wait to give it a try! I've been searching for a great summer dish and it looks like this fits the bill
Gurinder says
So I made this today, and just blew my mind, I ended up using ground turkey instead of chicken (hey a bird is a bird) it turned out so good that I'll be making it again and again and again throughout the summer. I also put in some chopped jalapeno peppers to give it an extra kick.
Love this blog and keep posting!
Kate @ ¡Hola! Jalapeño@ says
Seriously amazing! I'd be afraid I'd eat the whole thing myself!
Hannah says
Morgan,
I've been making your cubano sandwiches for a while (via foodgawker) and for some reason, I never looked at the rest of the recipes on your blog until today. Based on the amount of recipes I flagged, food we apparently both like, and your sarcastic sense of humor, I think we could be best foodie friends forever (bfffs, if you will). Thanks for the great recipes. Carry on, food warrior 🙂
Morgan says
Haha thanks Hannah! Always happy to make a new bfff =) I'm so glad you enjoy the recipes and posts. Thanks again for the nice comment!!
Sharon says
Hi Morgan,
I made this today and it is absolutely delicious! The only problem I had is that the rice took forever to cook (well, over an hour - i kept adding more broth) and still has somewhat of a bite to it. I know brown rice tends to be that way but I'm not sure what I did wrong (I'm new to cooking so it very well could have been many factors! Haha) I used a fresh salsa so maybe it was just too dry?
Regardless, it was worth the wait because the dish is fabulous!
Thanks,
Sharon
Morgan says
Hi Sharon,
I'm sorry to hear that. I've heard a few people say that they had the same problem so I went back and tried the recipe again several times this week using different types of rice and different methods of cooking to see what worked best. Some different brown rices I used (especially long grain) took especially long to cook. I found that instant brown rice is the best option as any brand I tried worked out fine. Sometimes"medium-grain" rice worked great, but sometimes it didn't, so for now on I'm going to recommend instant brown rice. I hope that helps in the future, and I'm sorry the recipe gave you some difficulty (but glad to hear you enjoyed it none-the-less)!
Sharon says
Thanks so much! I will use instant next time and I'm happy know I'm not just doomed when it comes to cooking! Haha
Shan says
I gots a solution to that problem. I cook plain old rice in mass quantities in the oven then bag it up and chuck it in the freezer. When you want to make this skillet of yum, zap it in the microwave and dump it in or dump the frozen block right into the pan, put a lid on it, go draw a bath, go back into the kitchen and stir it, plate it, put a gigantic dollup of sour cream on top then you and your meal trot right off to the tub.
Yep. Just you and your grub in the tub. Ole. Tell no one.
Amy says
Loved this concept but my rice,I used success basmati boil in a bag, was over cooked. But the flavor was great! And I loved the avocado on top. I cooked for 15 min maybe 10 would have been better.
Morgan says
Hi Amy, yes, that kind of rice won't work well here as it cooks much faster. I'm glad you enjoyed it none-the-less! 🙂
Chris says
Made this three times - awesome recipe. But I still can't figure out how you have the prep time as five minutes. Am I missing something? It takes me that long just to prep the tomatoes and avocado for the final steps. Never mind stripping the cilantro from the stems. Am I missing something?
Morgan says
Glad to hear that you enjoy it, Chris! How long does it usually take you to do your full prep for this recipe? I am pretty fast at slicing/dicing, etc, so 5 mins for me might be different for someone else! I also chop my tomato/avocado/green onion/cilantro as the rest of the dish cooks, so as not to waste time, so the entire meal takes around 30 minutes. That might help cut some time out for you as well!
Chris says
I thought that prep time was the time you spend physically working on the dish and the cook time is when you just check on it. Am I wrong? But if you are still prepping as the dish is cooking, wouldn't that count towards prep time? I am not splitting hairs. But that is always the way I've read recipes. - have I been wrong all of this time? Honestly curious.
In either case, this is still a great recipe. I tried to streamline it a bit (I'm lazy and cheap - sue me). This is what I did....
I threw a 28 ounce can of whole tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeno and salt in the blender. And blended. Used that instead of the salsa the recipe called for. Not a big fan of jarred salsa and this came out fresher with less of a 'processed' taste., I did use Tostitos the first time so that could have been the problem.
So... I browned the meat. Toasted the rice. Added half of the 'blender salsa'. Plus the beans, corn, water, bouillon etc.
Then, I threw a ton of cilantro in the blender with the other half of the salsa. Pureed that for a minute.
Once the rice was cooked, I added the cheese and let it melt. Then mixed in avocado and topped with the rest of my blender salsa. I omitted the green onion. Until tonight (and google), I never realized that you can chop them up and freeze them. And I wasn't buying a bunch just to throw 2/3'rds of it out.
Between your chicken riggies and cheesy chicken, you have single-handedly cured 90% of my future hangovers. You are freaking awesome.
Chris says
Made this with ground turkey, chicken and beef (obviously not at the same time). I usually just buy whatever is on sale.
I wasn't crazy about the ground turkey. I bought that from Costco and for some reason it tasted game-y to me. The beef is really good. I finally tried it with ground chicken the other night and that version was, by far, my favorite. I ended up going back to the store today to buy another six pounds of ground chicken to freeze just for this. You rock Morgan!
Morgan says
Glad you like it, Chris, and thanks for all of the info about the different types of meats!
Lisa says
This was great!! Used white rice because we don't eat brown and bumped up the garlic powder and child powder and added onion powder and Franks (we like spicy) and if was wonderful. Immediately going onto my Pinterest Favourites folder!!!
Morgan says
Great to hear, Lisa! Thanks for the notes on your adjustments! =)
Melissa says
Thanks so much! I am a university student and make this at least 2 times a month to eat for the week. Easy and delicious
Andrev says
Add me to the list of satisfied customers. Made this for dinner Wednesday and my fianc� and I agreed it was an excellent meal. The only minor change I made was to up the cider vinegar to 3 TBS since I thought the sauce was a bit too sweet with just the one TBS. I used less than the 3/4 tsp of red pepper flakes also. This is a fairly healthy dish, certainly low in fat, and one we'll enjoy often. I did have to simmer it longer than the 20 minutes, since we had a delay that came up, so I just added a bit of water periodically and it turned out fine.
Morgan says
Great to hear, Andre! Thanks for sharing your tips as well!
Courtney says
I made this for dinner tonight for my two apprehensive and finicky kids. One of them tried it and went back for seconds, and (most of us) agreed that it was a keeper of a recipe. The youngest didn't try it, but I sort of expected that.
Faye Cartet says
How do you cook rice in the oven
keri dimascio says
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! Easy, delicious, and healthy all wrapped into one is hard to find! This one is a winner!!!
Chantelle says
Hi! Just made this last night and it was delicious! Only thing I found was adding a whole jar of salsa made the dish a bit too acidic for me, got a bit of heartburn. Do you have an alternative to adding a whole jar of salsa yet still retaining that Mexican flavor?
Morgan says
Glad to hear you liked it! If the acidity bothers you, cut down the salsa (but not all of it, maybe half), add a bit of water (1/4-1/3 cup should be fine) in its place to make up for the loss of liquid, and add more of the listed spices, to taste, at the end if you feel the flavor is lacking. The spices are all common in Mexican dishes, so you'll still get that flavor without as much tomatoey acidity.
Zanna says
This is one of my favorite quick dinners. I use trader joes frozen pre-cooked brown rice for added convenience and pile in the spinach for an added veggie kick. Love this recipe!!
Morgan says
My name is Morgan, too, and I also hate doing dishes! Haha! Trying this recipe for tonight.
Morgan says
We're practically the same person, haha! I hope you enjoy the Taco Rice =)
Morgan says
I'm a Morgan too, and I also hate dishes. We should form a support group! I'm going to have to make this tonight for sure now!
Morgan says
ARE YOU ME?
Tricia says
Hi! This recipe looks awesome, but I have a quick question. What size skillet do you use for this? I'm afraid that once I start adding ingredients I'll run out of room if I don't use the right size! Thanks 🙂
Courtney K says
Thank you for this recipe! I made it last night and it was a huge hit. My picky beyond sanity 20 mos old devoured it. I swear to god I heard a chorus of Hallelujah in the background. I actually used regular jasmine rice and made sure my pot was tightly covered and I didn't open it until 20-25 mins later and it was cooked perfectly.
Thanks again! New fan here 🙂
Britney says
Have you tried this as a make ahead freezer meal?
Morgan says
I have not, Britney =( But if you do try it, please let me know how it goes for you!
Abbie says
if I use white rice instead of brown rice do I use the same quantity? Looking at my boxes of instant rice it says on serving of brown is 1/4c dry and instant white says one serving is 1/2c dry. So i wasnt sure. I love cooking with brown but my husband prefers white unfortunately!! Cant wait to try this!!
Morgan says
You can sub the white rice in the same amount, Abbie =) I hope you and your husband enjoy it!
Chantelle says
Hey! I made this recipe a while ago! And I want to share it with my family! The only thing is, my mom is vegetarian and the rest of my family are meat eaters... is there a way to make a vegetarian version and then adding the meat near the end without compensating the flavor? Or using two pans?
Morgan says
You could definitely make the meat separately and mix in later, or just use more beans and veggies instead of the meat. I have made this with zucchini and bell peppers before and it was really good!
Amy says
If I make this with ground beef do you still use chicken broth or substitute for beef broth?
Morgan says
I'd still go with chicken broth. I only use beef broth every once in a while (like for French Onion Soup) where it is important for the depth. Beef broth can sometimes taste metallic and lend some "off" flavors, whereas chicken broth is usually a pretty neutral base. Hope you enjoy!
Judy says
I developed a border line obsession for Tex-Mex foods and doubled every recipe, one for now and one for the freezer. Then I started cooking several bags of dry beans, portioning them and bagging then for the freezer. Same for rice, I just cut cooking time because it finishers cooking in the oven. (It gets cooked in broth, chicken, beef or vegetable for extra flavor.). just saw a super easy recipe for flour tortillas and plan to try it next!!
Heather says
I made this for dinner tonight and it turned out AMAZING! My toddler inhaled it. Thanks much!
Michelle says
Hi Morgan! This was amazing! Do you know how many calories are in it? When I plug it into my fitness pal it's almost 800 but that doesn't seem right?
Thank you
Morgan says
Hi Michelle! It obviously depends on how much chicken you use / what specific products you use, but when I plugged everything in, for a large serving (1/4 of the taco rice) it is in the range of 650 - 700 calories. If you'd like to lower the calories, cut back on the avocado (although those good fats are always nice!) and use low fat shredded cheese =)
Hope that helps!
Anne says
Delish! I used leftover baked chicken and bundled the lot into burritos. I’ll definitely fix this again.
M. House says
So good! Thanks for the idea, tomorrow itll be put in wraps for dinner. Might add some heat to it next time. Thx!
arlene says
Thanks for sharing, this was yummy! I used long grain parboiled white rice instead of instant brown and I was let with oodles of food. I am going to use the leftovers from this recipe for burritos this weekend.
Liz says
This was delicious! I had a bunch of cooked quinoa leftover from earlier in the week, so I used that instead of rice and nixed the chicken broth. It came out beautifully! I also squeezed a wedge of lime into the mix, mostly because I also had one on hand and didn't want it to be wasted. So, so good. I also love that this recipe can feed an army. My boyfriend went back for seconds, we packaged up a couple of servings in Tupperware for the less fortunate folks outside our building (we live in a big city), and even after all of that, there's still a ton left! Rave reviews all around. 🙂
Llh says
I just skip the salsa use enchilada sauce. So much easier and tastes better.
Also use birdseye steam brown rice for a quicker put together.
Add cheese mix a bit threw not alot and add on top. Sometimes I bake it to for 25 min. Or make it in the crock pot. Whatevers easier for me that day.
Liza says
Hi) I am going to cook this for two tonight and I don't have much salsa left. Can I also use diced tomatoes with juice ? Do you think it will ruin the flavor of the dish?
Carol says
We have made this several times and really like it
Chrissy says
I’m wondering if you could make this in a quick cooker (insta pot). Any ideas if you’d have to add in more liquid?
Kelly says
I made this last night and I thought it was really tasty. I'll definitely be making it again.
Karla W says
I made this tonight for dinner! Absolutely delicious!
Sonya Bender says
This is a keeper! Delicious, healthy, easy & versatile - perfect for a weeknight family meal. Thanks for sharing!
Kay says
Yummy!
Kimberly says
I made this with ground beef. It was delicious.