This may be too easy to be this good. Cheesy Southwest chicken casserole is crock pot easy and a great tasting everyday meal.
We all need easy meals. Just add a couple of cans, a little spice to uncooked pasta and chicken breasts. Shred the chicken and add some cheese late in the cooking. You are rewarded for you laziness with cheesy, tasty goodness.
I have almost stopped precooking anything other than ground meat that goes in a crock pot. Even ground meat would be ok in most situations, but there is usually more moisture and fat released than you want. You also sometimes want a Maillard reaction to add flavor.
Rating
A nice solid 4.
Notes: Sometimes I think I’m back in a lab. I do read recipes, lots of recipes. But I prefer to make my own. This recipe started as an experimental beef recipe while my wife was out of town. The texture and the basic taste was right, but spices were just way over. I didn’t give the RoTel enough respect. It does add taste but also some heat.
As written the heat is about 3-4 out of 10. Maybe a little too spicy for little ones.
Trim two skinless boneless chicken breast of any visible fat.
Add one 14 oz can tomato sauce, 14 oz can black beans rinsed, 10.5 oz can of RoTel, one teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1 cup dry pasta (uncooked) to a smaller crock pot. Here I use my 3.5 qt pot. Mix well.
Add two trimmed skinless boneless chicken breast. Push down into the liquid until covered.
Cook on low for 4 hours total. At 3 hours into the cooking, remove the chicken and shred.
Add chicken back along with 3/4 cup shredded cheese of your choice. Mix well then top with 1/4 cup of the cheese.
Cook for the final hour.
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Crock Pot Southwest Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 2 skinless boneless chicken breasts
- 14 oz tomato sauce
- 14 oz black beans rinsed
- 10 oz RoTel
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup dry pasta
- 1 cup shredded cheese - like Cheddar or a Mexican blend
Instructions
- Trim two skinless boneless chicken breast of any visible fat.
- Add one 14 oz can tomato sauce, 14 oz can black beans rinsed, 10.5 oz can of RoTel, one teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1 cup dry pasta (uncooked) to a smaller crock pot. Here I use my 3.5 qt pot. Mix well.
- Add two trimmed skinless boneless chicken breast. Push down into the liquid until covered.
- Cook on low for 4 hours total. At 3 hours into the cooking, remove the chicken and shred.
- Add chicken back along with 3/4 cup shredded cheese of your choice. Mix well then top with 1/4 cup of the cheese.
- Cook for the final hour.
Have a question or something not clear? Ask in the comments.
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Nutrition is for one serving. Number of servings is stated above and is my estimate of normal serving size for this recipe.
All nutritional information are estimates and may vary from your actual results. This is home cooking, and there are many variables. To taste ingredients such as salt will be my estimate of the average used.
If you like this recipe or find it useful, the pleasure of a nice 4 or 5 rating would be greatly appreciated.
I'm DrDan and welcome to my blog. You will find delicious easy everyday recipes mostly for smaller households. Please look around and enjoy your visit. 
Anita Angdahl
November 6, 2017 at 8:51 pmIs this recipe new. I remember a similar one years ago, believe it was on an ad for Rotel. I Don’t remember putting pasta in, but a can of corn was added. Of course I’ve lost the recipe after all these years.
DrDan
November 6, 2017 at 9:40 pmYep, new at the time. I had a great crock pot ziti ( https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/crockpot-baked-ziti/ ) so I was experimenting with crock pot pasta recipes. I remember the first run of this recipe, way too hot. I obviously had the spicing way off.
If the recipe you remember was in an ad for RoTel, check their web site. They have a large recipe section.
Dan
Rex
January 1, 2017 at 2:06 pmBought a Crock-Pot at Kroger well over a month ago. Chick fil a was closed last night so I was stuck without any chicken tortilla soup today. This morning I decided on a whim to finally use that crock pot. On the way back from dnd I googled SW chicken and found this. Spent 5 mins at Kroger acquiring the goods. Could not have been simpler. Turned out great. And economic, too. I’ll make it again. But next time I’ll put the pasta in after 2 hours. Maybe later. Firmer pasta would’ve made this even better.
DrDan
January 2, 2017 at 7:31 pmHi Rex,
Thanks for the note. The paste probably needs at least 2 hours plus. So your end point would be the pasta being done.
You will love your crockpot if you like leftovers like we do.
Dan
David Pignotti
August 24, 2016 at 8:41 pmI tried this recipe last week and it was great! The chicken seemed pretty undercooked at 3 hour on low. I had to kick it to high for the next hour or two.
DrDan
August 24, 2016 at 8:50 pmThanks for the note. I always check with a thermometer on things like this for 165. They just don’t shred well if not done. This probably one of those variables. Different pots and different thickness of chicken breasts.
Alycia
January 14, 2015 at 2:33 amI was just curious if you could do this with rice instead of pasta?
DrDan
January 14, 2015 at 12:51 pmI really don’t think so. They cook so differently.
DrDan
Lfarren216@comcast.net
January 13, 2015 at 6:24 pmLove the uncooked macaroni and cheese great success
DrDan
January 13, 2015 at 7:59 pmCrock Pots really can do pasta well if you’re careful.
Thanks for the comment.
DrDan
Teri
December 5, 2014 at 10:29 amIs the 1 tea. chili powder and 1/2 tea. chili powder correct?
DrDan
December 5, 2014 at 10:43 amNope, my bad… proof-reading failure complicated by cut and paste. It is 1 teaspoon chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder. Post is now corrected.
Thanks for the pickup
DrDan