Hello my friends! It sure has been a long time since I have been on here. My apologies! But today I’m coming back with this recipe for creamy salsa verde chicken bake.

Not too long ago, one of my favorite food bloggers posted a recipe for this Creamy Green Chili Chicken Bake. I wanted to try it out because it seemed easy and perfect for a simple weeknight dinner.

I tried it, and it was a good recipe but I wanted to make my own improvements. For one, the recipe uses cream cheese, and I just found it way too salty with the cream cheese. And then there was the texture issue–the sauce was just too thick. The recipe has rave reviews from other people so maybe I just have different taste or did something wrong? Either way, I wanted to try making it again but fixing it to suite my tastes better.

This is a great pantry-friendly recipe…

Now, obviously we’re in the middle of a global pandemic and fast, easy, pantry-friendly recipes are an absolute must. Which means this is the perfect time to try this recipe. It uses just a small handful of ingredients such as chicken breasts, spices, green salsa, sour cream, and a little cheese (which is totally optional by the way). If you keep the chicken in the freezer, that along with the sour cream which has a fairly long shelf life in the fridge, you have an easy recipe that you can save until the end of your meal planning or as an easy recipe whenever you need it.

Let’s talk about the rice. I know it is hard to find rice at this point in time. Trust me, when I made my big shopping trip earlier this week, I couldn’t find jasmine rice at my local store or Costco! If this is the case for you, you could certainly serve it with quinoa, another grain, egg noodles, cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, or even tortillas with all sorts of different toppings.

After I made this recipe the other night I realized how great this salsa verde chicken would be in a bowl with salsa, guacamole, lettuce, etc. So if you aren’t in the midst of a global pandemic and it’s not risky to go to the grocery store, go all out with this sucker! The possibilities are endless. Next time I make this recipe, I’m going to spruce it up with some amazing toppings. I already can’t wait.

So how do you make this recipe?

This is one of the easiest recipes to make, guys. Simply put the chicken breasts in a pan, cover them with a little spices, add the green salsa, then bake for about 45 minutes or so until the chicken is done. Then mix in the sour cream and cheese, and pop it back into the oven to warm up while the chicken gets shredded. After the chicken has been shredded, just mix it all back together!

I served this with jasmine rice (my favorite). The salsa verde chicken reheats well too, which is nice for leftovers.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and it brings you some comfort at this time!

Creamy Salsa Verde Chicken Bake

This pantry-friendly, comforting dinner is easy, fast, and perfect for a weeknight!

Servings 6

Ingredients

3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 4 large breasts)
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
freshly ground black pepper (see note)
16 ounce jar mild salsa verde (I like Herdez)
1 cup sour cream
1-2 cup to 3/4 cup shredded cheddar jack blend (cheddar or Mexican blend is great, too)
cooked rice or other side for serving

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly spray a 9x13 baking pan with cooking spray, then add chicken breasts. Season with spices, then add the salsa. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the center of the thickest part of the chicken registers 165 F.
Turn off the oven. Remove the pan from the oven and remove the chicken breasts from the pan, set them aside on a cutting board. Add sour cream and cheese to the remaining sauce in the pan, whisk well. Place the pan back in the oven to warm up the sauce and help melt the cheese. Shred the chicken on the cutting board (as finely shredded or chunky as you'd like). Bring the pan out of the oven, give the sauce another whisk, and stir in the chicken. Serve over rice or other side. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Use as much black pepper as you'd like. I don't season the chicken with salt or add any additional salt to this recipe because the salsa, sour cream, and cheese adds enough for the flavor. However, you're still welcome to add some at the end if you think it needs it.

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