Cheesy Salsa Verde Chicken and Rice is a one pan, 20 minute, 5 ingredient gluten-free dinner recipe that is lick your plate delicious! Cheesy and satisfying.
If your week has been anything like mine, you’re in need of a crazy easy dinner recipe to get on the table tonight.
May I suggest my 5 ingredient, 20 minute, 1 pan Cheesy Salsa Verde Chicken and Rice?
This cheesy, comforting recipe calls for simmering rice, chicken broth, salsa verde, and chopped chicken together in a saucepan, then stirring in shredded Pepper Jack cheese at the end.
20 minutes, 5 ingredients, 1 pan — say less!
This chicken and rice recipe is creamy and comforting like a casserole, but ready in a fraction of the time. An un-casserole, if you will!
I suggest serving Cheesy Salsa Verde Chicken and Rice with a big side salad, roasted brussels sprouts, or roasted broccoli, and topping it with more salsa verde, chopped green onions, or chopped cilantro before digging in.
The recipe calls for an extremely modest amount of cheese so it’s definitely not heavy, but throw some veggies on the side to make it a complete meal. I know you’re going to love it!
Try Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli Rice Casserole
How to Make this Recipe
Start by adding long grain white rice, chicken broth, and salsa verde (I like Herdez,) to a 2 – 3 quart saucepan. Bring to a boil then add chicken breasts that have been cut into bite-sized pieces and seasoned with salt and pepper.
Bring the liquid back up to a boil then place a lid on top, turn the heat down to medium-low, and simmer for 12 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat then let it sit with the lid on for an additional 5 minutes.
Last step is to add freshly shredded Pepper Jack Cheese (or Monterey Jack Cheese if you’re sensitive to spice) then stir until completely melted.
Let the chicken and rice sit and thicken for 2-3 minutes then scoop onto plates and serve. Couldn’t be easier! I hope you enjoy this simple, scrumptious, stress-free dish!
More Easy Cheesy Recipes
- Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Skillet
- Beef & Veggie Enchilada Skillet
- Cheesy Chicken Burrito Skillet
- Homemade Crunchy Taco Hamburger Helper
- Cheeseburger Quesadillas
Ingredients
- 1-1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1/2 cup salsa verde, I like Herdez
- 1 cup long grain white rice, I like Lundberg Farms Jasmine Rice
- 2 chicken breasts, ~1lb, cut into bite sized pieces
- salt and pepper
- 4 oz freshly shredded Pepper Jack Cheese, or Monterey Jack cheese if sensitive to spice
- Toppings: chopped cilantro, chopped green onions, salsa verde, tortilla chips
Directions
- Add chicken broth, salsa verde, and rice to a 2-1/2 - 3 quart saucepan with a tight fitting lid then turn heat to high to bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, season chicken with salt and pepper then add to the pot, stir, and bring liquid back to a boil. Place a lid on top then turn heat down to low and simmer for 12 minutes. Remove pot from the heat then let sit with the lid on for 5 minutes.
- Fluff rice and chicken then add cheese and stir until completely melted. Let dish sit for 3-4 minutes to thicken and then serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
How spicy is this dish? Any substitutions for a toddler who won’t eat spicy foods?
Hi Heather! It’s not very spicy with the salsa alone, but if your toddler is spice averse I’d definitely use Monterey Jack instead of Pepper Jack!
Sounds delicious! I question how the rice cooks sufficiently in the time noted. Most recipes require much more time.r
I made this with cauliflower rice–I turned it into a skillet meal, browning the chickening and then throwing in the rice & salsa for the last few minutes. SUPER easy and fast, so nice to have a quick meal in my back pocket for those busy nights. :) Thanks for the inspiration!
I made this tonight for dinner. So good and hardly any clean up. Thanks!!
Love this! I throw in chopped baby spinach at the end (it disappears but provides that green veggie boost). And we love Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde which we inhale by the case (not kidding). Thanks, Kristen for the weekly inspiration & the cute updates on your family!
Loving your easy dinner plans! I have made this twice now. The first time I used riced cauliflower and pesto (used what I had on hand) and parmesan cheese. It was definitely too much liquid for the riced cauliflower but the flavor was still awesome. Tonight I made it with a lentil trio instead of rice..everything else as recipe calls for and it was another hit! Keep the recipes coming! Thanks
We made this last night and it was really good. We cook all kinds of different foods and when I saw this it caught my eye. We topped each serving with cut green onions and chopped fresh cilantro. We love spicy for for more delicate mouths I recommend half PepperJack and half Monteray Jack cheese. I am thinking next time I might incorporate some cooked PicSweet Yellow Corn when adding the cheese or just serve on the side. Thank you Kristin for another delicious but easy recipe!! /hug
Can this be made with long grain brown rice?
Nevermind…I saw that someone else posed the question already
This was really quick and tasty! We didn’t change a thing but we did double it for our family so we would have leftovers! Followed the instructions exacty! Would make again!
This was tremendous! So flavorful! So easy!
So glad you loved it, Melissa! Thanks for the feedback!
I just made this for dinner. I like the ease and the taste, but I ran into a problem with my rice. It didn’t seem to be cooking so I extended the cook time. After cooking it for twice as long as the recipe states, I wound up with a mix of gummy rice (from being cooked too long) and crunchy rice (which didn’t seem to have cooked enough). Any idea what is wrong with my technique? I did stir it a few times, so it’s not that…
Hi Jaime! It’s actually really important to keep the lid on the entire time so the heat doesn’t escape and the rice cooks evenly. Try leaving the lid on and it should work perfectly!
LOVE it! I’m thinking of nixing the rice with cauliflower rice! YUM!
This recipe sounds so delicious, can’t wait to try it! Do you think I could use brown rice to up the nutrition value?
Sure! You’ll probably need to add more chicken broth and maybe add the chicken during the last 15 minutes of cooking since brown rice takes 2x+ the time to cook as white.
Do you think it would work with other grains, like farro?
It’s definitely possible! I’ve never had farro (I need to eat gluten-free) but I’m sure it’d be easy to play around with.