Mexican Chicken Lasagna
This Mexican Chicken Lasagna is spicy, flavorful and quick to put together. This is sure to be your families new favorite dinner request!
One of my biggest weaknesses is Mexican food. The promise of spicy, rich, cheesy Mexican food will get me up and out of the house faster than a blaring fire alarm, I kid you not! But as someone who loves it from the chips and pico to the margaritas and enchiladas (let’s not even discuss the fried ice cream) I am sad to say that there are no good Mexican restaurants in my area. The best Mexican restaurant that had been in this town FOREVER closed this year due to the owners retirement and since then everyone is pretty much on their own to find their muy caliente fix. Sad, sad times my friends… very sad, indeed.
This recipe is my I’m So Sad El Adobe Closed Down Mexican Chicken Lasagna. This recipe is in no way authentic or ‘homemade’ by any means so don’t get too excited about that part of it and think I am transporting you South of the Border. But what this Mexican Chicken Lasagna does bring to the table is that it is easy to make, quick to put together and FREAKIN’ DELICIOUS. Ahhhh… now I have your attention.
I would love to say that I mixed my own taco seasoning and that I cooked my own enchilada sauce, etc.. etc.. but the reality is that this girl will gladly take the help from the grocery store and let them do the work for me on this one. If you have your own seasoning and you make your own sauce, you are my hero and by all means, carry on with your bad self.
Me, I’m going to extend my thanks to Old El Paso.
Start by preparing your chicken and preheating your oven to 350 degrees.
I have done this recipe with chicken, ground turkey or ground beef and it comes out great every time regardless of the meat choice so use what you have on hand or what you prefer. This night I went with chicken and I simply boiled the chicken breasts and then shredded the meat when it had cooled.
I’m sure you probably don’t have the active audience in your house when it comes to boiling chicken as I do in mine but they know they will get the ‘ugly’ pieces I trim off the breasts so they hang out.
En masse. The whole time. Staring.
Once your meat is prepared, add it to a large saucepan and stir in your taco seasonings along with 2/3 cup of water or chicken broth. Let it come to a low boil and then turn the heat off and let it sit, stirring occasionally.
This is my favorite seasoning to use… HOT & SPICY!!! Mexican food is not for the faint of heart, after all.
After about 10 minutes, spray a 13×9 baking pan with non-stick spray and start by pouring your enchilada sauce into a bowl large enough to accommodate the size of tortillas. Try my Homemade Enchilada Sauce if you are looking for an extra boost to your dish!
Dip each tortilla in the sauce and place them in your baking pan to create a foundation for your lasagna. I even cut some of mine in half to fill in the empty spaces. Just like a regular lasagna, you are using the tortillas as you would the noodles so you are trying to make an even layer to hold the goodness you are going to load up on top of it.
Once you have your layer of tortillas, sprinkle on an even layer of shredded chicken, then beans, then corn.
This is the part where marital compromise comes into play. Big Scary Mike likes jalapeno and black olives. Amazing Wife does not. So I add them to half of this Mexican Chicken Lasagna dish and pray that I remember what half that is as I add the layers.
Then add your cheese and repeat your layers until you are out of ingredients.
I always end with a layer of cheese on top so that it will get all perfectly brown and bubbly in the oven. That’s just how I roll.
Bake your lasagna for 20-25 minutes until you see that bubbly cheesy goodness and remove it from your oven and let it cool for 10 minutes or you will have one big runny mess on your hands when you cut into it. Don’t be fooled, you will still have a big runny mess on your hands but it’s a lot more contained if you let it set for that 10 minutes.
Top it with some sour cream or pico de gallo and serve it up with some corn bread and yellow rice.
This Mexican Chicken Lasagna is an easy, quick meal that you and your family will love. And I found if your husband forgot to take out the trash, add extra jalapenos on his half. He won’t forget next time. Ha Ha!
Enjoy!
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Mexican Chicken Lasagna
Ingredients
- 3 chicken breasts , cooked and shredded
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 2/3 cup chicken broth or water
- 1 15 oz can enchilada sauce
- 1 15 oz can black beans , drained and rinsed
- 1 15 oz can corn , drained
- 1 3 oz can sliced black olives
- sliced jalapenos
- 16 oz shredded cheese
- 1 lb small corn tortillas (18 count)
- Sour cream or salsa for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Add cooked shredded chicken to a medium sized pot and heat over medium high heat
- Stir in taco seasoning packet (or homemade seasoning) with 2/3 cup of water or broth and bring to a low boil
- Lower heat to simmer and cook for 10 minutes then remove from heat and build your lasagna
- Take approximately 12 small corn tortillas and cut them in half
- Pour enchilada sauce into a wide bowl and dip a half of tortilla in the sauce to coat and then lay on the bottom of a 13 x 9 baking pan. Repeat with enough tortilla halves to loosely cover the bottom of the pan
- Spoon a layer of shredded chicken on top of the tortillas and then layer cheese, beans, corn and any other ingredients you decide to use
- Repeat the tortilla dipped in sauce layer and continue layering ingredients until you reach the top of the pan
- Top off lasagna with a layer of sauced tortillas and cover with shredded cheese
- Bake for 25 minutes or until top is golden brown
- Let set for 10 minutes and then serve immediately
