BEST EVER - Baked Southwest Chicken • Easy Family Recipes (2024)

This Southwest Chicken is quick, easy to make, and LOADED with delicious flavors. Perfect for when you need a quick and easy dinner, this hearty meal is filled with tender chicken, southwest seasonings, black beans, corn, zesty green chiles, tangy cilantro and of course plenty of flavorful colby jack cheese! Since it is made all in one dish, it comes together fast and makes for easy clean up too!

This post is sponsored by T-Mobile. The content and opinions expressed here are that of The Pinning Mama.

Baked Southwest Chicken Recipe

Being born and raised in Texas has always played a large part in shaping the flavors that I love to cook with. Growing up I really took for granted the ability to get these flavors on nearly every corner in any shape or form I was craving, but being a military family, we left Texas when we were just out of college and haven’t had the luck to get to live there again yet.

This recipe is one that I have had brewing for quite some time. It takes all of the flavors we grew up with and learned to love as we were learning to walk, and transforms them into a simple easy to make dinner that you will want to come back to time and time again!

One dish – check!

Loaded with flavor – check!

Southwestern ingredients and seasonings- check!

Great options for leftovers – check!

Easy clean up – Double check!

Recreating the flavors of home ( wherever that is at the moment) is the easy part of the military life. What is much harder, is keeping in touch with our family and friends as we move. We have been stationed in 10 different places in the 15 years we have been in the military and have left friends and family across the entire country and world as we have moved.

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There are few things I am more passionate about than good food and good friends, so I am so glad to be able to share this awesome find for you today. Now back to that chicken!

How to Serve Southwest Chicken

Southwest Chicken is just about perfect on it’s own, but I usually like to pair it with a few side dishes to really round out the meal and make it go a long way. Here are some of my favorite ways to serve this dish.

Traditional Southwest Chicken Sides

• Rice- you can use a spanish rice or a basic yellow or white rice depending on your taste preferences and what you have one hand.
• Beans- We love black beans, and even though there are some already in the dish, rice and beans is just a staple side for southwest food. You could also use pinto beans, refried beans or almost any of your favorite beans as a side dish.
• Mashed Potatoes- Although potatoes aren’t as traditional as rice and beans, these Green Chile Cheddar Mashed Potatoes are a perfect compliment and change it up!
• Tortillas- Serve tortillas right alongside this Southwest Chicken, or roll some of the chicken up in them. Flour or corn work equally well!
• Chips- My husband love to crunch up some tortilla chips right on top of his serving of chicken.
• Cornbread- This is also a favorite at our house. The cornbread perfectly compliments the flavors and is great to soak up any juices left on the plate. This is my all time favorite cornbread recipe!

Lighter Southwest Chicken Side Dishes

• Cauliflower rice- You can fix it traditionally or even make this Mexican cauliflower rice to take it up a notch.
• Sautéed Greens- I love serving chicken dishes like this right over a bed of sautéed greens. Spinach is my personal favorite, but you can absolutely use kale, collared greens or whatever else you like.
• Roasted Cauliflower- I know this is the second time cauliflower has made this list, but roasted cauliflower is a perfect compliment to this Southwest Chicken if you don’t want to do a cauli rice.
• Salad- You can serve a side salad, or even a large entree style salad to pair well with this. It is especially good if you can find a jalapeno ranch to top it!
• Zoodles- This dish really isn’t saucy but zoodles still work well to compliment the flavors.

You can choose one of these, or even pick a few to serve with the Southwest Chicken to make a perfect meal. And if you have a serving suggestion that you love that I missed, please let me know in the comments. I would really like to give it a try the next time I make this.

How to Make Southwest Chicken

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As promised, this Baked Southwest Chicken is a super simple recipe that will have dinner on the table with just minutes of prep. I am going to walk through a few tips, tricks, and frequently asked questions here, but you can find the FULL printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Q: Can I use chicken thighs, chicken tenderloins, or other cuts of chicken in this dish?

A: Yes! This dish will work well with a variety of cuts, so feel free to use your favorite boneless, skinless cut. If you do change the type of meat used in the recipe it will most likely change the time it needs to cook. To ensure your dish is done, use a meat thermometer and cook to 165˚F.

Q: This recipe takes too long to cook? Can I speed it up?

A: You can help this dish to cook more quickly by cutting the chicken into chunks and using a larger pan to cook it in so the meat is more spread out. This allows it to have more cooking area and will help the cook time to be reduced.

Q: My Southwest Chicken has a lot of juice at the end. Is this normal?

A: Since both the vegetables and the chicken will release juices as they cook, there will be some liquid in the pan when you are done. The amount will vary based on how big your pan is and how much liquid is in your chicken. The juice is full of flavor and great to spoon over rice or veggies to give some extra flavor or can be carefully drained immediately after cooking so that just the chicken and toppings remain.

Q: We love other veggies, can we add them in this recipe too?

A: Other vegetables can be added into this dish, but be careful not to overload the dish with too much or it will take much longer to cook and can dilute the flavor of the dish.

What to do with Southwest Chicken Leftovers

Southwest Chicken is not only delicious right out of the oven, but it is also great as leftovers throughout the week! There are plenty of great options to make this recipe over into a completely new meal and save you tons of time along the way.

To store leftover Southwest Chicken, package in an airtight container and place in the:

• refrigerator for 3-4 days
• freezer for up to a month. When I freeze this dish I prefer to do it in individual sized portions so it is easy to reheat and reuse.

Southwest Chicken Leftover Recipes

Here are a few of my favorite meals to make with leftovers from Southwest Chicken. I think a few of these are even a bigger hit with my kiddos than the original meal sometimes. If you have another great idea on how to reuse the leftovers from this dish, make sure and leave me a note in the comments so that I can give it a try next time I make Southwest Chicken.

• Southwest Chicken Quesadillas– Chop up leftover meat and toppings. Add as a filling in a large tortilla with some additional colby jack cheese and heat in a skillet with a little butter until golden brown on each side.
• Southwest Chicken Burritos– Chop up the leftover chicken and put a generous scoop in the middle of a flour tortilla. add any extra toppings you wish such as lettuce, salsa, guacamole, sour cream etc. Roll and enjoy.
• Smothered Chicken Burritos– Make as above but put burritos in a baking dish and pour enchilada sauce or queso (my son’s favorite) over the top, sprinkle with extra cheese and then bake until cheese is melted and burritos are heated through.
• Southwest Chicken Salad– Cut leftover chicken into slices and place on top of a bed of romaine. Add a few scoops of the topping and then garnish with fresh avocado, tomatoes, salsa, sour cream, or guacamole.
• Southwest Stuffed Baked Potatoes– Chop up leftover Southwest chicken and toppings and then stuff in a baked potato. Top with additional cheese, sour cream, salsa, or guacamole.
• Southwest Chicken Sheet Pan Nachos– Spread chips in a thin layer on a sheet pan. Add chopped Southwest Chicken, any additional veggies and top with cheese. Bake at 425˚F until the cheese is melted and they are heated through. Top with salsa, guacamole, sour cream and shredded lettuce.

I really hope you get a chance to try this Southwest Chicken and that your family enjoys it as much as mine! These are some of my all time favorite flavors and such a simple dinner to make. And don’t forget about the awesome Military discounts on T-Mobile! It is a great way to keep loved ones connected where ever the military takes you! Check out the prices and plans here!

If you do get a chance to try it, I would love it if you let me know! You can leave me a comment below, or if you post a picture on Instagram, make sure to tag me @easyfamilyrecipes so that I can see what you are cooking up! It makes my day to see others enjoying the recipes that I share!

Oh and before you go!… If you need a regular rotation of recipe inspiration like me, make sure to sign up to get our emails! I send out my new favorites, the recipes my family has been devouring, and some of the best tried and true recipes. It is easy and free of course! You canclick here to sign up.

Watch Me Make Baked Southwest Chicken