Chicken Casserole With Black Beans, Corn, and Salsa

This dish combines all the signature ingredients of Tex-Mex cuisine: chicken, black beans, shredded cheese, corn, and salsa. But instead of serving this as a filling wrapped in tortillas, it is baked as a casserole, which makes it suitable to bring along to a potluck. In addition, the preparation of this one-pot dish mainly consists of layering all the ingredients, which also makes this a very easy weeknight dinner. 

For cheese, you have several options. Use only cheddar cheese, a mix of cheddar and Colby cheese, or a Mexican blend of cheeses. Or, to give it even more taco flavor, try a taco-seasoned cheese. For the salsa, tomato salsa works well here, or a combination of tomato salsa and salsa verde. 

The green chile peppers are optional. For a family dinner with kids, just leave them out. On the other hand, if you like it spicy and have some fresh chile peppers on hand, you can add those instead of the canned chiles. Sprinkling the casserole with cilantro is also optional.

The recipe lends itself to different variations, including the use of leftovers. If you are adding already fully cooked chicken instead of raw chicken, you can make it ahead of time. Assemble the casserole and cover it tightly with foil, then refrigerate for up to one day. Bake it according to the recipe. Likewise, you can also make the casserole with fully cooked, browned ground beef.

The casserole is already a filling meal, but you can serve it with rice on the side or with tortilla chips, sour cream, and a bowl of guacamole.

Leftovers of the casserole can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two days and reheated in the microwave.