RECIPE: Mexican Chicken & Rice Casserole

A few weeks ago we ate turkey dinner for my parent's anniversary.  It was a big bird, little over 20 lbs so we had quite a bit leftover.  I had originally planned to make Chicken & Rice casserole using leftover turkey, but then I thought it would be too similar to the original turkey dinner.  Then I had a hankering for Mexican and thought why not try to make a Mexican Chicken and Rice casserole.  So I perused the recipes on SparkRecipes and found this one.  We made this with a few tweaks to the original.

Here's what we did:

Mexican Chicken & Rice Casserole {so easy a 3 and 5 year old can do it!}
1 can cream of chicken soup (we used reduced calorie)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (we used reduced calorie)
1 can full of water
1 packet taco seasoning (or make your own and use about 3 Tablespoons)
1-1/2 cup brown rice, (pre-cooked will cut down on the cooking time)
15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chiles (or Rotel)
2 cups precooked diced chicken (or turkey in our case)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (we used fat free cheddar)

In a bowl whisk the cream of chicken soup, cream of mushroom soup, water and taco seasoning packet.

Pour into the bottom of a 13x9 casserole dish.

Add brown rice, black beans and diced tomatoes and green chiles.  Mix in with a spoon.
Finish up with layering precooked chicken or turkey over the top.

(notice how Boo-Boo is eating turkey in one hand and tossing some in the pan with the other.)

Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes or until the rice appears fulled cooked.
** Some have noted this is taking them over an hour to bake.  Try using partially precooked rice to cut down on the cooking time.

Sprinkle shredded cheese over the top and bake 5 minutes more until cheese is melted.

We thought the Rotel made it very spicy, almost too spicy for the kids.  They barely touched it.  I thought it was really tasty.  

Enjoy!