Cooking

Chicken Fajita Casserole

Chicken Fajita Casserole

Chicken Fajita Casserole

Let’s take a break from these heavy topics and go for the food!

You can adjust this recipe to fit your needs. This recipe filled a 13×9 dish. You could cut the recipe in half if you don’t want that much food. I added some stuff, so I will list what I used, and you can adjust as you wish!

Bart does not love Mexican food. Let me rephrase that he doesn’t love it when I cook Mexican food. However, everyone else in my house loves it. Occasionally, I will sneak it into my rotation. This week, I am trying to solely shelf-cook. For the week, I spent around $100 on groceries (not all food items, some non-food-related things). I am trying to use up what I have and then restock. With groceries getting so high, it is a constant pull to stock up or shelf-cook as much as possible.

This Chicken Fajita Casserole was so easy, and I had all the ingredients already on hand, so that made it even better. Put it together, and it will cook in no time. About five tortillas were left over, so I cut them into triangles and threw them in a bowl with oil, chili powder, and sea salt. From there, I put the lid on and shook them up. They went on a sheet pan, and I fanned them all out and cooked them at 350 for about 5 minutes. I served the chips with this dish. You could also do store-bought tortilla chips or rice.

Ingredients

Seasoning for Chicken and Veggies

2 1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. pepper

1/2 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. garlic powder

1/4 tsp. onion powder

1/4 tsp. oregano

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Should I admit now that I don’t measure anything? Ever. I’m spitballing for all of you right now.

Chicken Fajita Casserole Ingredients

Bag of frozen (thawed and chopped) chicken fajita strips

One orange pepper

One yellow pepper

One zucchini

Fresh portobello mushrooms

Minced garlic

One onion

One stick of butter (you can use oil)

One block of cream cheese

1/2 c. sour cream

Cheddar Cheese

Saute

I took premade chicken fajita strips and cut them into bite-sized pieces for the Chicken Fajita Casserole. I added them to a large bowl. Next, I took a yellow pepper, orange pepper, onion, one zucchini, fresh mushrooms, and some minced garlic for this casserole. I cut, into slices, all of the veggies and put them in the bowl.

I put the seasoning blend inside that bowl of meat and veggies. Put the lid on the bowl and shake it up very well. From there, I put that in the fridge and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Next time, it will be in there for an hour. I want to make sure that everything is marinated well in it.

Once that was ready, I got my cast iron skillet, added a 1/2 stick of butter, and melted it in the pan. I threw my chicken and veggies in there, and I slowly cooked it. I added another 1/2 stick of butter and put a cookie sheet over the pan to tenderize the veggies. The chicken was pre-cooked and frozen. I bought it in the freezer section of Walmart, and I let it thaw in the sick before I chopped it up.

Execution

I preheated my oven to 350. Then, I grease a 13×9 dish. I put all the chicken and veggies on the bottom of the pan. Then, I mixed 1/2 c. sour cream and one block of cream cheese in another bowl. I spread that over the top of my chicken fajita casserole mixture.

On top of that, I sprinkled some cheddar cheese on top of—Bake for 20 minutes. Let sit for a couple of minutes to let the juices do their thing.

Enjoy.

 

Cooking

Chicken Fajitas and Rice

Chicken Fajitas and Rice

Chicken Fajitas and Rice

So, I took a lot of leftovers and sad-looking veggies. From there, I made Chicken Fajitas and Rice for dinner. No picture because when I do something new, I think if it sucks, why would I want to document that? Maybe this will be the year I am inspired to let my good and sucky food shine through photos.

Recipe

Chicken (I used boneless, skinless thighs because it is what I had on hand.)

Seasoning

Fajita mix (I used 3 packets)

Red, orange, and yellow peppers

Onion

Garlic

Queso Fresco

Flour Tortillas

2 c. uncooked rice

2 c. water

Teriyaki Sauce

Extra virgin olive oil (any oil is fine)

Preparations

For the rice, I used my instant pot. I placed my 2 c. uncooked rice in, then added a packet of fajita mix, a splash of teriyaki sauce, and my seasoning concoction. Set it and let it go.

I placed my cut-up chicken thighs in a bowl and added fresh garlic, seasoning, a fajita mix packet, and lots of teriyaki. Put the lid on the bowl and shake it up. Placed it in the fridge and let it marinate for at least an hour (overnight or several hours is better, though).

In my electric skillet, I added some extra virgin olive oil. I sliced up a large onion and all my peppers. I sauteed them with some seasoning and a few splashes of teriyaki sauce. Once those were softened, I took them out.

In the same skillet, I cooked my chicken until it was done. Once that was done, I added the veggies and used the other packet of fajita mix. I turned it on low and covered it until the rice was done.

Serve on the rice or wrap up in a tortilla with some queso fresco sprinkled. It was excellent!

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