In this recipe we are making a simple salsa with fire roasted tomatoes, onions, lime juice, and chipotles packed in adobo, coating chicken breasts with the sauce, topping them with melty jack cheese, and baking them in the oven in a casserole dish. So easy! And so versatile.
First, chiles in adobo last a long time in the fridge, many months once you’ve opened the can, so you don’t have to stress about using them up right away. Second, this dish has lots of sauce, which tastes great with rice, pasta, tortillas, even chips. Third, it makes great leftovers.
This chicken bake is very similar to my salsa verde baked chicken, but with a smokey chipotle salsa instead. It’s a little on the acidic side with the lime juice and adobo, and tastes great with avocados to cut the acid and the heat.
While I usually serve it with rice, it’s also surprisingly good with penne pasta. In fact I could see making this again as a pasta casserole, just chop up the chicken to bite sized pieces, toss with cooked pasta and the salsa, sprinkle with cheese and bake until the chicken is cooked through.
Chipotle Salsa Baked Chicken Recipe
This casserole produces a lot of sauce! Use it to spoon over rice or pasta, or for dipping tortilla chips.
Ingredients:
- 1 15-ounce can fire roasted tomatoes (or canned whole or crushed tomatoes if fire roasted are not available)
- 1/4 cup chopped red onion
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1/2 cup, packed, chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 chipotle chili peppers in adobo, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce (less or more to taste)
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or thighs), trimmed of excess fat, cut into 3-inch wide pieces
- 4 ounces grated or sliced Monterey jack cheese
- Avocados
- More chopped cilantro
- Sour cream
- Corn or flour tortillas
- Rice
- Pasta
Read More: Chipotle Salsa Baked Chicken
