If you’re a fan of chicken fajitas, you’re going to love my creamy, cheesy, chicken fajita casserole. It’s loaded with a rainbow of peppers, onions, chicken, wonderful seasoning, and of course, lots of cheese. Three types of cheese to be exact! Eat it as a casserole or serve it as a filling in warm flour tortillas.
If you love Mexican-inspired casseroles, I hope you try my white chicken enchiladas, chicken tortilla casserole, chicken spaghetti with Rotel, and Mexican chicken casserole next!
Easy Chicken Fajita Casserole Ingredients
- Oil: Any neutral flavored oil will work.
- Bell Peppers: I like to use the red, orange, or yellow peppers.
- Poblano Chili: This is considered to be a fairly mild pepper. Most of the heat in the peppers are found in the ribs and seeds. Remove them or include them, depending on your families heat tolerance.
- Onion: Use yellow, white, or red onion.
- Green Chiles: Add these straight from the can with their juices.
- Fajita Seasoning Mix: Use on envelope.
- Garlic Powder: Adds just the right amount of garlic flavor.
- Chicken: I like to use rotisserie chicken for this recipe.
- Cream Cheese: Cube the cream cheese while it’s cold, then allow it to come to room temp.
- Jack Cheese: I love the combo of these two cheeses in this casserole. If your family likes some heat, use pepper jack in place of the plain jack.
- Smoked Cheddar Cheese: Smoked cheddar is available in the deli section of most supermarkets. I got mine from Walmart. I love the mild smokiness it brings to the dish.
- Cilantro: I love the color, flavor, and freshness this adds to the casserole.
Storing + Freezing + Make-Ahead
- How Long Can You Keep This In The Fridge? This chicken breast fajita casserole keeps for up to 4 days in the fridge when stored properly. It’s best to let it cool completely before preparing it for storage and observe the FDA-recommended 2-hour serving rule.
- Can You Freeze This? Yes. This recipe is fantastic for meal prep. It freezes and thaws very well. Sometimes I make a double batch just so I can put one in the freezer for a rainy day.
- Make-Ahead Tips: You can cut the peppers and onion and cook them as directed in step #2. Store them in the fridge the resume the recipe.
- Food Safety: If you’d like more info on food safety check out this link.
Serving Recommendations
This chicken fajita casserole with cream cheese is delicious and served with my charro beans, Mexican Rice, Mexican corn salad, jalapeno cornbread, or my Southwest Salad.
How to Make Chicken Fajita Casserole
- Saute bell peppers, poblano, and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to char in spots, about 5 minutes.
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Add green chiles with juices, fajita seasoning, garlic, and salt; cook. Remove from heat; stir in chicken. Set aside.
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Stir together cream cheese, white cheddar, and smoked cheddar, and salt. Add pepper and chicken mixture, and stir together until combined.
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Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish; sprinkle evenly with remaining white cheddar and smoked cheddar.
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Bake in the preheated oven until the mixture is bubbling and the cheese has completely melted about 25 minutes.
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Increase oven temperature to broil; broil until cheese starts to brown, 4 to 5 minutes.
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Remove from oven; let it cool. Sprinkle evenly with cilantro.
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Serve immediately with desired toppings.
***See the full instructions below.
Tried This Recipe?
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More Chicken Casserole Recipes
- Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas
- Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
- Dorito Chicken Casserole
- Chicken Tetrazzini
- Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
- Crack Chicken Casserole
- Chicken Noodle Casserole
- Chicken Stuffing Casserole
- Chicken Tater Tot Casserole
- Chicken and Dumpling Casserole
- Poppy Seed Chicken
Chicken Fajita Casserole
If you're a fan of chicken fajitas, you're going to love my creamy, cheesy, chicken fajita casserole. It's loaded with peppers, onions, chicken, and cheese!
Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
Casserole:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 large mixed color bell peppers, seeded and sliced
- 1 large poblano chili, seeded and sliced
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles, undrained
- 1 (1-ounce) envelope fajita seasoning mix
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
- 2 ½ cups chicken breasts, shredded + cooked
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened + cut into cubes
- 6 ounces Jack cheese, shredded. divided (about 1 ½ cups)
- 6 ounces smoked Cheddar cheese, shredded. divided( about 1 ½ cups)
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped
Optional Topping:
- extra cilantro
- chopped tomatoes
- sliced avocado
- sour cream
Instructions
- Adjust oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 7X11 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large skillet heat oil. Sauté the peppers and onion in batches, over medium-high heat, turning occasionally as needed, until they are soft and starting to char.
- When all the peppers and onion are cooked and soft, combine them back in the skillet. Stir in the canned chiles with their juices, fajita seasoning, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook until the garlic becomes fragrant, stirring constantly, about 1 minute.
- Remove skillet from heat and stir in chicken; set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, mix together cream cheese, smoked cheddar, jack cheese, and and remaining 1 teaspoon of salt.
- Stir in the pepper and chicken mixture until evenly combined.
- Transfer mixture to prepared baking dish. Evenly top the casserole with remaining 1/2 cup smoked cheddar and 1/2 cup jack cheese.
- Bake casserole in preheated oven, uncovered, until the casserole is heated through, bubbly, and cheese is melted, about 25-30 minutes. Remove the casserole from oven and adjust the oven rack to about 6-8 inches from heating element. Turn the oven to broil. Return casserole to oven and broil until the cheese begins to brown, about 5 minute. Watch closely so it doesn't burn.
- Remove from oven and allow casserole to sit to for 8-10 minutes. Sprinkle top of casserole with cilantro and serve.
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Wow, casserole is amazing! I dial down the chilis and it still turned out great
That’s perfect, Grace. Thank you for the feedback 🙂