Cook Once, Eat Thrice: Mexican Style Chicken Edition Part 2
Well, I’m back at it today, with part two of the Cook Once, Eat Thrice: Mexican Style Chicken Edition. If you’re not sure of what’s going on, make sure you check out the first part of this series. You will get a little more idea of what I’m working on, along with the original chicken recipe. That will be key when making todays meal.
I love a good classic comfort meal, and today will not disappoint, but i’m adding a little twist on it! Meal #2 for you today is Mexican Chicken Baked Mac n’ Cheese!
The Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups shredded chicken
- 1 small white onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- swirl of extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup butter
- 3 cups of 2% milk
- 6 tbsp flour
- 15 oz can of black beans
- 1 cup corn
- 1/2 cilantro
- 2 cups macaroni: reserve 1 cup of pasta water.
- 1/4 tsp chilli powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 3 cups of jalapeño cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 cup of old cheddar cheese shredded.
The How-To:
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Start a pot of boiling water, and cook pasta according to directions. Make sure when you’re done cooking you reserve about 1 cup of pasta water.
- In a large pan over medium heat, add olive oil, and sauté garlic and onions. Once clear and translucent, melt butter (the oil in the pan will help protect the butter and not let it burn).
- Add flour and whisk until all the melted butter is soaked in. Add milk and stir over medium heat until thickened. Add chilli powder, paprika, and cumin.
- Once thickened, remove from heat and stir in 2 cups of jalapeño cheddar cheese. Once cheese is melted, stir in macaroni, corn, beans and chicken. Add cilantro.
- Pour into an 11 x 15 inch pan and top with remaining cheeses. Bake for about 15 minutes or until the top is golden and bubbly.
A simple mac n’ cheese has been turned into a mexican fiesta! Now in my pictures, you will see two containers. I actually made this for Clint and the girls, and divided it between a 9 x 11 dish and 7 x 5 freezer dish. This fed the family one night (with no left overs) but I have a smaller version stashed in the freezer for when Hazel comes and I have no clue what to make!
There we have it ladies & gentlemen…. two meals done with little to no work. You are changing up the dinner routine without going crazy and scrambling to find a meal. Part 3 is next, and trust me… it’s another good one!
Thank you so much for stopping by today! I really appreciate you coming back, or welcome to a new reader! I’m always interested in what you have to say so please leave a comment below, or drop me a line! I can’t wait to hear back from you, and any suggestions are always welcome! Have a great week!
Cheers xo
This is genius! I love how you’ve taken one dish and made it into so many different meals! And who can say no to Mexican food!? Yum!
We try to cook larger amounts so we have good leftovers. Makes for quick dinners later in the week!
Great concept and yummy-looking dishes! I love having a frozen homemade meal on hand!
Chicken and Mac n cheese are two of my favs. I have to try this!
This is our type of meal. One that provides left overs (or sometimes in our case one that provides multiple helpings 🙂
Looks really delicious!
Looks super yummy! I love the idea of making two pans and freezing part too. I’ll be definitely making this for dinner one night soon. Thanks!
This would be great for me since I like to make chicken dishes and freeze portions for myself because my hubby won’t touch it!
We have Mexican food every Tuesday. This was great timing, I’ll be cooking this tomorrow for sure!
Fabulous idea! I’m going to check out part 1. Visiting from Blog Meets Blog on Facebook!
This is so smart! Thank you for this recipe! I love the mac and cheese con pollo!
Brilliant!
Jacquelyn
This is perfect! My husband would love this recipe.
First up, I love Mexican food! Second, I love when you prep for multiple meals at on etime. There was a show on Food Network that did that and I loved watching her make meal kits and do all her prep on Sunday! Thanks for reminding me of that!
Love your ‘cook once, eat thrice’ method! Question for you- In your experience, where is the cheapest place to find fresh produce in Ottawa?
This looks yummy! And what a great idea to stash some in the freezer, perfect!!
That’s the best part. You can stash the mac n cheese in the freezer, or as i mention din part 1, you can shred and stash the left over chicken in the freezer and make part 2 and part 3 later on down the road (like two different weeks) .That way it’s not a mexican fiesta in your house for a full week if you’re not loving mexican as much!
This looks flavorful and cheesy which is just the way I like my mac n cheese! I love that your recipes are easy to follow along with. I’m going to give this one a try$ My family will enjoy this.
Let me know how it goes!! I would love the feedback & I hope your family enjoys!