Recipe – Fiesta Chicken & Rice

Ready for an easy recipe that rivals Chipotle’s burrito bowl?  Try this Fiesta Chicken & Rice – very filling and still healthy.  The cheesy rice and tomato mixture with the chicken is flavorful and so good.  Chipotle’s chicken is seasoned a little differently but I liked how juicy this chicken came out since it absorbs a lot of liquid from the salsa and diced tomatoes.

Adapted from Tracy’s Culinary Adventures

Ingredients:

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 package of ready-made brown rice
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup medium salsa
• 1 red pepper, chopped in small pieces
• seasoning for chicken – pepper, salt, chili powder
• reduced-fat Mexican cheese, enough for topping (about 1/4 cup for each serving)
• reduced-fat sour cream, enough for topping (about 1 tablespoon for each serving)

Let’s Get Cooking!

• In a large skillet, heat up olive oil on medium heat.  Add chicken breast chunks.  Season chicken with pepper, salt, chili powder (I actually used a chipotle lime rub so you can use whatever seasonings you like). 
• Allow chicken to lightly brown and then flip.  After the other side has lightly browned, add diced tomatoes (with all the juice), salsa, onion, pepper, and rice to the skillet (it’s okay if the chicken is not cooked through yet).
• Keep skillet on medium heat and cover for 15 minutes.  Stir every few minutes to ensure all the rice is getting cooked.  My rice and chicken was completely cooked through after 15 minutes, but you may need to cook a few more minutes if all the liquid is not absorbed yet.
• Serve in bowls and immediately top with cheese and sour cream (I used about 1/4 cup of cheese and 1 tablespoon of sour cream for each bowl, but that’s up to you).  The cheese should start to melt – mix everything well so the chicken and rice is well coated.  Enjoy! 

Unfortunately there’s no picture to go with this…but I’m sure I’ll be making it again within the next couple weeks so I’ll update then :)