Baked Queso Chicken will be your new favorite weeknight meal! It’s not only QUICK and EASY, but delicious. With just a few ingredients and a special tip, you’ll have moist and tender chicken on the table with almost no effort.
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Are you looking for something to fix for dinner that doesn’t take much work and uses just a few ingredients. Queso Chicken is going to be you’re new “go-to” recipe when you can’t come up with something for dinner. Or maybe it’s your turn to cook during vacation and you want to find a meal that everyone will love without putting in too much effort.
With just six ingredients you’ve got a fabulous dinner that both kids and adults will love. While I enjoy experimenting with a ton of ingredients and making dishes with lots of steps, this is not one of those recipes. You basically just dump everything into a casserole dish and bake. A couple of things will help make this dish stand out. Start out by marinating your chicken.
How to make TENDER chicken breasts:
All you need is buttermilk and 30 minutes, overnight is even better for tender and juicy chicken. Just pour the buttermilk over the chicken in a ziplock and let it do it’s magic. I learned this from my mother-in-law who makes the best fried chicken in the South. Since buttermilk is slightly acidic, it tenderizes the chicken without making it tough and helps break down the protein. Once it’s marinated, rinse the buttermilk and pat the chicken dry.
Don’t have buttermilk, no worries, just add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar to a measuring cup and add 1 cup of milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes and now you’re set.
What is Queso?
Queso is a Mexican cheese but it is also short for chili con queso which translates into chili with cheese. It is the creamy dip you see in most Mexican restaurants. You can make your own with Velveeta and Ro-tel tomatoes or add some chorizo for a spicy queso dip. If you have a few minutes, then make homemade queso with American cheese, for the absolutely best queso around.
But for this recipe I used a prepared queso from the grocery. I like to use a good quality queso like Leigh Oliver’s, that uses white American cheese and nothing artificial. You can find it in the refrigerated section at Whole Foods. Fresh Market also carries prepared queso in their refrigerated section. If you have some leftover, queso is great drizzled over grilled chicken or beef tacos.
If you can’t find queso dip in the refrigerated section, then use a jar of queso dip that you can find in the chip section of the grocery.
How do you make queso chicken
Step 1: Marinate the chicken in buttermilk. On those nights when I haven’t planned ahead and marinated the chicken overnight, I’ll cover it with buttermilk the minute I walk in the door and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then just rinse and pat dry.
Step 2: Place the chicken in a baking dish and sprinkle the chicken with taco seasoning.
Step 3: Drain and then pour Ro-Tel Tomatoes over the top, cover with queso and top with grated cheese. Bake for about 30 minutes depending on how thick the chicken breasts are. A meat thermometer should read 165º.
You can put this together in less than 10 minutes. The tomatoes and queso combined with the juice from the chicken make a fantastic sauce that’s great over rice or pasta, or serve with a baked potato and pour the cheesy sauce over the potato!
If you don’t have taco seasoning, don’t worry, it’s just a combination of chili powder, cumin, oregano, and onion and garlic pepper. For this dish, just sprinkle some chili powder and cumin on the chicken breasts. Here’s a fabulous recipe for taco seasoning mix you can make at home.
Why you have to try Queso Chicken?
- Super tender chicken breasts
- A cheesy Tex-Mex flavored sauce that is great with rice or pasta
- ONLY 10 minutes to prepare
- On the table in 35 minutes start to finish
- Everyone will love it
What are you waiting for!
FAQ’s and tips
Start by marinating for at least 30 minutes in buttermilk
Add a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a 1 cup measuring cup and fill with milk. Let it sit for about 5 minutes.
Chop up a fresh tomato and a jalapeno pepper
The best queso is found in the refrigerated section where the cheese or fresh salsa is located. You can also use the queso that is found on the potato chip aisle.
If you need more ideas for quick and easy dinners, give some of these recipes a try:
- Lemon Chicken Penne a light and fresh pasta dinner.
- Parmesan Crusted Chicken Fingers because who doesn’t love chicken fingers!
- Baked Apple Pancake for nights when you want breakfast for dinner.
- Go Tex-Mex with Chicken Enchiladas .
- Have left over turkey, then try Spicy Hot Browns.
Still in the mood for chicken, you’ll love these
- Roasted chicken with dates
- Chicken meatballs
- Tex-Mex chicken and rice
- Taco grilled chicken
- Chicken galette
- Chicken tamale pie
- Peach and chicken taquitos
- One pan chicken
- Slow cooker chicken
- Nut crusted chicken
Queso Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 cup Buttermilk
- 4 boneless chicken breast
- 2 teaspoons taco seasoning
- salt and pepper
- 10 ounces Ro-Tel tomatoes and chilies
- 1 cup queso 12 ounces
- 1 cup pepper jack and cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
- Place chicken in ziplock bag with buttermilk and let sit overnight or at least for 30 minutes. Drain, and pat dry.
- Preheat oven to 375º.
- Sprinkle chicken with taco season and salt and pepper. Place in a glass baking dish.
- Drain tomatoes and chilies and place half on chicken, cover with queso and place the rest of the tomatoes on top. Cover with grated cheese mixture.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes, until instant thermometer reads 155º. They will continue to cook once removed from the oven.
Video
Barbara’s Tips + Notes
Recipe Tip
- For tender chicken marinate in buttermilk for 30 minutes
- If you don’t have Ro-tel tomatoes, chop fresh tomatoes and a jalapeno
- You can find queso in the refrigerated section of the grocery or on the potato chip aisle
- This is great served over rice
Nutrition
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Absolutely delicious and easy to make, a new family favorite, thanks for the recipe! 😋
Mike, I’m so glad you and your family liked this, it’s one of my favorites, especially when I’m in a hurry.
Is that 1 cup of each cheese or a combination?
I used one cup of each, but I like a lot of cheese! You can easily cut the amount of cheese down since the queso itself is so cheesy.
Is the queso shredded or liquid?
It is liquid. It comes in a jar, just melt it in the microwave or on the stove and pour it over.
Do you use the Tostitos salsa con queso? Or something different?
You could use the jars of queso that you find on the chip aisle or try the fresh queso in the refrigerated section.
Do you rinse off all the buttermilk?
Yes, rinse and pat dry.
Do you just drain the buttermilk or rinse it off?
Yes, rinse it off.
What kind of quest do you use?
I use one in the refrigerated section or you can find queso dip in the potato chip section. My favorite is homemade queso dip.
I’ve printed the recipe to make very soon. I’m from Texas, so we eat Mexican food ALL the time!
In many grocery stores they have in house made Queso, that is delicious. Look for it, to use! Better than most I’ve ever bought. You also, could go by your favorite Mexican restaurant and buy amount needed. Or serve it with chips.
I bet you get some great house made queso in Texas. The better the queso the better this dish is.
So delicious and easy to make…thank you!
Monica, I’m so glad you liked it. You might also like Chicken Enchiladas, another delicious but easy dinner.
Can you use chicken thighs?
Yes, I would remove the skin and just what the time, it could be shorter.
Are you covering with foil before sliding in the oven?
No need to cover it, all the cheese keeps it moist.
With the queso, you have 1 cup and 12 ounces. Which one do you use? I don’t want to use too much and make the sauce too thin.
With the queso I used, 1 cup was about 12 ounces. If you use a little more or less it will not change the sauce.
This was the most juicy chicken breast I have ever made! Followed the recipe exactly as written & for the first time ever, no one chocked on my dry chicken breasts! Definitely a family favorite
Leah, that is awesome. If you’re looking for another quick and easy family friendly dish, check out one pot Taco Spaghetti
I know I always end up with dry chicken. I’m making this tonight. Can’t wait.
Clarification please – drain Ro-tel – separating “juice” from solids – pitch the liquid and use the solids ~~ am I correct? Sounds wonderful. I’m a cheese lover, too. 😉
Drain the Ro-tel tomatoes and pour out the juice, just use the solid tomatoes. If you love cheese, you will love this recipe. Even though it has a lot of cheese, it mixes with the juice from the chicken so the end product is not thick.
Can I use something other than buttermilk? What does the buttermilk do?
The buttermilk just tenderizes the chicken. You can substitute buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a measuring cup and fill it to the 1 cup line with milk. This chicken is so tender, that you could skip this step all together.
I use milk, it makes the chicken moist
Easy and delicious! It’s a 5 star recipe!
So glad you liked it!
Can You put this together and then put it in the fridge and make the next day?
I don’t see why not.
So I could soak my chicken in my buttermilk over night tonight and put it all together cover it back up and toss it in the oven on Friday… would you recommend putting it back in the fridge or freezer
I would soak the chicken in buttermilk. Drain it and assemble and then refrigerate. I would not refreeze it raw with the cheese mixture added, just cover and refrigerate and take it out of the refrigerator about 15 minutes before you are going to put it in the oven.
Hi! What sides have you all prepared with it?
Thanks!
Since the sauce is so yummy, I like to pore it over rice or a baked potato.
Sounds yummy! I’m making it now! Can’t wait.
Could you make this in the crock pot?
Since this is so quick to make, I’ve never tried it in a slow cooker. Most chicken recipes woudl cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours in a slow cooker. I would not add teh grated cheese, but I think it should work ok. Let me know how it turns out.
I like to serve it with a baked potato because you can pour the extra sauce on the potato. It also is good over rice.
Super yummy. My new favorite chicken go to. I’m a freak for queso so this was right up my alley!! Need to find a good queso, we have HyVee grocery stores and I can’t find your recommendation…
Thanks for sharing!
This is even better if you make your own queso, give this recipe a try.
1 cup is 8oz, not 12oz. What do you mean by “rinse off” or “drain” the buttermilk?
The chicken has been soaking in buttermilk, so take it out of the buttermilk, and run water over the chicken to rinse off the buttermilk. Then pat the chicken dry with paper towels. I hope that makes sense.
You are right, 1 liquid cup is 8 oz. I think she is using a dry measuring cup, that’s why she used 12 oz. of queso.
The weight will depend on what type of queso dip you use. You need about a cup of queso, but that’s just a quideline.
If you wanted to add some vegetables and pasta or rice before cooking , would you alter the cooking time?
If you add vegetables, the cooking time is probably long enough to cook most vegetables. I’m not sure there would be enough liquid to add uncooked rice. If you’re going to experiment I would cover it while cooking so that the rice could steam and see how it does, you may need to add some chicken broth. Let me know how it turns out.
I made it and it was delicious. Quick and easy to.
This might sound like a dumb question but I had a question about soaking it in the buttermilk. I’m assuming that you put it in the fridge while it soaks but I never saw andy exact instructions about that. Just checking.
Tammy, yes you need to soak them in buttermilk in the refrigerator. Thanks for checking.
Loved this easy recipe chicken came out moist and tender And I don’t care for chicken breast sent the recipe to my children to make
Well that’s quite a compliment!
I can’t find a jar of queso the only jars are dip would that be the same?
Yes, you can use dip.
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ My entire family LOVED it
That made my day!
Question, I don’t have a glass dish, only a metal one, will that do? Or does it have to be glass?
Metal will work, just watch the cooking time. Hope you enjoy.
I like to meal prep. Do you think this would go good for meal prepping for the week for myself??
I always make extra when I make this and freeze it for lunches or dinners. It freezes well and is just as good reheated!
What kind of queso did you use?
I used Leigh Oliver’s found in the refrigerated section (http://leigholivers.com/product.htm) or you can use any type of queso in a jar in the chip section. Or better yet, make your own, it’s super easy. https://www.butterandbaggage.com/queso-dip/