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salsa baked chicken in a skillet

Cheesy Baked Salsa Chicken

Jenni Cole
An easy baked salsa chicken recipe that cooks in less than 30 mins and just has 4 ingredients. This is a healthy gluten free, low carb, and keto salsa chicken recipe too.
4.62 from 13 votes
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Chicken
Cuisine Mexican
Servings 6 servings
Calories 238 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 1.5 lb chicken breasts cut into 4 pieces (6 oz each)
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil
  • 1 15 oz jar salsa mild or medium
  • 2 tablespoon taco seasoning one taco seasoning packet
  • 1 cups Colby Jack cheese shredded, or more to be extra cheesy
  • optional garnish-cilantro

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 375F at make sure the oven rack is in the middle position.
  • Prep the chicken by cutting the breasts into 4 6-oz pieces, if needed. Breasts come in a wide range of sizes at the grocery store so going off of weight is best. If the chicken breasts are slightly larger than 6 oz, that's totally fine, it might just mean adding a few minutes to the cooking time.
  • Dry the chicken breasts with paper towels, which helps get the outside of the chicken extra crispy.
  • Preheat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the chicken breast pieces 5 minutes on each side, until brown and crisp. 
  • If you have a cast-iron skillet you can just make this a one-pan dish and add the remaining ingredients, and then put the entire dish in the oven to finish cooking.
  • Sprinkle the taco seasoning packet over the chicken and then pour the chunky salsa over the top.
  • Sprinkle the shredded Colby Jack cheese over the chicken.
  • Bake for 17-20 minutes in the oven, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 160F. To get the cheese extra crispy, as an optional step, broil the chicken for 1-2 minutes.
  • Let the chicken rest 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with cilantro and sour cream if desired.

Notes

  • Skip the sear and just bake this dish for an extra 10 minutes in the oven.
  • If you don't have a cast iron skillet, bake the chicken in any skillet and then transfer it to a baking dish.
  • For best results, don't use finely shredded cheese--it'll overcook and turn crunchy before the chicken cooks. It always works best to shred your own cheese since pre-shredded cheese adds potato starch which can cause clumping and prevent the cheese from melting as well.
  • To get the meat the same thickness, having a kitchen meat mallet is handy. While it's ok if some breasts are slightly larger than the others, having them the same thickness will help to make sure they still cook evenly.
  • Bake tender vegetables like mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, or small broccoli pieces right in the pan.

Nutrition

Serving: 1servingCalories: 238kcalCarbohydrates: 4gProtein: 29gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 5gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.02gCholesterol: 93mgSodium: 333mgPotassium: 448mgFiber: 0.2gSugar: 0.3gVitamin A: 332IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 156mgIron: 1mg
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