This casserole is so hearty and wholesome with great Mexican flavors. Leftovers freeze nice. Every skinny serving has 299 energy, 8 grams of fats. It’s so filling you’ll solely want a easy salad to serve with it and also you’ll be all prepared for dinner!

Why You will Love My Skinny Mexican Rooster and Brown Rice Casserole
Searching for a flavorful, satisfying meal that will not derail your wholesome consuming objectives? My Skinny Mexican Rooster and Brown Rice Casserole delivers the comforting heat of a basic casserole with a lighter twist. This dish combines lean rooster, fiber-rich brown rice, and vibrant Mexican spices, making a hearty and scrumptious meal that is each nutritious and straightforward to organize. It is good for busy weeknights, meal prepping, or anybody searching for a guilt-free consolation meals expertise. By incorporating healthful substances and good substitutions, this casserole gives a balanced mix of protein, advanced carbohydrates, and flavorful greens, making it a profitable selection for health-conscious people and households alike.
Components For Skinny Mexican Rooster and Brown Rice Casserole
Raw brown rice:
- Complete Grain Goodness: Brown rice is an entire grain, that means it retains the bran and germ, offering extra fiber, nutritional vitamins, and minerals than white rice.
- Complicated Carbohydrates: It gives advanced carbohydrates, which provide sustained power and assist regulate blood sugar ranges.
- Nutty Taste: Brown rice has a nutty, earthy taste that enhances the Mexican spices and different substances.
- Textural Basis: It types the substantial base of the casserole, providing a chewy, satisfying texture.
- Selection Variations: Basmati, common brown rice, and lengthy grain rice all cook dinner barely in a different way, and have slight taste variations.
Diced onions:
- Fragrant Base: Onions launch fragrant compounds when cooked, making a savory basis for the casserole.
- Sweetness Improvement: As they cook dinner, onions caramelize, releasing pure sugars and including a delicate sweetness.
- Taste Depth: They contribute to the general depth of taste, enhancing the savory notes of the dish.
- Texture Contribution: They soften throughout cooking, including a young texture to the casserole.
Minced garlic:
- Pungent Taste: Garlic provides a pungent, savory taste that’s important to many Mexican dishes.
- Fragrant Enhancement: It releases a powerful aroma that enhances the general sensory expertise.
- Taste Complexity: Garlic provides a posh, savory depth that balances the sweetness of the onions and corn.
- Well being Advantages: Garlic has antioxidant and anti inflammatory properties.
Thawed frozen corn:
- Sweetness and Colour: Corn provides a contact of sweetness and a vibrant yellow shade to the casserole.
- Texture Selection: It gives a satisfyingly crunchy texture that contrasts with the comfortable rice and rooster.
- Dietary Worth: Corn is an effective supply of fiber, nutritional vitamins, and minerals.
- Comfort: Frozen corn is handy and available.
Diced cooked rooster breasts (pores and skin eliminated):
- Lean Protein Supply: Rooster breasts present a high-quality supply of lean protein, important for muscle constructing and restore.
- Lowered Fats: Eradicating the pores and skin considerably reduces the fats content material, making this a more healthy choice.
- Satiety: Protein helps to advertise satiety, holding you feeling full and glad.
- Versatility: Cooked rooster will be ready in varied methods (baked, poached, grilled) earlier than being added to the casserole.
Undrained fire-roasted diced tomatoes:
- Smoky Taste: Hearth-roasted tomatoes have a definite smoky taste that provides depth and complexity to the casserole.
- Acidity and Sweetness: They supply a steadiness of acidity and sweetness, enhancing the general taste profile.
- Liquid Contribution: Utilizing undrained tomatoes provides liquid to the casserole, serving to to maintain it moist.
- Texture: Diced tomatoes add texture to the dish.
Tomato sauce:
- Tomato Base: Tomato sauce gives a clean, concentrated tomato base that ties the substances collectively.
- Wealthy Taste: It provides a wealthy, savory taste that enhances the Mexican spices.
- Moisture Content material: It contributes to the moisture content material of the casserole, stopping it from turning into dry.
- Texture: it provides a clean texture.
Shredded gentle Mexican-style four-cheese mix:
- Melty Richness: Cheese provides a melty, savory richness that enhances the general taste and texture.
- Lowered Fats: Utilizing a light-weight mix considerably reduces the fats content material in comparison with common cheese.
- Taste Selection: A four-cheese mix gives a wide range of flavors, including complexity to the dish.
- Visible Enchantment: Melted cheese provides a visually interesting topping to the casserole.
Chili powder:
- Heat Spice: Chili powder provides a heat, earthy spice that’s attribute of Mexican delicacies.
- Taste Depth: It contributes to the general depth of taste, enhancing the savory notes of the dish.
- Warmth Stage: The quantity of chili powder will be adjusted to manage the warmth degree.
- Mix of Spices: Chili powder is a mix of spices, together with chili peppers, cumin, and oregano.
Cumin:
- Earthy Heat: Cumin provides an earthy, heat depth that’s important to many Mexican dishes.
- Fragrant High quality: It releases a heat, fragrant scent that enhances the general sensory expertise.
- Taste Complexity: Cumin provides a posh, savory depth that enhances the opposite spices.
- Digestive Advantages: Cumin has digestive advantages.
Fats-free bitter cream or fat-free plain yogurt (optionally available):
- Creamy Tanginess: These toppings add a creamy, tangy end that gives a cooling distinction to the nice and cozy spices.
- Lowered Fats: Utilizing fat-free choices considerably reduces the fats content material.
- Texture Distinction: They add a clean, creamy texture that contrasts with the opposite substances.
- Garnish: It acts as a pleasant garnish.
Salsa (optionally available):
- Contemporary Zest: Salsa provides a contemporary, zesty kick that brightens the general taste of the casserole.
- Taste Enhance: It gives a vibrant taste enhance, including a contact of warmth and acidity.
- Number of Flavors: Several types of salsa provide a wide range of flavors and warmth ranges.
- Garnish: it’s a good colourful garnish.
Tips on how to Make a Skinny Mexican Rooster and Brown Rice Casserole
Step 1: Preheat and Put together the Baking Dish
- Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 350 levels Fahrenheit (175 levels Celsius). This ensures even cooking and prevents the casserole from being undercooked.
- Baking Dish Preparation: Coat a 9 x 9-inch sq. baking pan or a 2-quart casserole dish with cooking spray. This prevents the casserole from sticking and makes cleanup simpler. Set the ready dish apart.
Step 2: Prepare dinner the Brown Rice
- Rice Preparation: In a big saucepan, cook dinner 1 cup of raw brown Basmati, common brown rice, or lengthy grain rice based on the bundle instructions. This types the hearty base of the casserole.
- Cooking Time: Brown rice usually takes longer to cook dinner than white rice, so comply with the bundle directions rigorously.
- Fluffing the Rice: As soon as cooked, fluff the rice with a fork to separate the grains.
Step 3: Soften the Onions and Garlic (Microwave Methodology)
- Onion and Garlic Preparation: In a microwave-safe bowl, mix ½ cup of diced onions and 1 teaspoon of minced garlic.
- Microwave Cooking: Prepare dinner the onions and garlic within the microwave for roughly 1 minute, or till the onions start to melt. This step releases their fragrant flavors and reduces cooking time.
- Cooling: Enable the softened onions and garlic to chill barely.
Step 4: Mix the Casserole Components
- Massive Mixing Bowl: Switch the cooked brown rice to a big mixing bowl.
- Ingredient Addition: Add the softened onions and garlic, 2 cups of thawed frozen corn, 1½ cups of diced cooked rooster breasts (pores and skin eliminated), 1 (14.5-ounce) can of undrained fire-roasted diced tomatoes, 1 (8-ounce) can or jar of tomato sauce, ½ cup of shredded gentle Mexican-style four-cheese mix, 2 teaspoons of chili powder, and 1 teaspoon of cumin to the bowl.
- Thorough Mixing: Combine all of the substances completely till properly mixed. This ensures that the flavors are evenly distributed all through the casserole.
Step 5: Switch to Baking Dish and High with Cheese
- Casserole Dish Switch: Switch the blended casserole substances to the ready baking dish.
- Cheese Topping: Sprinkle the remaining ½ cup of shredded gentle Mexican-style four-cheese mix evenly excessive of the casserole.
Step 6: Bake the Casserole
- Baking Time: Bake the casserole, uncovered, within the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or till the cheese is frivolously browned and the casserole is heated by means of.
- Inner Temperature Test: Make sure the rooster is heated to an inside temperature of 165°F (74°C).
- Cheese Browning: Monitor the cheese intently to forestall it from burning.
Step 7: Cool and Serve
- Cooling Interval: Take away the casserole from the oven and permit it to chill for a minimum of 10 minutes. This permits the casserole to set and makes it simpler to chop into servings.
- Serving Measurement: Reduce the casserole into 6 equal servings.
- Non-compulsory Toppings: If desired, high every serving with 1 tablespoon of fat-free bitter cream or fat-free plain yogurt and 1 tablespoon of salsa. These toppings add a creamy, tangy end and a contemporary, zesty kick.
Ideas for Success:
- Rice Cooking: Observe the bundle instructions for cooking the brown rice to make sure it’s cooked correctly.
- Microwave Timing: Regulate the microwave cooking time for the onions and garlic primarily based in your microwave’s energy.
- Even Mixing: Combine the casserole substances completely to make sure even taste distribution.
- Cheese Browning: Monitor the cheese intently throughout baking to forestall it from burning.
- Cooling Time: Enable the casserole to chill for a minimum of 10 minutes earlier than serving.
- Ingredient Variations: Be at liberty so as to add different greens, akin to bell peppers or zucchini, to the casserole.
- Spice Adjustment: Regulate the quantity of chili powder and cumin to your most well-liked spice degree.
- Storage: Retailer leftover casserole in an hermetic container within the fridge for as much as 3 days.
Useful Ideas About this Recipe
Prep Ideas
For those who don’t wish to use cooked, store-bought rooster right here’s a straightforward approach to cook dinner your personal. In a big, nonstick pan, mix 8 to 9 ounces skinless, boneless rooster breasts and 1½ cups water. Carry to boiling; scale back warmth. Simmer, lined, for 12 to 14 minutes or till rooster is not pink. Drain properly. Cool barely. Cube into small items.
WW Freestyle SmartPoints 5-Blue
WW SmartPoints 8-Inexperienced
*Skinny Information had been calculated utilizing brown Basmati rice and jarred tomato sauce. Doesn’t embody optionally available toppings.
SKINNY FACTS: for 1 serving 299 energy, 8g fats, 3g sat. fats, 93mg chol, 41g carbs, 30g prot, 4g fiber, 400mg sod, 5g sugar |
FACTS: for Freestyle SmartPoints 173 energy, 2g sat. fats, 2g sugar, 8g protein |