Let’s Dance Casserole

Let’s Dance Casserole–a one-pot chicken and rice dinner made with picante sauce, tender chicken thighs and melty cheese. Easy weeknight Instant Pot meal!

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Let’s Dance Casserole

These are the kinds of recipes that make me do a little happy dance in my kitchen. Dump and go dinners that taste amazing the night you make them AND give you delicious leftovers you can totally repurpose for another meal. I seriously love that you just layer everything in without stirring (trust the process here!), walk away for a few minutes and come back to a complete dinner ready to go. Serve it straight from the pot, turn it into burrito bowls with all your favorite toppings, or wrap it up in warm tortillas for easy tacos. Want to stretch it even further? Bulk it up by stirring in a can of black beans or pinto beans and some frozen sweet corn when you add the cheese at the end.

Ingredients/Substitution Ideas

• Chicken Broth–or water and Better than Bouillon chicken base
• Boneless Skinless Chicken Thighs–or chicken tenderloins
• Converted Rice–or long grain white
• Kosher Salt
• Garlic Powder
• Black Pepper
• Onion Powder
• Picante Sauce–I used Pace’s mild. You can also use salsa.
• Cream of Chicken Soup–or 4 oz cream cheese
• Shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese–or cheddar

Steps

Pour broth into Instant Pot. Add in half of the chicken, all of the rice, the remaining chicken and then sprinkle in a pinch of salt, garlic powder, black pepper and onion powder. Dump in half of the picante sauce and cream of chicken on top. Don’t stir.

Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set manual/pressure cook button to 4 minutes. When time is up let pot sit for 10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove the lid.

Stir in the remaining picante sauce and the cheese. 

Serve and enjoy!

Notes/Tips

• Serve with steamed broccoli or roasted green beans.
• Try adding in a cup of frozen corn or a can of drained black beans.
• What is converted/parboiled rice? Don’t confuse converted rice (or sometimes it is called parboiled rice) with pre-cooked or minute rice. Parboiled rice has been processed in its husk by soaking, steaming, and drying. As a result, all the nutrients from the husk are absorbed into the grain before it’s removed. The starch content alters in the process, making cooked parboiled rice less sticky than regular white rice. The rice kernels aren’t clumpy and glued together instead they are more separated. I found a bag of parboiled rice at Walmart next to the normal long grain white rice. Sometimes I buy it at Winco in the bulk section. I have also found it in the orange box (Ben’s brand) next to other rices.
• You can make this gluten free by using gluten free cream of chicken soup.
• I used my 4 quart Instant Pot*. You can also make this in a 3, 6 or 8 quart pot.
• Store leftovers in an airtight container* in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• Other recipes you can make with picante sauce are Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Salsa Pasta and Instant Pot Creamy Salsa Chicken.

Did you know you can filter the recipes on my website to search by meat type, IP or Crockpot, low carb, gluten free, etc.? Use the filter to find exactly what you are looking for. 

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*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.