Salsa Verde Chicken Skillet Bake

This one skillet meal takes a couple grocery store shortcuts, but the final result is a super delicious, super simple family style skillet bake. And if this meal wasn't already easy enough, it's on the table in under 30 minutes!

Layer one starts with a simple schmear of store bought refried beans. We're adding so much other goodness to this layered bake, we don't even need to do anything to the beans first to doctor them up. Just scoop the beans out of the can, cover the bottom of your skillet in an even layer of beans, and we can call step one done!

The next layer of our skillet bake is where we get to the good stuff. I started with a store bought rotisserie chicken that I shredded, but if you have leftover chicken in your fridge or have some chicken in the freezer that you need to cook up and use, that will totally work too. To the chicken, we'll add our favorite brand of prepared salsa verde and some shredded pepperjack cheese. Mix it all together, and spread it right over top of the beans. Then, for good measure, we'll add another layer of pepperjack cheese on top of the chicken mix, and to the oven the skillet goes to start heating up the chicken and melting the cheese.

After about 10 mins, we're going to add some corn to the party. So, sprinkle some corn kernels right over top of the cheese, and back to the oven the skillet goes, but this time on broil. We'll let the bake broil until the cheese is golden and bubbly and the corn just starts to char.

To cool down our hot chicken skillet, we're going to top the whole thing with some mashed avocado, some thinly sliced radishes, and a drizzle of sour cream. And, that's it! We're ready to eat after less than 30 minutes!

Here's the cool thing about this skillet bake. You can choose your own adventure of how you want to eat it! You can serve it family style right from the skillet like a warm, gooey dip. You can use it as a filling for a hard or soft taco. You could go straight at it with a spoon. There are sooooo many ways to devour this amazing meal! So, that makes it perfect for family dinner or as a potluck party dish.

Despite adding a couple spicy elements like the salsa and the pepperjack to this bake, this dish is not spicy at all. The spicy peppers are completely balanced out by the creamy beans and cool avocado to create a beautiful harmony. The beans are savory. The cheese makes the chicken gooey. The corn adds a pop of texture. And, the cool garnishes on top add a nice temperature contrast that makes every bite ultimately enjoyable.

Can you think of any better reason to fiesta then siesta???

Ok, everyone! Even though Cinco de Mayo is on Wednesday, we're actually not traveling to Mexico with our meal. Instead, we're switching it up and traveling to Italy thanks to a special Instagram collaboration I'm participating in. And, it's a good one, so stay tuned!

Until then, enjoy! And, let's eat!