Budget Friendly Cinco De Mayo Layered Casserole

One evening, my husband was in the mood for Mexican, but we were crunched for cash. We decided to raid the pantry instead of going out to dinner. I didn't have a recipe for this casserole at the time. Instead, I decided to throw together things I thought would compliment each other. It has turned out to be one of our regulars, and best of all, the ingredients are things we always have one hand....Left overs are amazing!

What you'll need: (it's very simple to remember because it's pretty much two of everything.)

• 2 or 3 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 2 1/2 cups cooked minute rice
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 cans of black beans
• 2 cans enchilada sauce
• 1 or 2 cans of cream of chicken soup (depending on how creamy you like your casseroles...I prefer 2)
• 8 oz of sour cream
• 16 oz bag of shredded cheese (whatever you have on hand)
• taco seasoning

Cook rice according to directions. Cook chicken on the stove top and cube. Add taco seasoning with a couple tablespoons of water and simmer until seasoning thickens. Spray large glass pan with cooking spray and layer rice on the bottom. Pour two cans of enchilada sauce over the rice.

Drain and rinse black beans, pour over rice.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together chicken, soup, and sour cream. Spread mixture over bean layer.



Top with cheese and diced tomatoes (and any of your other favorite Mexican toppings).

Cover with foil and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes so everything can get all gooey, thickened, and cheesy! Remove the foil for last 5 minutes.

This casserole is something your whole family will enjoy! The meal costs between $10 and $15 depending what your grocery store has on sale at the time, and serves up to 8! That's a little over a dollar per person! Sometimes to make it even healthier, I use brown rice instead of white rice. Shhh...don't tell my husband...he still doesn't know ;-)

Happy Kraftin!