This cheesy Salsa Chicken for Two is the easiest homemade chicken dinner ever. No cutting or measuring needed and made all in one pan!
Back in September, I did a recipe series on Quick and Easy dinners. It consisted of recipes that are dead easy to make like my Teriyaki Chicken and Basil Chicken Pasta. Today I’m sharing the recipe I make when I don’t even have the energy to make those.
This is the ultimate low-effort dinner, requiring no measuring, no cutting, you make it in one pan, and you probably always have the ingredients on hand: Salsa Chicken.
Looks good, huh? (It tastes even better!)
How to Make Salsa Chicken
This is how you make salsa chicken: sprinkle some salt, pepper, and taco seasoning over both sides of some chicken breasts–don’t measure it, just sprinkle until it looks pretty.
Then you sear your chicken on the stove in an oven-safe pan, pour some salsa over the top and bake for 15 to 20 minutes. In the last five minutes of cooking time, sprinkle cheese over the top. Finish cooking, let rest, and you’re done.
I’ve included measurements below so I could give a calorie count, but the wonderful thing about this recipe is that you don’t have to measure anything if you don’t want to. Eyeballing the ingredients works just fine and means you don’t have to wash any extra measuring cups or spoons.
And if you don’t have an oven-safe skillet or are making more chicken than will fit in a skillet, you can just skip the searing step and bake the chicken in a casserole dish. This dish is all about making your life easy and delicious! 🙂
I think Salsa Chicken might be the most made recipe in my arsenal because aside from making it whenever I am too lazy to cook something else, I also regularly schedule it on my menu since it’s a genuinely delicious chicken dinner.
The salsa reduces down in the oven, making it perfect for spooning over rice on the side, and the chicken comes out moist and perfect every time. All you have to do is steam some broccoli or toss together a quick side salad and dinner is DONE.
Looking for more easy dinners? Try my Tri-tip in the Oven, Homemade Carnitas, Carnitas Enchiladas, and Asparagus-stuffed Chicken Breasts.
As written, this Salsa Chicken recipe generously serves two. To change the recipe yield, hover over the number of servings (or click if you are on mobile) and slide the slider–no preparation changes are necessary for doubling.
Easy Salsa Chicken for Two
Ingredients
Special Equipment
Salsa Chicken
- 2 small (8-ounce) boneless skinless chicken breasts
- Salt
- Pepper
- Taco seasoning*
- 3/4 cup salsa
- 1/2 cup (2oz) shredded Cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400°F.
- Sprinkle both sides of your chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and taco seasoning. Heat a medium to large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Grease with cooking spray or a drizzle of your favorite cooking oil. Once hot, add chicken breasts to the pan and cook until well-browned. Flip the breasts and repeat.
- Once both sides of the breasts are browned, remove pan from heat and pour salsa over the top of the chicken. Place pan in the oven and bake for 15 to 25 minutes (the size of your chicken breasts will have a dramatic effect on cooking time), until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the chicken reads 150°F.
- Sprinkle cheese over the top and cook for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the chicken reaches 160°F. Remove from the oven and allow chicken to rest for 5 minutes before serving. Spoon extra salsa from the pan over white rice and serve with steamed green beans or broccoli and enjoy!
Notes
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Karly says
Okay, totally loving this. Low carb, tons of flavor and the perfect portions! Need to add this into our weeknight dinner routine, stat!
Tracy says
Thanks, Karly! I didn’t even think about the low-carb thing, but you’re so right. Just one more reason I love this dish! 😉
Agness of Run Agness Run says
I could eat chicken every day! Thanks for a great recipe, which will be part of my lunch menu, Tracy!
Tracy says
Thanks, Agness! I hope you enjoy it!!
Casey says
I made this tonight, and it came out great! I made some minor changes to the recipe. After seasoning my chicken with salt and pepper, I then added cumin and McCormick(Perfect Pinch) Mexican seasoning liberally. I drizzled olive oil over the chicken to form a marinade, and let it sit for an hour. I browned the chicken in a pan and then transferred to a baking dish, and finished the recipe as instructed. I paired this with Spanish Cauliflower rice. Excellent dinner!
Tracy says
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Casey, and your changes sound delicious!
Linda says
Can you possibly add adjustments for those of us who don’t have ovens to use? (Too long to explain) I’ve been doing my best using a heavy skillet for the oven methods, I’m just not sure my meals are turning out as perfect as yours! We absolutely love and enjoy both your recipes and website/blog! It’s not easy finding meals for two….thank you ever so much!
Tracy says
Thanks so much, Linda! So, my sister actually always makes this completely on the stove, so I asked her what she does. She said she sprinkles the chicken with salt, pepper, and taco seasoning and then cooks it on the stove using this method: https://bakingmischief.com/2018/01/13/how-to-cook-chicken-breasts/
When the chicken is almost cooked through and most of the liquid has evaporated, she adds the salsa on top of the chicken followed by the cheese, puts the lid back on and cooks till the chicken is done. If there’s still a lot of liquid in the pan and the salsa is too liquidy, she removes the cooked chicken and simmers just the salsa uncovered until it has thickened. Hope that helps!