Mexican Chicken With Cheese Sauce
This Mexican chicken with cheese sauce recipe is a winner! Chicken breast coated with an abundance of seasonings, baked until tender and juicy! Topped with a delicious cheese sauce!
Anything with cheese sauce is automatically good in my book! This Mexican chicken with cheese sauce is the perfect meal when you want that taste of comfort!
Im sure I’ve said this in my previous posts before, but chicken can be so blah and boring sometimes. Especially when its baked in the oven. Slow cooked chicken is a different story. Thats my go to when cooking chicken. Right in the crockpot it goes!
But, anyways…back on subject. We can thank all of these beautiful spices for the bursts of flavor this chicken has. This is definitely not your boring chicken, thats lacking flavor. I mean, the flavors were out of this world!
Look at all of that seasoning on those chicken breasts! And a great way to keep your chicken from drying out while cooking, is coating each side with olive oil. That is very important! Also…a meat thermometer comes in very handy if you are anything like me.
I would always be unsure if chicken was cooked or not. So as an end result, id have awful dry chicken breast. And no one wants that! With a meat thermometer, you can at least be sure its done before drying it out!
Okay, now lets talk about the most important part of this recipe…the cheese sauce!
You want to make sure you use freshly grated cheddar cheese from a block of cheese. Not the bagged stuff! It just melts way better, and tastes better too!
My favorite cheese to use in sauces or to melt is the alpine cheddar from the legacy collection by Cabot. It melts so well, and the flavors are incredible!
Look. At. That!! It’s a beautiful thing! It’s so easy and simple too!
Of course, you can serve this chicken on top of your rice or grain of choice, but I used this recipe for Mexican rice! https://www.yellowblissroad.com/authentic-mexican-rice/
If you make this recipe, I hope you enjoy it!
Mexican Chicken With Cheese Sauce
Ingredients
For Chicken
- 1 ½ lbs. thin sliced, skinless + boneless chicken breast about 6 breasts
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1½ tsps paprika
- 1½ tsps ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- olive oil
For Cheese Sauce
- 2 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 cup milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1 cup extra sharp cheddar cheese I used a block of sharp cheddar cheese and shredded it myself. I think it melts and tastes way better than the bagged shredded cheddar!
- fresh chopped parsley or cilantro for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°. Line a large baking pan with parchment paper or foil.
- Mix together all of your seasonings together for chicken in a small bowl.
- Place chicken breasts on lined baking sheet. Drizzle some olive oil over each breast, and rub around on each side.
- Take your mixed seasonings and sprinkle all over chicken breasts, making sure to rub on each sides.
- Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or when chicken reaches internal temperature of 165°.
- While chicken is cooking, make your sauce by melting butter over medium heat in a small sauce pan.
- When butter is melted, add flour and whisk until smooth.
- Add in milk slowly, whisking constantly until nice and smooth.
- Add in your shredded cheese, and whisk constantly until smooth.
- Add in paprika and cayenne. Mix until well combined.
- To serve chicken, place over grain of choice *see notes.
- Drizzle with cheese sauce and fresh parsley (optional).
- Enjoy!
Notes
