Easy One Pot Mexican Chicken

The easiest one pot Mexican chicken will be in heavy rotation all week long. It only takes 30 minutes to get until you've got crispy golden chicken snuggled into a creamy spicy sauce. Packed with added vegetables this one-pot dinner is perfect served with rice. No premade sauces or additives. Just some lean chicken breast, a simple homemade seasoning mix and a drop of cream to bring it all together in 30 minutes flat!

Of course, all these simple ingredients are from Aldi. So, there's nothing expensive and no out of reach ingredients. This is nothing but a simple, budget-friendly one-pot chicken dinner that makes enough for leftovers but is delicious enough that you may not have any. 

Mexican Chicken
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Ingredients needed

• Boneless skinless chicken breast- you can definitely use chicken thigh here. That would work really well. Just reduce the cooking time a little. See the recipe notes.
• Plain flour- for dusting the chicken before browning it. You can skip this step, and just brown the chicken if you prefer. It just adds a really lovely crispy coating.
• Red onion- just thinly slice so that they soften quickly.
• Red pepper- you can use any colour pepper here. They add such sweetness and help to compliment the spices.
• Sweet corn- use tinned, or frozen.
• Single cream- saving a few calories using single as opposed to double cream.
• For the spice mix- chilli powder, paprika, Cajun spice, chilli flakes, garlic granules
• Chicken stock- made with a stock cube. 
• Tomato paste- we only use a little bit, but it makes a huge difference to the flavour.
• Fresh spinach- again, optional, but really worth it.
• Lemon- juice and wedges. This dish needs acid to cut the richness of the cream, compliment the spices and the veggies. Feel free to use limes here to.
• Herbs- fresh basil and coriander
• Green onion- just for serving, so not required but nice to have

Step by step directions

Step 1 & 2-

• If some of the chicken breasts you get are on the thick side then place them between 2 pieces of greaseproof paper and use a rolling pin to tap them out thinner.
• Dust them in the seasoned flour and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Step 3 & 4-

• Heat the oil with some butter in the pan (measurements are in the recipe card below). Brown the chicken on both sides. Don't worry if the chicken isn't cooked all the way through. It gets added back to the pan to finish cooking in the sauce.
• Once the chicken is brown on both sides, this should only take about 6-10 minutes, remove the chicken from the pan to a plate and set it aside while you make the sauce. Leave any of the brown bits of chicken that have stuck to the pan. 

Step 5 & 6-

• Add the onion and sweet corn to the pan and let cook until the onions are soft and translucent. As the onions soften, use a spoon to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan. 
• Add the pepper slices to the pan continue to cook for another 5-8 minutes.

Step 7 & 8-

• Pour the cream and chicken stock into the pan and add the spice mix. Squeeze in the lemon juice and adjust the seasoning. Bring it to a simmer and add the chicken back to the pan. Let gently cook for about 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked and the sauce has thickened. 
• Add in the spinach and let wilt in the hot sauce. Garnish the top of the chicken with some diced red onion, sliced green onion and fresh coriander and basil.

Storage

This chicken is perfect for leftovers. Just pack it up into airtight containers with the sauce. The sauce will definitely thicken as it sits in the fridge, so you'll need to add some water to it as you reheat. Often, reheating chicken in the microwave will make it go rubbery. To avoid that, reheat gently in a pan on the hob with the sauce. 

More simple chicken recipes

• Creamy coconut chicken curry
• Chicken & mushroom pie
• Crispy honey chilli chicken

Tools used

1. Cast iron skillet
2. Mixing bowls
3. Wooden spoon

Easy One Pot Mexican Chicken Recipe

A spicy fresh take on Mexican chicken. Loaded with sweet bell peppers and corn this golden crispy chicken dish only takes 30 minutes.

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Easy Dinners

Cuisine: Mexican inspired

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 Servings

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Author: Deborah Rainford

Ingredients

1x2x3x

• 4-5 (4-5) boneless skinless chicken breast, or use thigh
• 200 g (1 ½ cups) plain flour
• 1 tablespoon (1 tablespoon) butter
• 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) olive oil
• 1 (1) tin sweet corn
• 1 (1) red onion, thinly sliced
• 1 (1) pepper, any colour, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons (2 tablespoons) tomato paste
• 250 ml (1 cups) chicken stock, made from a stock cube
• juice of 1 lemon
• 200 ml (6 ¾ floz) single cream
• 200 g (6 ⅓ cups) spinach, washed
• bunch coriander, chopped
• basil chopped
• spring onions, sliced
• For the spice mix
• ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) garlic granules
• ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) paprika
• ½ teaspoon (½ teaspoon) chilli powder, add more or less depending on preference
• ¼ teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) chilli flakes
• ¼ teaspoon (¼ teaspoon) Cajun spice

Instructions

• Pour the flour into a shallow dish and season well with salt and pepper. Dust the chicken in the seasoned flour. If some of the chicken breasts you get are on the thick side then place them between 2 pieces of greaseproof paper and use a rolling pin to tap them out thinner. *See notes
• Heat the olive oil and butter in the pan over medium heat. Brown the chicken on both sides. Don't worry if the chicken isn't cooked all the way through. It gets added back to the pan to finish cooking in the sauce. Once the chicken is brown on both sides, this should only take about 6-10 minutes, remove the chicken from the pan to a plate and set it aside while you make the sauce. Leave any of the brown bits of chicken that have stuck to the pan.
• Add the onion and sweet corn to the pan and let cook until the onions are soft and translucent. As the onions soften, use a spoon to scrape the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.  Add the pepper slices and tomato paste to the pan and continue to cook for another 5-8 minutes.
• Pour the cream and chicken stock into the pan and add the spice mix. Squeeze in the lemon juice and adjust the seasoning. Bring it to a simmer and add the chicken back to the pan. Let gently cook for about 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked and the sauce has thickened.
• Add in the spinach and let wilt in the hot sauce. Garnish the top of the chicken with some diced red onion, sliced green onion and fresh coriander and basil.

Notes

• Note 1- Some packs of chicken (especially Aldi chicken) have pieces that are very different in size. Using a rolling pin to tap them out so that they’re all the same size helps everything cook evenly and avoid some pieces being over or undercooked.
• Note 2- As the sauce cooks the cream will thicken. If the sauce gets too thick, just add some water until you reach the desired consistency.

Nutrition

Calories: 577kcal | Carbohydrates: 49g | Protein: 34g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 130mg | Sodium: 354mg | Potassium: 1012mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 5558IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 116mg | Iron: 5mg

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