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Baked Salsa Chicken – this easy chicken dinner recipe is perfect every time! Lightly breaded chicken is baked with salsa and cheese and comes out moist and tender. This recipe is adult and kid approved!

The trick to getting this chicken perfect is the light breading and cooking at a high temperature. The result is the BEST chicken recipe you’ll ever make – and it’s done in 30 minutes!

PIN IT NOW TO SAVE FOR LATER!

Baked Salsa Chicken sliced on cutting board

Do you ever go through a period of time when all you do is eat out or live on junk food and snacks? I feel that’s how my last week has gone. From last Thursday when my friends flew in for my birthday until Tuesday when Holly left I feel like it was a parade of eating out, snacking on chips or cheese, drinking too much, and eating all of Glory’s sugar cookies.

Yesterday I cleaned out my pantry, which was full of a myriad of open junk cereal boxes, leftover bags of chips from the party, and candy and cookies galore. The stuff that can be saved to use is now out in the garage with the other pantry items, hopefully forgotten amongst the baking supplies. I stocked up on vegetables and fruit at the grocery store and am going to attempt drinking La Croix in lieu of wine for a few days. After all the entertaining my liver needs a nice break!

Back on the schedule: making family dinner again. Lately, even before the events, I have been feeling out of sorts about dinner. I get that way sometimes; I’m tired and busy and the same old dinner feels boring. In a regular week we’ll eat ground turkey, chicken a few times, maybe some beans or soup or baked potatoes, and then chicken again. It’s so easy to get tired of chicken!

Baked Salsa Chicken two pieces on cutting board

My new goal is to try and find some new delicious and easy dinner recipes that are on the table in under 30 that Jordan also likes. She’s not in love with 99% of what I make so dinner is always frustrating. She eats it, but you can tell it’s under duress.

Recently I had her go through some cookbooks to bookmark some recipes that she thinks she’ll like and then I’m going to have her start cooking for us once a week. Hopefully it’ll get her interested in cooking and eating too.

One recipe I know is foolproof that she likes (and so do we) is this easy baked salsa chicken recipe. It’s fast and easy and is done in about 30 minutes. Plus it’s perfect every time: juicy and moist and never dry.

I’ve made this recipe as chicken parmesan and with barbecue sauce before, and now I’m sharing my salsa version. I have about 100 mores ways I want to make this easy weeknight meal because it’s always good and always disappears fast.

Easy Salsa Baked Chicken is the perfect weeknight meal. This chicken recipe is topped with salsa and cheese and turns out perfect every time.

Baked Salsa Chicken collage photo

How to make the perfect Baked Salsa Chicken:

  1. Make sure your chicken breasts are evenly sized. I buy my chicken at Costco in the packs of two, but each breast is about 2 servings. I slice them in half lengthwise to make two even patties.
  2. Use your favorite breading mixture and packet of taco seasoning. Or, use a homemade taco seasoning recipe.
  3. I use my favorite jarred salsa from Trader Joe’s but you can use any kind you like (a verde would be good too), or use a homemade blender salsa.
  4. Leftovers are good the next day warmed in the microwave or even cold!

Other chicken recipes you might like:

baked salsa chicken sliced on cutting board

Baked Salsa Chicken

4.28 from 11 votes
Baked Salsa Chicken - this easy chicken dinner recipe is perfect every time! Lightly breaded chicken is baked with salsa and cheese and comes out moist and tender. This recipe is adult and kid approved!
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients
 

  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 cup dried breadcrumbs
  • 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
  • 3/4 cup salsa
  • 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450°F. Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
  • If your chicken breasts are not even thickness, pound them even.
  • Place beaten egg in a shallow dish.
  • Place breadcrumbs and taco seasoning in another shallow dish; stir to combine.
  • Dip each chicken breast in the egg then in the breadcrumbs, coating both sides with the crumbs. Place in an even layer in the baking dish.
  • Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken looks golden and crisp. Do not turn.
  • Pour the salsa evenly over the chicken and top with cheese. Continue baking for 5-10 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and chicken is cooked through.

Recipe Video

Recipe Nutrition

Calories: 1497kcal | Carbohydrates: 93g | Protein: 147g | Fat: 56g | Saturated Fat: 27g | Cholesterol: 576mg | Sodium: 3569mg | Potassium: 2606mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 15g | Vitamin A: 2445IU | Vitamin C: 10.2mg | Calcium: 1150mg | Iron: 9.4mg
Nutritional information not guaranteed to be accurate
Course Main Course
Cuisine American

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Last Updated on May 12, 2020

Dorothy Kern

Welcome to Crazy for Crust, where I share recipes that are sometimes crazy, often with a crust, and always served with a slice of life.

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12 Comments

  1. Made this for dinner and my picky kids loved it. I used chicken tenderloins because that’s all I had on hand and since they were thinner/smaller than breasts, I lowered the oven temp. We didn’t have any leftovers 🙂