Salsa Verde Chicken, Simple Supper Series

This Salsa Verde Chicken is packed full of flavor and your whole family will enjoy it. I know mine sure does.

A juicy baked chicken breast (or chicken thigh) topped with a creamy salsa topping and melty cheese, what’s not to love?

I have said many times here on the blog that I am always on a search for easy recipes that I can throw together quickly on my long workdays and this new chicken recipe fits that completely.

The entire recipe can be done in under 45 minutes and it can be adapted from low carb to low-fat to fit your meal needs.

The recipe is a low-carb and high-fat recipe using chicken breasts or thighs.  This option fits my family’s diet plan, however, with just a few easy ingredient swaps you can make this recipe into a low-fat meal option.

The way the recipe is written I use full-fat sour cream and cheese, a THM S meal for those that are following Trim Healthy Mama, but of course, when you are wanting to lighten things up a bit you can swap the sour cream out for a fat-free Greek Yogurt.

When doing the lower fat or lighter version the cheese can be left off entirely or switched to fat-free if you prefer. The lighter version would be a THM “E” meal again for those following the THM plan.

What is Salsa Verde?

If you are new to Salsa Verde you may not be as familiar with this ingredient as some, so let’s talk a little about what it actually is.

A Mexican-style salsa verde has a tart, and beautifully vibrant green sauce that is made with a base of tomatillos, chile peppers, and cilantro.

This mixture can be cooked or raw depending on your preferences. In this recipe, I use a homemade salsa verde that I can from green tomatoes instead of tomatillos.

I do this just because I grow a ton of tomatoes during the summer so I have easy access to green ones and we enjoy the taste of it just as well as if it was made with the traditional tomatillos.

Is Salsa Verde Low Carb or Keto?

Since this salsa is made from either tomatoes or tomatillos it will have more carbs than other sauces. Both of those fruits will have natural sugars in them, thus resulting in carbs.

So if you don’t make your own like I do, where you can control the number of sugars that you add or don’t add, then you’ll want to shop for a jar that says “no added sugars”.

This way the carbs that you are consuming are coming solely from the salsa ingredients and not added cane sugar or corn syrups.

So while you will have a couple of carbs per tablespoon if you plan ahead you can totally enjoy this salsa and this Salsa Verde Chicken recipe without breaking your carb bank.

This recipe only has about 4.8 net carbs per serving, so totally doable as far as a low-carb main dish.

If you are Keto it would just depend on if this fits your macros or if you choose to eat tomatoes or tomatillos.

Fast and Flavorful

The recipe for this Salsa Verde Chicken truly could not be more simple.  With five basic ingredients and forty-five minutes, you can have this delicious satisfying dish ready to feed your family on even the busiest days.

All of these ingredients are super easy to find and most you will likely have in your pantry already. Well maybe not the salsa verde, aka green salsa, unless you are obsessed with the stuff like I am lately!

For this Recipe You Will Need the following:

• boneless and skinless chicken breasts or thighs
• sour cream
• Salsa Verde
• Mexican Inspired Spices
• shredded cheese

These ingredients all come together to take your ordinary chicken to flavor town with just two easy steps. Preparing the chicken and sauce and baking. Quick and tasty my friends, my favorite combo!

On the weeks that I am working long hours at my day job, I have been known to make this dish a couple of times a week.

Thankfully my boys never complain, because it is one of their favorites. I love to pair this chicken dish with some steamed and buttered green beans or a beautiful crisp salad.

The freshness of those two options against the rich creamy goodness of this Salsa Verde Chicken works nicely.

For the low-fat option, you could pair it with some cauliflower rice or even a baked sweet potato if you would like to have a few more carbs.

You really can’t go wrong with this recipe no matter if you choose to make it as is or use the low-fat options provided in the recipe card.  It is truly delicious both ways!

Don’t forget to check out my recipe for the No Sugar Added Salsa Verde that I use in this recipe!

Can Salsa Verde Chicken?

I like to do meal prep and freezer meals so I like to make foods that freeze beautifully. So I’ve been testing this recipe out to see if it would freeze well.

Here’s what I’ve discovered, in order for this recipe to work as a freezer meal I recommend just adding the raw chicken and half of the salsa to a freezer bag and press all the air out before sealing.

Label your bag with the contents and date. Then if you have room write more add that you will need to mix up the sour cream, the other 1/2 of the salsa verde, and cheese to the chicken as called for in the recipe.

Thaw the chicken and put it into a baking dish. Then continue to follow the recipe below as needed.

I don’t recommend freezer sour cream as it tends to be chunky and not so pleasant in my opinion when you freeze it in meals like this.

So trust me, do the first steps then finish the night you want to serve it.

Yield: 5 Servings

Salsa Verde Chicken

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

This easy chicken recipe uses a flavorful green salsa to jazz up plain chicken breast. It is quick and delicious. You could also use boneless and skinless chicken thighs.

Print

Ingredients

• 5 boneless and skinless chicken breasts

For the Creamy Verda Sauce

• 16 ounces of Sour Cream
• 3/4 cup of No Sugar Added Salsa Verde
• 1 teaspoon of garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon of onion powder
• 1 teaspoon of chili powder
• 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
• 1 1/2 cup of shredded Cheddar Cheese
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Place the chicken in a baking dish and salt and pepper on both sides to your personal liking.
3. Place the chicken in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. If your chicken breast is small bake for 15 minutes.
4. While the chicken is baking mix the sour cream, Salsa Verde, and all of the spices together in a bowl and combine thoroughly.
5. After your chicken breasts have baked for 20 min remove the dish from the oven to drain any excess juice from the baking dish.
6. Top each chicken breast with some of the creamy salsa mixtures then sprinkle over the cheese.
7. Return the chicken to the oven and bake for another 15 minutes. The chicken needs to reach a temp of 165 degrees. Note for larger breasts you may want to bake for 20 minutes at this stage to ensure they are completely cooked through.

Nutrition Information

Yield

5

Serving Size

1 breast
Amount Per ServingCalories 498Total Fat 27.7gCholesterol 205mgSodium 529mgCarbohydrates 6.3gNet Carbohydrates 4.8gFiber 1.5gSugar 4gProtein 48.4g

I am not a nutritionist. If you have strict dietary needs I always recommend using an online nutrition calculator to calculate your totals using your exact brands you're using in this recipe as values may vary per brand.

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Keri Bucci

I am a southern girl through and through that loves to laugh, cook, read and spend time with family. My passions outside of home schooling my son are ministering to those in need and creating art in the kitchen! Every day is an adventure in our little house and I wouldn’t trade it or the chance to share here with you for anything!