Creamy Green Chili Chicken Bake

Ingredients

2-3 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts (4-6 breasts)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (optional, if you don't have it don't stress)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

16 oz jar green salsa (I prefer mild)

8 oz cream cheese

Kosher salt to taste

Cooked rice (for serving.)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in a 9x13 pan, sprinkle with spices (except salt). Pour entire jar of green salsa over everything. Bake until an instant-read digital thermometer reads 165 degrees in the thickest part of the meat.

Remove pan from oven, gently scrape off any salsa off top of each chicken breast and place chicken on a cutting board.

(Note: Basically the only other step is adding cream cheese to the sauce in the baking dish. The following instructions are how I found the most consistent results for a smooth sauce, but read the notes section below for some other options.)

Place cream cheese in a heat-safe bowl and microwave for 20-30 seconds or more, until it is soft and easy to stir smoothly. Ladle some of the green chili sauce from your baking pan into the cream cheese and whisk until smooth. Add more and keep whisking. This little process with ensure you don't end up with lumps in your sauce! Scrape out all the cream cheese mixture back into your baking pan and whisk everything until smooth.

Shred chicken and add back to pan, tossing in sauce. Season with kosher salt, if needed. Serve over rice.