Queso chicken and rice
Chicken breast simmered right through a queso sauce built from low-fat Greek yoghurt and a little reduced-fat cream cheese, spooned over rice so every grain gets some of it. Smoky, cheesy comfort food that happens to be light on the fat it usually carries.
Notable for: calcium, vitamin C, antioxidants
Ingredients
- 600 gchicken breast, diced
- 300 glong grain white rice
- 150 gbrown onions, diced
- 15 gcrushed garlic
- 400 gchopped tomatoes
- 10 gground cumin
- 10 gsmoked paprika
- 150 glow-fat greek yoghurt
- 50 greduced-fat cream cheese
- 100 greduced-fat grated tasty cheese
- 1red capsicum, diced
- 2spring onions, sliced
- 15 mlolive oil
Method
Cook the rice according to the packet instructions and set it aside.
Heat the olive oil in a large pan and cook the onion and capsicum over medium heat for 5 minutes until soft, then add the garlic for 30 seconds.
Add the diced chicken breast and cook for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it's opaque on all sides.
Stir through the cumin and paprika for 30 seconds, then add the canned tomatoes and simmer for 8 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced slightly.
Take the pan off the heat and stir through the low-fat Greek yoghurt, reduced-fat cream cheese and light tasty cheese until they melt into a smooth queso sauce.
Spoon the chicken and sauce over the rice and scatter the spring onion over to finish.
Melt the cheese off direct heat
Taking the pan off direct heat before the yoghurt, cream cheese and tasty cheese go in stops the sauce from splitting into an oily, grainy mess. Stir it through gently off the heat instead.
Storage
Keeps four days in the fridge and freezes well.
Reheat gently with a splash of milk stirred through, since the sauce firms up once cold.
Cost per serving is indicative, based on New Zealand supermarket prices as at September 2026. Batch prices your own week against your own store on the day. Nutrition figures, including calories, are estimates rather than label readings, so always check the packet if you have an allergy. "Notable for" reflects well-established qualities of the ingredients used, not a lab measurement of this exact dish.