This Mexican chicken and rice casserole is creamy, cheesy and loaded with Tex-Mex flavor! Made with tender rotisserie chicken, fluffy rice, cream cheese, mild taco seasoning and green chiles, it’s an easy family dinner ready in about 45 minutes with hardly any prep.

We love our original Creamy Chicken and Rice Casserole so much that I couldn’t resist giving it a Mexican-inspired twist! And OH MY GOODNESS, the cream cheese and taco seasoning are such a delicious combination!

The best part? You can totally make this casserole your own. Throw in black beans, corn, tomatoes or whatever your family loves. It’s the kind of dinner that makes cleaning out the fridge feel like a win!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Cream of Chicken Soup: Creates the rich, creamy base that holds everything together.
• Chicken Broth: Thins the sauce so the rice stays moist and creamy while baking.
• Mild Taco Seasoning: Adds all that delicious Mexican-inspired flavor without making the casserole too spicy.
• Cream Cheese: The secret to an extra creamy, cheesy casserole! Soften it first so it blends smoothly into the sauce.
• Butter: Adds a little extra richness and flavor.
• Cooked Chicken: I love using Costco rotisserie chicken to make this recipe extra easy! Leftover sh

If you think banoffee pie is just bananas and caramel in a pie crust, you are NOT prepared for what happens when you add this ridiculously creamy Paula Deen inspired banana cream filling.

This easy banoffee pie recipe with Creamy Banana Pudding Filling starts with a buttery graham cracker crust layered with fresh bananas and thick dulce de leche that gets topped with the fluffiest banana pudding-inspired vanilla cream filling. It’s creamy, caramel-y, and one of our absolute FAVORITE pies.

And I mean favorite ever.

Classic banoffee pie is already pretty genius—bananas, toffee and whipped cream—but years ago we took things a little further and added a creamy vanilla pudding layer inspired by Paula Deen’s famous banana pudding.

Ohhhh my goodness.

You still get that unmistakable banana and dulce de leche combination, but the fluffy filling keeps the pie from feeling like you’re eating straight caramel with a fork. Although, let’s be honest, I’ve made worse decisions.

What Is Banoffee Pie?

Banoffee pie is a British dessert traditionally made with bananas, toffee and whipped cream in a crumb or pastry crust. The name “banoffee” combines “banana” and “toffee.”

Our version keeps those classic flavors but swaps the simple whipped cream topping for a banana pudding-inspired vanilla filling made with cream cheese, sweetened condensed milk and whipped cream.

It’s not completely traditional, but it is creamier, fluffier and, in our opinion, even better.

If there is one dessert worth making this week, it is Paula Deen’s gooey butter cake. This is the original recipe and it’s so easy with only a yellow cake mix, butter, cream cheese and eggs and it has that classic ooey, gooey middle!

Now don’t be confused, this is NOT the traditional St. Louis bakery version. This is Paula Deen’s original gooey butter cake recipe—the easy cake-mix version that made this rich, gooey dessert famous with home bakers.

Don’t worry, I’ll take you through all the trouble shooting below, but first, here’s one I don’t want you to miss:

How do I get the perfect gooey center?

This is so important!! 🚨 Don’t Wait for the Center to Look Fully Set!

You must do the jiggle test on an ooey-gooey dessert. It’s going to look undone, but give the pan a jiggle and then take the cake out of the oven when the edges are golden brown but the center still moves slightly.

What Does Gooey Butter Cake Taste Like?

Imagine a buttery, melt in your mouth yellow-cake crust topped with a rich cream-cheese custard that’s sweet, soft and just a little gooey in the center. It’s somewhere between a cake, cheesecake bar and blondie—but much more wonderful.

This is a pure Southern comfort recipe. Our Ooey Gooey Butter Cake with a dusting of powdered sugar on top makes it look as good as it tastes.

The Surprising Twist on How We Eat Our Gooey Butter Cake

Fair warning: Claire and I did extensive testing on the best way to eat this cake, and the unanimous winner was straight from the fridge the next day. Chilled, dense, and impossibly rich with that cold sprinkle of powdered sugar on top. Do not skip that step.

Jalapeno Corn Pudding is a sweet and savory cornbread with a spicy kick. With a golden brown crust and a soft, custard-like center, it’s American comfort food at its best.

I’ve loved corn pudding for as long as I can remember. Adding jalapenos gives the casserole a little bit of heat that I find irresistible.

Jalapeno Corn Pudding

Growing up, my mom made corn pudding for almost every holiday meal or special occasion. It’s a tradition I’ve carried on with my own kids, although I make my corn pudding from scratch instead of from a boxed mix.

Jalapeno Corn Pudding has all the nostalgic creamed corn flavor of the original but with a spicy twist. The heat from the jalapenos gives a satisfying balance to the sweet corn without lighting your mouth totally on fire. I love this so much that I’ve even been known to sneak bites of the leftovers cold, straight from the fridge! I hope it brings the same level of joy to your table.

Ingredients and Substitutions

Corn – You’ll need both whole kernel canned corn and creamed corn.

Dry Ingredients – I use cornmeal, along with all purpose flour, bakin

These viral burger bowls are loaded with crispy smash burger beef, fresh lettuce, juicy tomatoes, cheese, pickles, salty waffle fries and our secret burger sauce. They’re an easy 30-minute dinner the whole family can build exactly how they like it.

But here’s what makes ours different: don’t crumble the beef! We’re smashing it into a screaming-hot skillet first so you get those dark, caramelized burger edges before breaking it into chunks. Trust me, it makes ALL the difference!

Ingredients You’ll Need

• Ground Beef: I use 1 pound, but a blend of ground beef and chuck or a good burger blend is my favorite for flavor and browning.
• Burger Seasoning: Salt and pepper work, but a good burger seasoning adds even more flavor.
• Romaine Lettuce: Crisp and sturdy enough to hold up under the warm beef.
• Grape Tomatoes: Sweet and flavorful without making the bowl watery.
• Red Onion: Adds a sharp, fresh bite.
• Cheese: Optional, but SO good melted right into the beef.
• Pickles: If you must. 😂
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