Last updated on December 5th, 2020 at 07:13 pm

Rotel recipes aren’t just about chili con queso—from simple Mexican rice to spicy sweet potato and black bean soup, there are Rotel recipes to put your favorite canned tomatoes to work.

Rotel is known for making game day dips like chili con queso, but I always have a can of Rotel on hand—there’s a lot a can of diced tomatoes and green chiles can do. It’s the base for a salsa, it can make a soup more substantial or it can add much-needed vegetables to a casserole—whatever your dinner time goal is, there’s a Rotel recipe for you.

Chicken Tortilla Casserole  by Homemade Interest

This one is about as close as it gets to my favorite childhood casserole. It’s chicken wrapped in tortillas and doused in a cheesy tomato sauce. It’s a super easy weeknight meal that tastes better the second day—so make a double batch if you know what’s best for you but if you give in to temptation easily, one batch will suit you.

Spicy Sweet Potato Black Bean Soup by Real Life Dinner

Hearty soups are here just in time for fall—Real Life Dinner combines chunks of sweet potato, black beans and navy beans bathed in a broth enriched with Rotel tomatoes and green chilis. It’s easy enough to make for weeknights, but it’s a welcome respite from the autumn chill on a rainy Saturday.

Cheesy Taco Soup by Iowa Girl Eats

For a soup that’s a little more indulgent, Iowa Girl Eats kicks traditional chili up a notch and makes it a creamy, dreamy soup so good, you’ll forget there’s tons of protein from the beef flanked with beans, tomatoes and cheese for a well-rounded meal disguised as soup.

Easy Chicken Empanadas by Food Lovin Family

Seduced by compact portable pockets of dough in Argentina several years ago, I can attest that empanadas are, in fact, crowd-pleasers. Food Lovin Family keeps this Rotel recipe simple by using refrigerated pie dough, but you’re welcome to make your own pie dough. To make the empanadas, you mix together cooked chicken, softened cream cheese, drained Rotel and you’ll be ready to stuff some dough and then bake them into a Hot Pockets-like hand pie—you can file this Rotel recipe under appetizers or serve them as a main course.

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole by Diary of a Real Housewife

Diary of a Real Housewife gets her chicken casserole tangled up in a spaghetti dish with this rotel recipe. It’s a lot like the chicken tortilla casserole only instead of using tortilla chips to hold everything together, she throws in a pile of noodles. But she doubles down on the dairy with cream cheese and half and half mixed in with the Rotel tomatoes and cooked chicken.

Best Ever Rotel Cream Cheese Dip by Copykat

When people think of Rotel dip, this is the recipe of their memory, but Copykat uses her imagination to make this easy dip one you can’t forget. Made in a slow cooker, this queso dip combines browned sausage, cream cheese, Velveeta, sour cream, Rotel and diced green chiles. Throw it all in the crock pot, and this dip is ready for kickoff. This dip recipe is expected but delivers the unexpected.

Cowboy Goulash by New Southern Charm

I’d bet Hungarians never would have imagine that their national dish would get a cowboy makeover, but here it is! New Southern Charm mixes her elbow macaroni with ground beef, tomatoes, peppers and onions for a weeknight dinner that’s Tex-Mex meets Eastern Europe.

Good Ol’ Basic Mexican Rice by Pioneer Woman

Leave it to Ree Drummond to come up with something extraordinarily simple to use her diced tomatoes and green chilis. They’re transformed with a bit of garlic, onions, chicken broth and a few spices for a side dish you wouldn’t mind making a main dish if you didn’t need protein.