This jalapeno popper chicken is chicken breasts stuffed with a jalapeno cheese mixture, then wrapped in bacon and baked to crispy perfection. An easy low carb meal that’s a total crowd pleaser!
I can’t get enough of jalapeno poppers – whether it’s bacon wrapped poppers, popper dip or jalapeno popper mac and cheese, I love it all! This jalapeno popper chicken is full of those great creamy and spicy flavors and looks impressive enough to serve to company.
Jalapeno poppers are one of my guilt pleasures – I just love that creamy, spicy crispy combination. When you add bacon to the mix, it’s even better! This jalapeno popper chicken has all of those great flavors in a low carb, keto friendly dinner that will have everyone asking for seconds.
How do you make jalapeno popper chicken?
There are a few steps to making this chicken, the first of which is to make the filling. The filling is a combination of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, jalapenos and seasonings. I use fresh diced jalapenos, but you can use pickled jalapenos if you prefer. I remove the seeds and ribs before dicing the jalapenos which tempers the heat quite a bit and makes this meal more kid friendly. If you prefer a spicy chicken, leave the seeds and ribs in the peppers when you cut them up.
How do you stuff a chicken breast?
The cream cheese jalapeno mixture goes inside the chicken breasts. The easiest way to stuff a chicken breast is to cut a deep pocket into one side of the breast. Be sure not to cut all the way through to the other side. Spoon the filling into the pocket making sure you fill it completely. Then you can wrap your chicken in bacon and put it in the oven.
The bacon helps to hold that filling inside the chicken as it bakes, although some of the filling will escape during the cooking process which is normal. I use two slices of bacon to wrap each chicken breast, and you want to make sure that the bacon is wrapped fairly tightly so that everything will hold together in the oven. If you’re concerned, you can add a few toothpicks to secure the bacon to the chicken breasts, but I think it works just fine without having to use them.
The jalapeno popper chicken needs to bake until the chicken is cooked through and the bacon is crisp. If your chicken is done but the bacon has not crisped up to your liking, you can turn on the broiler for a few minutes to cook the bacon.
What do you serve with jalapeno popper chicken?
I typically serve my jalapeno popper chicken over mashed potatoes and a green vegetable such as broccoli or asparagus. If you’re eating low carb, you can serve the chicken with mashed cauliflower. This chicken is even great sliced up and served over a salad or in a sandwich.
Jalapeno popper chicken is a must-make recipe; that smoky bacon and cheesy filling just can’t be beat! If you love jalapeno poppers the way I do, you’ll definitely want to put this chicken on your dinner menu soon.
More great chicken dinners
- Chinese Lemon Chicken
- Buffalo Chicken Nuggets
- Bruschetta Chicken
- Slow Cooker Whole Chicken
- Honey Mustard Chicken
Jalapeno Popper Chicken
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 6 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup diced jalapeno peppers remove pepper seeds and ribs before dicing
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 12 slices bacon do not use thick cut bacon
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a sheet pan with cooking spray.
- Place the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, jalapenos and garlic powder in a bowl; stir to combine.
- Cut a deep pocket into each chicken breast, taking care not to cut all the way through to the other side.
- Fill the pocket of each chicken breast with the cream cheese mixture.
- Season the outside of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper to taste.
- Wrap each chicken breast tightly with two slices of bacon and place the chicken on the sheet pan.
- Cook for 30 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and bacon is crisp. You can broil the chicken for 3-4 minutes to crisp up the bacon if needed.
- Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes. then slice and serve.
This recipe is delicious. I did have trouble getting the bacon crispy, even after soaking up some bacon grease during cooking, broiling the chicken, and turning the chicken over. I ended up removing all the bacon, cutting it up and crisping it in the microwave. I cut up all the chicken and filling, then put the bacon on top like a casserole. Not nearly as pretty as yours, but very tasty. Will probably make again, but in a casserole version with the bacon precooked as we like it crispy. Thank you!
When I cook mine, I place on baking rack, so the greasy drips through onto the sheet below and the bacon crisps beautifully. This is a staple and we’ve always has success! Good Luck! Hope that helps some!
Very good. Has become a staple dinner in our household.
Has anyone else had problem getting bacon cooked? Especially the bottom
You could flip them for a few minutes and broil the bottoms if needed.
If you have an air fryer, use that! I use that. Turn it a little less than half way. Let it cook for a few minutes on that side. Flip it back to finish cooking. Perfect every time. Air fryer set at 375 for between 20 and 25 minutes.
Just made this dinner last night and I have a house full of boys. This was amazing and it was so easy! I had all the ingredients at home and ready to go. I stuffed the chicken and wrapped it with bacon before adding the seasoning to the chicken. I put pepper and onion powder and a little bit of garlic powder on top, since I had some garlic powder in the cream cheese mix. I also baked them 10 mins longer to ensure that the meat was fully cooked. It did not dry out the meat and some of the sauce came out of the breats but I think it only helped to make the chicken even better. I’m so impressed with this recipe. My boys are super picky which is frustrating, but this dinner I did not hear any complaints about. They all loved it! I feel like the jalapeños had the perfect amount of heat as well. It was just perfectly amazing!! This is one I will continue to make forever!!
This was fantastic!I did saute garlic to add to cream cheese and garlic powder to chicken..So so good!I have saved several of your other chicken recipes to make as well!Pineapple chicken is next!Thanks for sharing!
I made this recipe today for dinner. It is delicious! I’m a chicken fan and a jalapeno popper fan and a bacon fan. Lol. So good! I will definitely make this again.
We’ve had this a few times and loved it. It’s too hot now to have the oven on so tonight we put it in a cast iron skillet on the grill! OMG was it sooo good!