Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken takes your favorite appetizer and turns it into a full-blown delicious meal. Fresh jalapenos, thick-cut bacon, freshly grated parmesan, and cream cheese cooked to perfection inside of a seasoned and breaded chicken breast. If you like this, make sure to try Asparagus Stuffed Chicken and Cream Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast!
Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken
One of my all-time favorite appetizer recipes is my cream cheese stuffed jalapeno poppers. We love them so much we wanted to make them into a meal. We literally took the entire recipe and popped it inside of a chicken breast. It was the best decision ever. We like to serve it with a side of freshly roasted asparagus. They come together in under 10 minutes, and are equally delicious!
How to Make Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken
Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken is one of those recipes that is so simple, it is hard to believe how amazing it tastes. To make this recipe:
Butterfly: To butterfly the chicken put your chicken breast on a chopping board and, with your hand flat on top of it, use a sharp knife to slice into one side of the breast, starting at the thicker end and ending at the thin point. Be careful not to cut all the way through to the other side. You are essentially doubling the size of the chicken breast without cutting it in two. Another method is to use a meat mallet and flatten the chicken breast. Both work, you should be working towards about a 1/4 inch in thickness.
Mix: In a medium bowl mix the filling ingredients including the jalapeno, bacon, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, pepper, and onion powder.
Prepare: In the fold of the chicken, place two tablespoons of the jalapeno cream cheese mixture. If you end up with extra, you can wrap it in cellophane and freeze it for a few months.
Coat: You will coat the outside of the chicken with a mixture of salt, pepper, lime juice, and olive oil. Mix these ingredients together and then roll the chicken in the mixture.
Topping: Roll the chicken in bread crumbs. I like to use seasoned breadcrumbs like Italian, or garlic. If you want the outside to get a little more crispy, give it a good spray of cooking spray before you pop it in the oven.
Bake: Some chicken breasts are thin and some are thick and the weight doesn’t always determine the thickness. But generally speaking, for a 5-6 ounce chicken breast, this will need to cook for about 25 minutes. You will want to keep a close eye on it at around the 20-minute mark. Your best bet is to use a meat thermometer and make sure the thickest part of the chicken is at least 165 °F.
How To Store Jalapeno Stuffed Chicken
TO STORE LEFTOVERS: Leftover chicken can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days in an airtight container. Best if wrapped tightly in plastic wrap.
Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 medium lime, juiced (about 2 tablespoons)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
Filling
- 4 large fresh jalapeno peppers, diced and seeded
- 3 strips thick-cut cooked bacon, crumbled
- 4 ounces cream cheese, softened
- ⅓ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Wash, dry, and butterfly chicken breasts. (To butterfly put your chicken breast on a chopping board and, with your hand flat on top of it, use a sharp knife to slice into one side of the breast, starting at the thicker end and ending at the thin point. Be careful not to cut all the way through to the other side.). Set aside.
- In a medium bowl mix the filling ingredients including the jalapeno, bacon, cream cheese, Parmesan cheese, pepper, and onion powder.
- Open butterflied chicken breasts and scoop 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture into the fold, spread evenly keeping away from the edges of the chicken. (optional: secure the fold with a toothpick)
- Using two medium bowls, fill one with breadcrumbs, and the other with oil, lime juice, and salt and pepper.
- Dip filled chicken breast into the oil mixture and then roll in breadcrumbs. Place on a greased baking dish. Repeat with the other remaining chicken breasts.
- Bake for 25 minutes, serve.
Did you make this recipe?
Thank you for making my recipe! You took pictures, right? Well go ahead and post them on Instagram! Be sure to mention me @iambaker and use the hashtag #YouAreBaker.
Is it possible to purchase jalapenos already chopped, say in a frozen, dehydrated, canned or other form that could be thawed or reconstituted for use?
I made this and it was delicious! I used Spicy Jalapeno Cream Cheese instead of real jalapeños!
Delicious! Followed recipe completely.