Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken

My husband and I are big fans of jalapeno poppers. Over the years, we’ve designed and posted a bunch of recipes for - or inspired by! - the classic appetizer.

Armadillo Eggs, Jalapeno Popper Dip, Air Fryer Jalapeno Poppers, Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Pretzels, Bacon Wrapped Smoked Jalapeno Poppers... all fantastic (though not all gluten free or keto, sorry!).

Today’s recipe is inspired by both jalapeno poppers, and my Everything Bagel Chicken recipe!

This jalapeno popper stuffed chicken involves tender chicken breasts, stuffed with a combination of cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and finely chopped jalapenos.

The whole thing is wrapped up in crispy bacon, and is the perfect amount of heat for the format.

While this is a great meal to serve on game day, it’s also a fantastic low carb dinner that the whole family will love, in general!

I love when a low carb option is also just an easy way to feed everyone, without necessarily *feeling* like it’s a keto dinner, you know?

Anyway, in terms of that...

This bacon wrapped jalapeno popper chicken recipe comes in at only 4.5 grams of net carbs per serving... and a whopping 48 grams of protein!

All around, just a really great recipe.

Anyway, let’s look at what you’ll need to know, to throw on a batch!

Ingredients

This easy recipe only uses a few simple ingredients, nothing unusual or fancy. You shouldn’t have any difficulty finding everything you need in pretty much any grocery store.

A few notes for you:

Chicken Breasts

You’ll need boneless skinless chicken breasts for this jalapeno popper chicken recipe. Personally, I find fresh chicken to be easier to cut and stuff than previously frozen ones.

Larger chicken breasts are easier to stuff than smaller ones, and you’ll want to aim for all 6 to be roughly the same size, to ensure even cooking.

I like to use nitrile gloves when handling raw chicken, your mileage may vary.

Bacon

I tend to use 12 pieces of bacon for this recipe, 2 per chicken breast. Thin cut works best, regular will WORK, but will end up with a fattier texture, and I don’t recommend using thick cut.

While I usually create recipes where you can use turkey bacon or chicken bacon in place of regular bacon, that doesn’t work as well with this one.

Regular pork bacon stretches and forms around the stuffed chicken breasts much better than any alternative bacon will. It sticks to the chicken, and the fat renders down during the cooking process, basically shrink-wrapping it.

If you really want to use a chicken or turkey bacon, you’ll want to use toothpicks to hold it in place. Also, just realize that it won’t look as nice, and the chicken won’t end up as juicy.

Also, you may need a few more slices of bacon to fully cover all the chicken, as chicken bacon doesn’t really stretch.

Jalapeno Peppers

I call for 6 fresh jalapenos, but you can take that with a bit of a grain of salt. You can use fewer if you want a milder filling - just know that the cooking process DOES cut the heat of them, significantly.

I think of it like this - 1 jalapeno is 2 jalapeño poppers... distributed to the size of a chicken breast (ie: spread further than you’d see in a popper).

If you want MORE heat, though, I don’t really recommend using more jalapenos, as that will add a lot more liquid to the cheesy mixture, and mess with the consistency of it.

So, I recommend choosing spicier jalapenos, rather than adding more.

I go into it in more depth on my Jalapeno Powder Recipe post, but basically:

Lighter coloured, shiny, unblemished jalapenos tend to be less spicy. Darker green (or red) jalapenos, and those that are blemished and/or have a bunch of little white lines tend to be a hotter spice level.

You can also scrape out as much of the pith (white part) and seeds as possible to kill a bit of the heat, or leave it in to keep it.

Also: You can use a bit of that jalapeno powder in the cream cheese to add a little kick, if you like!

Shredded Cheese

I like to use shredded sharp cheddar cheese (“old cheddar cheese”, here in Canada!), as that’s what I use when making jalapeno poppers - and jalapeno popper dip, for that matter!

That said, swap it out for any cheese you like. Pepper Jack is a great option, as-as Monterey Jack.

Cream Cheese

Use regular, full-fat cream cheese for the best results.

Seasonings

I use garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper to season the chicken breasts and the filling.

That said, feel free to freestyle it if you like.

I already mentioned that you can add Jalapeno Powder to the filling, but consider chili powder, or some chopped up green onions, if you like.

Also, my homemade Seasoned Salt Recipe is a super tasty way to season the chicken breasts, before stuffing them.

How to Make Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken

The full recipe is in the printable recipe card at the end of this post, here is the pictorial walk through:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

Place half of the chopped jalapenos into a mini food processor, blitz until almost pureed. Add the softened cream cheese, continue pureeing until the jalapeno peppers are well distributed into the cream cheese.

Add the remaining chopped jalapenos, blitz just enough to combine - you want to leave them chunky.

Transfer to a bowl - I use the same one I had the cream cheese in for softening.

Toss the shredded cheddar with xanthan gum, if using, then stir into the cream cheese mixture.

Chill for at least 1 hour.

Using a sharp knife, butterfly each of the chicken breasts. This is cutting through the thickness of a chicken breast, ALMOST to the other side, then flipping it open - like a book - to form one larger, flat piece. (See post for photos of the technique).

Season each side of the chicken breast with a little garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

Divide the jalapeno cheese mixture in 8 equal amounts, spoon each portion into the center of a butterflied chicken breast.

Carefully wrap one of the chicken breasts around the cream cheese filling, trying to fully enclose the cheese.

Wrap tightly with 2 strips of bacon, using the bacon to hold the wrapped chicken closed and in place.

Place wrapped stuffed chicken breast on the prepared baking sheet, with bacon ends tucked under it. Repeat with remaining chicken breasts.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the bacon is golden brown and the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees F, when measured at the thickest part with an instant read meat thermometer.

Serve hot, with a drizzle of ranch dressing, maybe some green beans or broccoli!

Leftovers

Once cooled to room temperature, leftover stuffed chicken breasts can be transferred to an airtight container - or individually wrapped in plastic wrap - and stored in the fridge for 3-4 days.

Best served reheated. We like to microwave them for a minute or two to heat through, then finish in the air fryer to re-crisp the bacon.

More Keto Main Dish Recipes

Looking for more low carb main dishes to feed your whole family with? I've got some delicious recipes for you!

Bacon Cheeseburger Soup
Cabbage Rolls
Chicken Cordon Bleu
Chicken Parmesan
Coconut Shrimp
Creamy Mustard Chicken
Everything Bagel Chicken
Fajita Chicken Skewers
Fried Chicken
Italian Wedding Soup
Lasagna
Loaded Pierogi Soup
Pierogi Pizza
Portobello Mushroom Pizzas
Shepherd's Pie
Stromboli Meatloaf
Swedish Meatballs
Tuna Poke Bowl
Tuna Noodle Casserole