Jalapeño Popper Chicken Breasts

Jalapeño Popper Chicken Breasts are stuffed with a creamy filling dotted with fresh jalapeños and sharp Cheddar cheese, wrapped in bacon, and baked to juicy perfection.

I can’t remember the first time I had jalapeño poppers, I just know from that day forward they became one of my favorite appetizers. The spiciness of the jalapeños combined with the cheese that tempers the heat a bit and the bacon that adds that salty, crispy, tasty goodness is the appetizer trifecta.

This recipe combines the trifecta of flavors stuffed into a juicy chicken breast. It’s a simple recipe to make and really impressive to serve.

The trickiest part of this recipe is cutting a pocket in the chicken breasts. I find the easiest way to accomplish this is to place the breast on the cutting board with the thickest part facing me. I place my palm flat on top of the breast to hold the chicken in place and reduce the risk of cutting myself.

I use a paring knife because I feel like I have more control. I start with the knife parallel to the cutting board and place the tip in the center of the largest portion of the breast and push it in without going all of the through the back side. Then I slice a 3-inch opening being careful not to go through.

From there, you simply stuff the pocket with the cream cheese filling and wrap bacon around the chicken. I use two to three strips of bacon per breast overlapping where necessary. If you need to secure the bacon, you can use a toothpick. Wrapping the bacon tightly helps hold the filling in place, though a little will escape during baking.

I like to serve Jalapeño Popper Chicken Breasts with rice and Oven Roasted Broccoli.

If you’re a jalapeño popper fan like me, you have to give this recipe a try! After that, you might want to try my Jalapeño Popper Chicken Casserole and my Jalapeño Popper Dip.

Jalapeño Popper Chicken Breasts

• Author: Christine Pittman
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 30 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings 1x

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

DESCRIPTION

Jalapeño Popper Chicken Breasts are stuffed with a creamy filling dotted with fresh jalapeños and sharp Cheddar cheese, wrapped in bacon, and baked to juicy perfection.

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 6 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 jalapeños, seeded and minced
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 18 – 24 slices thin bacon
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400˚F.
2. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese and sour cream until smooth.
3. Add the salt, pepper, and garlic powder stirring to combine.
4. Fold in the cheddar cheese and jalapeños.
5. With a sharp knife, cut a deep pocket in each of the chicken breasts at the thickest part of the chicken working parallel to the cutting board, being careful not to cut all the way through.
6. Fill each of the pockets with the cream cheese mixture.
7. Tightly wrap each chicken breast with 2 – 3 slices of bacon, overlapping where necessary.
8. Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan.
9. Bake for 30 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer registers 165˚F and the bacon is crisp.
10. Garnish with parsley and serve hot.