Jalapeño Popper Chicken Casserole
Jalapeño popper chicken casserole is the perfect low carb dish. Each bite tasted just like a delicious jalapeño popper.
Jalapeño poppers are one of my favorite appetizers to get when we go out for dinner, or get take out. Obviously, like many appetizers… they aren’t the healthiest for you.
This jalapeño popper chicken casserole recipe is fantastic, because each bite tastes like a jalapeño popper.
Also, I’m not sure about you…but I had no clue that when you bake or cook a jalapeño pepper, it becomes non spicy! The recipe said to leave some seeds in if you want to pack some spice in your dish. I guess the seeds are where the heats at.
This recipe called for fresh jalapeños, but I bet if you used the jarred kind that are pickled…that would be really yummy too!
The only ingredients that are not the healthiest for you are the cream cheese and cheddar cheese, which is why I used a low fat cream cheese, and low fat cheddar cheese.
Turkey bacon has less fat, calories and sodium than pork bacon. Turkey bacon is the only bacon I will use when I cook or bake.
I must say, the only pain in the butt part about this recipe was spreading the cream cheese on top of the chicken. Because the chicken was wet, it was nearly impossible to spread the cream cheese. Im thinking now that if I maybe patted the tops dry with a paper towel, that may have helped.
You want to make sure you have softened cream cheese. Like very softened. If it’s not soft enough, zap yours in the microwave for 20 seconds. I did that with mine and then it spread out easier.
Make a mental note to yourself when chopping up and handling jalapeño peppers. DO NOT TOUCH YOUR EYES OR RUB THEM AFTER HANDLING JALAPEÑO PEPPERS! I made that mistake once, and I was hurting.
You will want to wear gloves when you are chopping up your jalapeños. If you don’t happen to have gloves, make sure you wash your hands immediatley with hot water and grease cutting soap. You may also want to rub some olive oil or rubbing alcohol on your hands. That helps get rid of the oils from the jalapeño.
Sprinkle your sharp cheddar cheese on top of your jalapeños.
The aromas this dish gave out while it was baking were incredible. It smelt like I was baking a bunch of jalapeño poppers!
Enjoy!!
Jalapeño Popper Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
- 4-5 Skinless & Boneless Chicken Breast
- 1/2 TSP Garlic Powder
- 8 oz. Reduced Fat Cream Cheese, very soft
- 5-6 Jalapeño Peppers You can also used jarred pickled jalapeños. I think those would actually be better.
- 1/2 Cup Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese, reduced fat
- 1/2 Cup Turkey Bacon, Cooked, Crumbled
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Cut the stems of jalapeño peppers, cut in half the long way, take out seeds (unless you want a lot of spice keep some seeds in). Cut them into strips. *** I would recommend wearing gloves when handling the jalapeños. If you don't have gloves, make sure to wash your hands with hot water and grease cutting soap immediately after. The oils from the jalapeños have a lot of spice. The last thing you want to do is rub your eyes, or put your fingers near your eyes without washing them.***
- Place chicken breast in casserole dish touching each other. Season your chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Spread softened cream cheese all over chicken evenly. If you are having a hard time spreading the cream cheese, zap it in the microwave for 20 seconds. That should help.
- Place your jalapeño peppers on top of the cream cheese.
- Add your sharp cheddar cheese.
- Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes. When there is 5 minutes left, sprinkle your crumbled bacon on top and cook fro remaining time.
- Chicken is done when it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees.
