Creamy, rich, and packed with flavor, this Jalapeño Popper Chicken is an easy, budget-friendly meal the whole family will adore. Succulent chicken thighs topped with cream cheese, jalapeños, cheddar and bacon – it’s a surefire win for everyone at your table.
Every time I think life is going to slow down a bit, I find myself just as busy as ever. So creating easy keto dinner recipes is always top of my priority list.
But those easy dinners have to taste great, too. It’s no good creating healthy meals if no one wants to eat them. I threw this Jalapeño Popper Chicken together one day when I was short on time, and it was an instant hit with the whole family. Getting three grumpy teens to all agree on one meal? Priceless!
If you love jalapeño poppers, be sure to try my Keto Jalapeño Popper Pizza next!
Why you will love it
★★★★★
Yvette says: “I made this last night for dinner, followed the recipe exactly, and it was soooooo delicious. It is going to be a regular on our dinner menu. This is why I own so many of your cookbooks! Your recipes are all tried and true.“
Ingredient Notes
- Bacon: Thin sliced bacon tends to crisp up a little better.
- Boneless skinless chicken thighs: Some readers used chicken breast instead. If you do use chicken breasts, cut them into thinner pieces.
- Cream cheese: Use full fat cream cheese.
- Heavy whipping cream: This adds
- Garlic: I prefer using fresh garlic, but you can also use garlic powder.
- Jalapeño peppers: If you want something less spicy, you can use poblano or anaheim peppers. If you like more spice, keep the seeds in the jalapeños.
- Shredded cheddar cheese: You can shred your own or use pre-shredded cheese.
- Salt and pepper
How to Make Jalapeño Popper Chicken
- Cook the bacon: In a large skillet over medium, cook the chopped bacon until crisp.
- Brown the chicken: Add the chicken thighs to the skillet and cook until nicely browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the thighs to a glass or ceramic baking dish.
- Prepare the sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, whipping cream, and garlic. Spread over the chicken in the dish.
- Assemble: Sprinkle with the jalapeno and cheddar cheese, then sprinkle with the chopped bacon.
- Bake the casserole: Bake for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the chicken is cooked through.
- Serve and enjoy!
Carolyn’s Tips for Success
I like to chop the bacon before cooking it, as it gets more evenly crisp this way. Drain most of the grease from the pan but keep about one tablespoon for browning the chicken.
Browning the chicken before baking brings out more flavor. If you just add the sauce and toppings to raw chicken, the casserole ends up more watery as well.
Make sure the cream cheese is really soft before making the sauce. I like to pop mine in the microwave for 15 seconds or so first. It makes the sauce more creamy and smooth.
Frequently Asked Questions
More Keto Chicken Recipes to Love
Jalapeno Popper Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon, chopped
- 6 medium (6) chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
- Salt and pepper
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) cream cheese, softened
- 3 tbsp (45.65 g) heavy whipping cream
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 2 small jalapeno peppers, minced
- 1 cup (113 g) shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF.
- In a large skillet over medium, cook the chopped bacon until crisp. Remove to a plate and remove all but 1 tbsp of the grease.
- Pat the chicken thighs dry and sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Add the chicken thighs to the skillet and cook until nicely browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove from heat and transfer the thighs to a glass or ceramic baking dish.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, whipping cream, and garlic. Spread over the chicken in the dish.
- Sprinkle with the jalapeno and cheddar cheese, then sprinkle with the chopped bacon. Bake about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the chicken is cooked through.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutritional Disclaimer
Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.
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OMG this is amazing!! I’m new to using chicken thighs but oh goodness is it worth it! The flavors go together SO well and it’s going on the repeat list for sure. The only changes I made were to roast the jalapeños first and used 2 big ones instead of small as well as an extra clove of garlic. Thank you for sharing!!
Great idea to roast the jalapeños!
Carolyn, we love all your recipes. This one is over the top and it has been requested weekly by my 3 very hungry men. Last time I seeded the jalapenos, but won’t do that next time as it wasn’t spicy enough for us.
Thanks for all you time and effort to provide us with so many Keto options!
Glad everyone likes it!
I liked the flavors, but not the thighs. They have a slimy texture that I don’t care for. Next time I will use breasts instead. Also, I’d prefer more jalapenos and I’d probably saute then after browning the chicken to soften them a bit as they were still pretty crunchy.
Slimy? That doesn’t sound right, I hope your chicken thighs hadn’t gone bad…
This has me so excited!! Love that it’s keto friendly & I love the kick!! Very yummy!
These were amazing, such a simple snack. I added extra bacon, because why not. We could not stop snacking on this, it was creamy and spicy all together.
This looks amazing! Can’t wait to try it.
I made this tonight and loved it! Next week I’m making it again for dinner with my keto friends. This is my new favorite. Love the simplicity, and it’s ao delicious!!
Absolutely delicious! Hubby keeps asking me to make it again! Thanks so much for all of your wonderful recipes. We are loving all we’ve tried.
Carolyn, you have hit it out of the park once again. This was a huge hit and will be made again and again. We both loved all the flavours in this chicken and since we had home grown jalapenos it made it even better. I have passed this recipe on to many friends, all of whom loved it also. Please keep them coming. We appreciate all your hard work you do creating such great recipes.
I had this recipe on the menu for my family this past week. It was completely fabulous! I made enough that I thought we would have leftovers, but nothing remained. Thanks so much for this great recipe!
So glad to hear it!
I just put mine in the oven,so easy and I know its gonna be good,so far I’ve made soooo many of your recipe’s and have loved them all!!????
Wonderful and easy to make….thank you for the recipe. I love your website!
Absolutely delicious. My husband loved it and he doesn’t even like cream cheese or jalapenos. Will definitely make again.
I made this for supper tonight. I used chicken breast instead because it’s what I had. It’s so good! It’s going into my keeper file.
How many breasts did you use?
Was in a particularly boring Teams meeting when this recipe landed in my inbox. Had to make it for lunch, and chance would have it I had everything I needed. This is super easy to make and very tasty. Mine came out quite garlicky. Really nice and rich as well as tasty.
Hooray!!!
I haven’t tried this yet, but this recipe seems like like it should have been a no brainer, but it’s not! It’s genius, as are so many of your recipes I have tried. I’ll make this tonight. Thanks for keeping us ‘tasteful’!