Jalapeño Popper Chicken

If you love jalapeño poppers or the dip of the same name, you’ll just love this chicken in a creamy jalapeño cheese sauce!

While I’m not really a “hot” food fanatic, I do enjoy jalapeño peppers.

I love these peppers in cheese scrambled eggs I make when I have some–meaning fresh not the canned variety. I can’t grow them conventionally where I live since the season is too short. I did have success growing them in my Aerogarden, but that turned out to be an expensive proposition where buying them in the store was cheaper.

Well, last week my store had them on sale. I imagine it was due to Super Sunday and all the dips you make with them and the old standby, jalapeño poppers. So I bought some intending to make this chicken.

I’m sure I didn’t invent this recipe and the idea was probably stuck in my head from seeing something of the same name somewhere, but I just made a simple cheese sauce with the help of a condensed soup which I knew would taste good with this.

The chicken was extra tasty because I pounded it, breaded it and deep fried it. I have a pro deep fryer so I’m actually looking for ways to use it, and this was perfect. The deep-fried chicken breast will taste better and add that crunch to the dish, but it’s not necessary to deep fry. You can saute the chicken breasts in a little olive oil and they will still taste delicious–they just won’t be as crunchy.

I used only one jalapeño in the sauce just so the flavor wouldn’t be overpowering. However, you can add as many as you like, so if you like a strong pepper flavor, then use two or even three. I added the extra flavor by using rings I cut off another pepper for a garnish. Plus the garnish just looks so good too!

Since I had the fryer set up, I served this with french fries, but a baked potato using some of the sauce instead of butter or sour cream would be fantastic. In fact, twice-baked potatoes made with the sauce recipe would be super!!

This chicken reheats well so make additional portions for a “planned over” during the week.

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Jalapeño Popper Chicken

If you love jalapeño poppers or the dip of the same name, you’ll just love this chicken in a creamy jalapeño cheese sauce!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time40 mins

Course: Chicken, skillet dinners

Cuisine: American

Keyword: chicken, jalapeno poppers

Servings: 4

Calories: 611kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
• 1/2 cup heavy cream or evaporated milk
• 2 cups dry bread crumb
• Oil for frying see NOTE

SAUCE

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 can 10.75 oz cream of chicken soup
• 2 oz cream cheese softened
• 1/2 cup milk See NOTES
• 2 tbsp finely chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 medium jalapeño pepper finely diced (see NOTES)
• 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Pound each breast portion down to 1/4-inch between 2 sheets of plastic wrap using a mallet.
• Dip each breast in the cream, allowing excess cream to drip off.
• Bread each breast with the bread crumbs and place on a cooling rack (like you use for cookies) to allow the breading to dry slightly and adhere better, about 10 minutes.
• FOR DEEP FRY ONLY--heat oil to 350 degrees F. Fry for 5 minutes total. I was able to fry 2 breasts at a time, but this will probably have to be done in shifts so you can keep the cooked pieces warm by placing them on a cooling rack and placing them in a 200 degree F oven. Repeat until all chicken is cooked.
• TO SAUTE IN A PAN--Heat 1 tbs olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown breasts well. about 5 minutes per side. Keep warm as instructed in the deep fry section. Repeat with remaining chicken.
• TO MAKE SAUCE--Melt butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat.
• Saute onion, garlic and peppers until aromatic--about 2-3 minutes.
• Empty can of soup into the saucepan. Whisk in milk gradually so the sauce is smooth. Heat through.
• Add the softened cream cheese and the Parmesan cheese. Cook, stirring, until cream cheese is melted.
• Turn off heat and add shredded cheddar. Stir until melted. Add any salt or pepper at this point if you need it.
• Place chicken on serving platter and drizzle sauce over chicken or serve the sauce separately as gravy so each person can add their own.

Notes

If you chose to saute the chicken breasts you will need 2 tbs of oil--1 tablespoon for the first batch sauteed, the remaining for the 2nd batch

You can whisk in more milk if a thinner sauce is desired

If stronger pepper flavor is desired, use 2 or 3 jalapeños

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 611kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 38g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Cholesterol: 156mg | Sodium: 748mg | Potassium: 620mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1001IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 302mg | Iron: 3mg

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