Dinner · Tested at home
Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Chicken
Usually, when I sit down to write one of these posts, I have some kind of theme in mind. This month, not so much!
So instead of trying to force a theme, I figured I would just share a few things I have made recently that I really liked. These three recipes are all completely different. Which describes how I like to eat! Some nights I want something spicy and cheesy, another night I want to fire up the grill, and then sometimes (almost always) breakfast sounds better than anything else.
So, this month for recipes, I'm sharing: jalapeño popper-stuffed chicken, Jamaican jerk-inspired pork chops with grilled pineapple salsa, and a blueberry French toast casserole. No real theme. Just three things I would absolutely make and have made again and again.
This one was me taking everything I like about jalapeño poppers and figuring out how to turn it into a dinner. I started with a couple of large chicken breasts, pounded them flat, and made a filling with cream cheese, bacon, mozzarella, onion, and plenty of jalapeño. The thing I really liked about this one was using the jalapeños in three different ways. Some get sautéed with the onion, which softens them up and gives them a little sweeter flavor. Some go into the filling raw so you still get a little of that fresh jalapeño bite. Then I added chopped pickled jalapeños too, which gives the whole thing a little acidity and another layer of flavor. So you end up with jalapeño flavor throughout the filling instead of everything just tasting generically spicy. Then the chicken gets rolled up, breaded, browned in a skillet and finished in the oven. One thing to keep in mind: This version is a little more work, but it is absolutely worth it if you want something that looks impressive. Once you slice into the chicken and see that spiral of filling in the middle, it is a showstopper. If you want a shortcut version, you can make this much easier. Just slice each chicken breast almost all the way through, open it up, add the filling in the middle and close it back up. You can even skip the breading completely and just bake it that way. You still get all the jalapeño popper flavor with a lot less work. But if you have the extra time, I really like the rolled version. This is perfect for a lazy weekend, and it turns out ridiculously delicious.
Get everything ready
Ingredients
Tap an ingredient as you use it to keep your place.
- Chicken
- Jalapeño Popper Filling
- Breading
Turn up the heat
Let’s cook.
- Cook the bacon until crisp. Remove it from the pan and leave a little of the bacon fat behind.
- Finely chop the fresh jalapeños and set some aside to use raw in the filling.
- Add the onion and the rest of the fresh jalapeños to the bacon fat and sauté until softened. Take them off the heat and let them cool a little.
- Mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, sautéed onion and jalapeños, reserved raw jalapeños, bacon, mozzarella, pickled jalapeños, garlic powder and smoked paprika. Season with black pepper and salt if needed. You can also add a small splash of pickled jalapeño brine if you want even more jalapeño flavor.
- Pound the chicken breasts until they are evenly thin and fairly flat. Season them lightly with salt and pepper.
- Divide the filling between the two chicken breasts.
- Fold the bottom of each breast up over the filling, fold the sides in, and roll everything up into a tight log.
- Wrap each chicken roll tightly in plastic wrap, twisting the ends to help hold the shape. Refrigerate until chilled and firm.
- Heat the oven to 400°F.
- Set out three shallow dishes with flour, beaten eggs and breadcrumbs.
- Remove the plastic wrap from the chicken. Coat each roll in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs.
- Heat a shallow layer of oil in a skillet over medium to medium high heat. Brown the chicken on all sides until the breading is golden.
- Transfer the chicken to a baking dish or sheet pan and bake for about 30 minutes, or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165°F.
- Let it rest for a few minutes before slicing
I love coming up with recipes around a theme, but this is a better example of how I actually cook, usually. I make whatever sounds good. So if there is a theme here at all, I guess that is it. Cook what sounds good!