Jalapeno Popper Chicken Breast in a Cast Iron Skillet is easy, cheesy, and delicious for any quick weeknight meal—especially for those eating low-carb or keto. Topped with cream cheese, cheddar cheese, jalapenos, and bacon—what’s not to love?

A skillet filled with Jalapeño Popper Chicken, topped with cream cheese, cheddar cheese, jalapeños, bacon, and seasonings. Text on image shows ingredients: chicken, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, bacon, jalapeños, and seasonings.

Table of Contents

🌶️Jalapeno Popper Chicken

Jalapeno Popper Chicken is a really easy and quick recipe, which I love. And if you’re someone who loves the taste of jalapeno poppers but hates the process of stuffing them, then this recipe is for you!

A plate with a serving of stuffed chicken breast topped with cheese, bacon, and jalapeño slices. Fork on the plate, fresh tomatoes and cilantro on the side, remaining chicken in a skillet in the background.

Equipment

A cast iron skillet with cooked chicken breasts topped with melted cheese, jalapeño slices, and bacon bits.

How to make Jalapeno Popper Chicken

Step 1: Prepare your seasonings and preheat your oven to 350F. In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese and cheddar cheese. The cream cheese should be room temperature and soft for easy spreading. In a small bowl, mix together the spices for seasoning your chicken. Season your chicken on all sides before searing.

Step 2: Cook the 2-4 pieces of bacon in a 10-inch skillet over medium-low heat. This will start seasoning your skillet and provide the fat to sear your chicken. Remove the bacon from the skillet to a paper towel-lined plate and allow the excess grease to drain. Keep 1-2 Tablespoons of bacon grease in the skillet.

A dish labeled "Jalapeno Popper Chicken Skillet" with four step-by-step images: season chicken, sear both sides, add cream cheese and jalapeno, final bake, shown in a cast iron skillet.

Step 3: Add the chicken to the skillet and sear on both sides for about 3 minutes. While searing the second side of the chicken, add a thick layer of the cream cheese mixture to the top of the chicken. Add slices of fresh jalapeno to the top.

Step 4: Bake and finish with bacon and cheese. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165F with an instant-read thermometer—top with additional cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon, and cilantro.

How to handle the heat

Jalapenos are not overly spicy. The heat comes from the seeds within them. Slicing and removing the seeds and membranes of a jalapeno substantially limits the amount of heat. If you like it hot, leave the seeds.

Canned jalapenos

You can use canned jalapenos for this dish. Drain the liquid from the can and chop the jalapenos into bite-sized pieces. Then, use a silicone spatula to mix the jalapenos into the cream cheese mixture. Mixing the jalapenos into the cream cheese will make the taste a bit more subtle yet well incorporated.

A cast iron skillet containing jalapeno popper chicken topped with melted cheese, bacon bits, and sliced jalapeños on a hexagon-tile background.

What makes jalapeno popper chicken low-carb or keto?

This dish uses high-quality fats such as those found in bacon and cheese. While the melting of the cheese can get crispy like breading, there are only 3 net carbs in each serving and no actual bread or gluten.

🍽 What to serve with this chicken skillet dish

If you love this dish for its low-carb qualities, start with baked camembert. Next, serve it with a fresh salad or, even better, avocado fries. Furthermore, if you’re serving this chicken skillet meal without watching the carbs, cornbread or onion rings will be the perfect pairing!

If you like Jalapeno Popper Chicken, you’ll also try

Jalapeno Popper Chicken

An easy and spicy take on jalapeno poppers, but topped on chicken! This dinne recipe takes a delicious appetizer and makes it into an easy skillet dinner that’s both delicious and low-carb.

Author: Paula

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Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 20

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients

3 strips bacon
1-½ pounds chicken breasts 2 breasts
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon onion powder
8 ounces cream cheese
½ cup cheddar cheese shredded
2 medium jalapeno pepper sliced*

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F. Meanwhile, on a medium burner, heat the 10-inch skillet over medium-low heat. Cook 3 strips of bacon. When done, remove the bacon from the skillet to a papertowel-lined plate to drain excess oil.
While the bacon is cooking, mix your dry seasonings together and season all sides of the chicken breast. One the bacon is done cooking, with 1-2 Tablespoons of bacon grease left in the skillet, add the chicken to sear on the top and bottom. This should take 3 minutes on each side.
While the second side of the chicken is searing, mix the softened cream cheese and shredded cheddar cheese in a bowl. Use a spoon to layer the cream cheese onto the top of the chicken breast and shut off the stovetop.
Using gloves and a sharp knife, cut your jalapenos into circle strips. Remove the seeds if need be for less heat. Top the cream cheese with slices of the jalapenos.
Bake the skillet in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F.
Top with more shredded cheddar cheese, bacon, and/or cilantro. Each chicken breast can serve 2 people generally speaking.

Notes

*You can use canned diced jalapenos instead of fresh jalapeno. Check the blog post for tips on how to incorporate the canned jalapenos instead. Recommended is a 4 ounce can pre-diced.

Nutrition

Nutritional information given is an automatic calculation and can vary based on the exact products you use and changes you make to the recipe. If these numbers are important to you, I recommend calculating them yourself.

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13 Comments

Julie Nichols says:

11.24.21 at 8:32 am

Made this last night and it was great! I did half the amount of cream cheese and added a fresh chopped jalapeno left from the garden in the mixture. Will definitely make again!

Debbie says:

05.01.21 at 10:53 am

My daughter has made this several times. It has became a family favorite! 😀