These Chicken Jalapeño Poppers are made for summertime gatherings! Halved, cream cheese-stuffed jalapeños are paired with juicy, marinated chicken thighs, wrapped in bacon, and baked to crispy perfection.
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While these chicken jalapeño poppers are a perfectly acceptable addition to your weeknight dinner rotation (alongside potato wedges and arugula salad …YUM!), they also make for the most delicious party food. They’re absolutely perfect for any kind of warm-weather gathering (Summer BBQs, 4th of July parties, or just pool parties in general).
This recipe takes beloved jalapeño popper (think: halved jalapeño stuffed with cream cheese, wrapped in bacon, and then grilled) to a whole new level with the addition of a juicy chicken thigh, making them more filling, and honestly, even tastier.
If you’re looking for more party food, we’ve got you. Your guests are sure to love this jalapeño popper dip, these boneless buffalo wings, these juicy, delicious salmon burgers, and this air fryer blooming onion!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s a crowd-pleaser – this recipe is one that everyone loves! The creamy, satisfying flavors and textures of the spicy jalapeño peppers, smooth, tangy cream cheese, juicy chicken thighs, and crispy, salty bacon are downright addicting!
- It’s easy – the best party foods are the ones that are as easy to throw together as they are satisfying. While this recipe isn’t as easy as our jalapeño popper dip, it’s still an incredibly easy recipe to throw together.
Chicken Jalapeño Poppers Recipe Ingredients
Five ingredients stand between you and the tastiest jalapeño poppers. Find ingredient notes (including substitutions and swaps) below.
- Coconut aminos – before the chicken thighs get paired with a jalapeño and wrapped bacon, they soak in a delicious, sweet coconut aminos marinade. If you’re unfamiliar with coconut aminos, you’re in for a treat. The sweet, salty liquid is made by fermenting coconut sap and salt, and oftentimes, is used as a substitute for both soy and teriyaki sauce. In this recipe, it adds a delicious subtly sweet, rich umami flavor to the finished product.
- Pickled jalapeños – a lot of jalapeño popper recipes call for fresh jalapeños, but we find that pickled jalapeños add a delicious tangy spice to the poppers that can’t be beat. That said, if you want to go with fresh jalapeños, feel free – the rest of the recipe will stay the exact same!
A full ingredient list with exact amounts can be found in the recipe card below.
Recipe Variations and Modifications
- Use fresh jalapeños – as mentioned above, you can absolutely use fresh jalapeños here. The texture isn’t quite as soft, and, because they aren’t pickled, you’ll lose some of the tangy pickled flavor, but they’ll still be really delicious.
- Up the spice level – this recipe calls for deseeding the jalapeños before stuffing them with cream cheese, but if you want to take the spice up a notch, feel free to leave all or most of the seeds in!
- Make it dairy free – we live in a time where being dairy free is easier than ever! Simply swap the cream cheese for a dairy free version (Kite Hill and Miyoko’s both have really delicious options) to make this recipe dairy free.
How to Make Chicken Thigh Jalapeño Poppers
You’ll start by marinating your chicken thighs, then half, deseed, and stuff the peppers, and finally, put everything together and wrap it up in a slice of delicious bacon. The entire process is incredibly easy! Follow along below for a full visual how-to.
Step 1: Add the coconut aminos to a large bowl, then cut the chicken thighs in half, width-wise, add them to the bowl of coconut aminos, and let them marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour (up to 24 hours).
Step 2: Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the stem from the jalapeños, cut them in half length-wise, and scrape out the seeds and inner fibers using a spoon. Fill the jalapeños with about 1 tablespoon of cream cheese each.
Step 3: Place each stuffed jalapeño face-down on a marinated chicken thigh.
Step 4: Wrap the jalapeño topped chicken thighs with a slice of bacon and place them in a baking dish.
Step 5: Bake at 425°F for 35 minutes, then let cool slightly and enjoy!
How to Serve
Serve these chicken thigh jalapeño poppers as a main dinner protein alongside a couple of sides (oven roasted potato wedges and a simple arugula salad would be delicious) or serve them to a crowd at your next get together. If you’re serving them at a party, these accompaniments would be delicious:
How to Store and Reheat
Store any leftover poppers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in a freezer-safe container in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat the chicken poppers from the fridge, simply pop in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, in a 375°F air fryer for 4-5 minutes, or in a 375°F oven for 10-12 minutes. Reheating from frozen will be really similar to reheating from the fridge, you may just need to add an extra minute or two to the time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Mostly, yes! If you plan on making these in advance, we’d suggest going all the way through the step of wrapping the jalapeño topped chicken thighs with bacon and placing them in the baking dish, then cover the dish and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days before baking. This will allow you to get the prep out of the way while also enjoying crispy, fresh chicken jalapeño poppers day-of.
If you can, try to wrap the bacon so that the loose ends are under the chicken thigh in the baking dish. If you still feel like they need to be secured further, simply stick a toothpick through the bacon at the top, all the way down through the chicken thigh. Bake with the toothpicks in, and then, when its time to serve, either take the toothpicks out yourself or make sure that your guests know they’re in there!
More Favorite Summer Recipes
If you tried this Chicken Jalapeño Popper recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below!
Chicken Jalapeño Poppers
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs
- 8 ounces coconut aminos
- 12 ounce can whole pickled jalapenos
- 1, 8 ounce block cream cheese
- 12 ounces bacon
Instructions
- Add the coconut aminos to a large bowl, then cut the chicken thighs in half, width-wise, add them to the bowl of coconut aminos, and let them marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour (up to 24 hours).
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the stem from the jalapeños, cut them in half length-wise, and scrape out the seeds and inner fibers using a spoon. Fill the jalapeños with about 1 tablespoon of cream cheese each.
- Place each stuffed jalapeño face-down on a marinated chicken thigh.
- Wrap the jalapeño topped chicken thighs with a slice of bacon and place them in a baking dish.
- Bake at 425°F for 35 minutes, then let cool slightly and enjoy!
Nutrition
Hi Brandi, this sounds delish! Could you share the nutritional information? Thank you!
Hi Jessica! I’m so glad you commented. I completely forgot the nutrition facts – I’m so sorry! They’re in there now and calculated per serving (there are 5 servings in the recipe, total). I hope that helps!!
Yes, thanks so much Brandi!