Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Chicken
On January 30, 2020 (Updated September 27, 2024)
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Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Chicken is the food that dreams are made of. Creamy and cheesy stuffed jalapenos are wrapped in juicy chicken breasts and salty bacon. It’s then slow smoked for maximum flavor and basted with homemade BBQ sauce for a jalapeno popper like you’ve never had before.
Jalapeno Popper Chicken
My husband and I first had a dish similar to this at a restaurant called Pork Belly’s in his small hometown. We ordered the “Chicken Bomb,” and stared with eyes wide as the waitress brought this beautiful bacon wrapped gift to our table. Once we sliced it open and all of that glorious, gooey cream cheese came spilling out of the popper, I knew this was a recipe I would be recreating at home.
This jalapeno popper chicken is completely packed full of ingredients and flavor, and it’s perfect for tailgating, dinner, game day, and so much more. If you love jalapeno poppers, you’ll love this recipe.
Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken
This jalapeno popper stuffed chicken is all about layers. Everything is wrapped in another tasty ingredient, and it all works together beautifully.
I start this guy with a classic jalapeno popper filling of softened cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and then add my own twist with an addition of my Homemade BBQ Sweet Rub. This adds a little smokiness and sweetness to the inside of the popper itself. Next, wrap the jalapeno popper in chicken breast and then wrap that in bacon. Oh, and if that wasn’t enough goodness for you, the whole thing is smothered in BBQ sauce. Seriously, folks, you’ve gotta try this!
How To Make Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken
Follow these instructions to assemble and bake your stuffed chicken. While there are a handful of steps, don’t be intimidated. The whole thing comes together quite easily:
- Prepare the jalapenos. Split the jalapenos in half and remove the seeds and ribs.
- Make the jalapeno poppers. Combine the cream cheese mixture in a separate bowl, and then use the back of a spoon to press the filling into the jalapeno halves. Place the halves back together.
- Cut the chicken breasts. Press down with one hand on top of the breasts and use the other hand with the knife parallel to the cutting board to slowly slice through the breast. Make sure you don’t cut all the way through. Leave one side of the breast completely intact so you can easily open and close the chicken.
- Stuff the chicken. Set the stuffed popper in the middle of the opened breast and then fold the top flap of the chicken over to envelop the popper completely.
- Wrap in bacon! I like to use a regular thickness of bacon on this chicken so the fat has time to render and crisp by the time to chicken is done cooking.
- Bake. With your smoker (or oven) preheated to 250 degrees F, place the stuffed chicken on the smoker or in the oven. Close the lid and cook until the internal temperature has reached 150 degrees F.
- Get saucy. When the chicken reaches 150 degrees F, baste with BBQ sauce. I prefer to use my homemade Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce for this recipe.
- Finish cooking. Continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F. I prefer using an instant read thermometer like the ThermoPop. It’s only $34 and works like a champ!
Tips for Making Jalapeno Popper Chicken
I make my jalapeno popper stuffed chicken in my smoker, but if you don’t have one you can absolutely use an oven or a regular gas or charcoal grill. All you have to do is follow the same time and temperature guidelines in the written recipe below. In your oven, make sure the bacon fat has somewhere to go. I recommend cooking on a roasting rack above a baking sheet so the fat can drip down and not saturate the bottom of your chicken.
If you’re cooking these in a regular grill, it’s important to cook the chicken over indirect heat. Turn on half of your burners and then cook the chicken on the half where the burners are off. The radiant heat will cook them without having do deal with the flare ups and grease fires from the bacon fat dripping down onto your coals or open flames.
More Jalapeno Popper Recipes
Looking for all the tasty jalapeno popper recipes? Hey Grill Hey is here to hook you up! We have a plethora of jalapeno popper recipes on the site to satisfy any and all appetites. Check out a few of our favorites below:
Grilled Jalapeno Poppers
Smoky Jalapeno Popper Mac and Cheese
Raspberry Cream Cheese Jalapeno Poppers
Jalapeno Popper Chicken Recipe
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken
Video
Ingredients
- 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 4 large jalapenos
- 12 pieces bacon
- 2 Tablespoons Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub link in recipe notes
- 1/2 cup Everything BBQ Sauce link in recipe notes
Jalapeno Popper Filling
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 oz medium cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 Tablespoon Hey Grill Hey Sweet Rub link in recipe notes
Instructions
- Preheat your smoker (or oven). Preheat your smoker to 250 degrees F for indirect heat with mild wood like apple or hickory. You can also bake these in the oven at the same temperature.
- Clean the jalapenos. Prepare your poppers by slicing the tops off of the jalapenos, cutting them in half, and scraping out the ribs and seeds inside of the poppers.
- Make the jalapeno poppers. In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and 1 Tablespoon of sweet rub. Use the back of the spoon to press the filling mixture into each half of the cleaned out peppers and then press the pepper halves back together.
- Prep and fill the chicken. On a large cutting board, slice the chicken breasts open, without slicing all of the way through the breasts. Set one filled popper inside of each chicken breast and fold them closed.
- Wrap in bacon! Wrap each chicken breast with about 3 slices of bacon. Secure the bacon ends with toothpicks, if necessary. Season the stuffed chicken on all sides with more of the sweet rub.
- Cook the jalapeno popper chicken. Place the chicken breasts on the smoker, close the lid and cook until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees F. This process usually takes an hour and a half. Baste the chicken liberally with BBQ sauce, close the lid, and continue cooking until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees F.
- Rest and serve. Remove the chicken to a cutting board or serving platter and allow it to rest for about 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!!
Notes
- Purchase it from the store HERE: Sweet Rub
- Make it from scratch using this RECIPE: Best Sweet Rub Recipe
- Purchase it from the store HERE: Everything BBQ Sauce
- Make it from scratch using this similar RECIPE: Kansas City BBQ Sauce
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
**This post was originally published January 2018. It has since been updated with more information and helpful tips. The recipe remains the same.
Made these in my oven last night and they were absolutely amazing!!! Thank you!
So glad to hear it Lynette!! I’m happy you liked them!
Do you have the nutritional information?
Hey Kathryn- I don’t have the nutritional information available. So sorry!
If you are eating something full of cheese, chicken, rubs, bacon, and BBQ sauce, you don’t care!
We had this for dinner last night…I made a few adjustments to quantities and products used but it was a HUGE success. I baked it in the oven at 250* F for 2 hours. Each breast was 4.5 oz.
About how long should you cook after basting with the bbq sauce? I see about 1.5 to get to 150deg but not time for 165. I am trying to plan for dinner time and getting everything else ready.
Thanks.
Hey Jojo, you can plan on another 20 minutes for them to finish cooking. Enjoy!!
Tried this recipe for the first time for Super Bowl Sunday and they turned out FANTASTIC! I was worried, given I’m pretty new to grilling (ex-husband used to be in charge of that), and haven’t had the best luck with chicken breasts so far, however, the bacon really helps ensure that the chicken stays moist, and the jalapenos and cheese inside add just the right amount of flavor! Thank you for sharing!
Hey! So if I cook this in the oven, it’s still supposed to be at 250f for two hours? Sorry, just want to make sure!
The most important thing is the internal temperature of the chicken. It could take about two hours or be a little more/less depending on how thick your chicken is and how hot your oven runs.
I don’t have a grill. Can I bake it? If so, what temperature?
Absolutely! There are adaptation instructions in the post.
I didn’t see it either. Just going to try it myself
Looks amazing! Any tips on how to keep your bacon from sticking to the grill? Maybe it’s just a user error ???? I’m going to make this soon!
I think the lower temperature really helps with the sticking bacon problem. The fat renders slowly so it definitely helps.
I grill my chicken cut up and add cream cheese put in my pepper wrap bacon around them and cook on rack with drip pan. I spray rack with pam
Great advice! Love jalapeno poppers in all their forms!
Do you have the nutrition information? Thank you
I’m sorry, I don’t.
You could enter the ingredients onto Myfitnesspal dot com and it will calculate the calories per serving for you.
You could also cut a veggie like zucchini or potato in even thickness rub olive oil, salt pepper garlic and place on the grill under chicken at first.
Great recipes. I love smoking and grilling. I am a KCBS judge and have tasted alot of bbq. I enjoy your sight and recipes!
Oven temp and time please.
In the original instructions it states to bring the grill to 250° so I would guess that is what the oven temp should be as well and cook till the internal temp is 165°. I hope that helps. 🙂
If it says 250 degrees on the grill,,,,, Then I assume its 250 degrees IN THE OVEN !!! for 2 hours !!!
If i wanted to cook this in the oven (I dont have a grill) how would the cooking instructions convert? thanks!
Hey Heather! I just added a section into the post above for adapting the recipe for your oven. I hope that helps!!
i dont see the post for using the over
go up to the adaptations, has it in there.
So basically there is no conversation it’s just heat at 250 in the oven for 2 hours? That’s kinda ridiculous for those of us wanting to make this for a weeknight dinner. I’d rather spend the time at the table chatting with my family and eating a nice dinner than waiting for it to cook.
Then don’t make this for a weeknight dinner.
I made this, basically following the concept and recipe and it came out very good. The results depend on, as all cooking does, the quality of the ingredients you use and how good a cook you are.
I don’t think 2 hours is necessary, even on a lowish smoker at 225, breast pounding to 1/4 – 1/3 inch and wrapped in bacon only needs about 90 min tops to get to temp.
I’d recommend pre-cooking the jalapeno peppers to medium rare and letting them cool before stuffing in the chicken breasts unless you like pretty raw peppers.
Expect inconsistency in the heat of jalapeno peppers, there’s no way of predictably knowing – mild to damn hot all look the same.
Hi. I cant find the adaptation post for the oven cooking nowhere. Please help. Thx
The adaptation for oven cooking is in the post above the recipe card, under a section titled “adaptations”
Is it ok to baste chicken before putting in over because that’s what I did.
I think the biggest issue could be the sauce caramelizing too soon and not letting the bacon render/crisp. Other than that, it should be ok.
REFRESH YOUR PAGE
ADAPTATIONS
I make my jalapeno popper stuffed chicken in my smoker, but if you don’t have one you can absolutely use an oven or a regular gas or charcoal grill. All you have to do is follow the same time and temperature guidelines in the written recipe below. In your oven, make sure the bacon fat has somewhere to go. I recommend cooking on a roasting rack above a baking sheet so the fat can drip down and not saturate the bottom of your chicken.
does not have what setting to set your stove at
You can follow the same time and temperature instructions as the written recipe if you are wanting to do this in the oven. Feel free to read through the other comments as well as others have tried this in the oven.
We make our version all the time and we use the thin chicken breasts instead of strips and we cook them at 375 for 30-45 minutes! If you make a bunch you might need to cook for an hour. If you are using smaller chicken you can place oven on 350 just check juices and bacon after 35 minutes! Best if you use a broiler pan or a cookie sheet with a cookie rack. Remember to line the bottom of the pan that’s catching the fat and cheese drippings with foil for an easy clean up!! I hope this helps ????
Awesome tips, Brooklyn. Thanks!!
Thank you. This was the just the piece of information I was looking for.
Thx! I was looking for this answer
I’m not seeing the oven recipe
It’s in the post, just above the recipe card.
400 degrees for 40 min
Did it turn out alright @terrie??? I’ve been dying to make this
Put them on a wire rack then put that rack on a cookie sheet lined with foil. ( catches the drips, thank me later)
I would go low and slow with the oven, 250 for a half hour, mix some liquid smoke into the bbq sauce to get some smokey taste.
I would use thick sliced bacon by the way.
After they have cooked a 1/2 at 250 move temp to 325 for 1/2 hour.
Just my take on this goodness!!