It’s no secret that my husband and I love spicy foods.  It’s also no secret that we love any sort of appetizer with jalapenos and cream cheese in it, like these.

So when I came across this recipe, I quickly tucked it away in my ‘recipes to try’ folder.  I love going through that folder, because I often put gems in there and forget about them until months later.  I find myself frustrated, not knowing what to make for dinner, tired of the same old recipes, and then I finally remember my ‘recipes to try’ folder.

That’s exactly what happened earlier this week.  The pictures almost jumped out at me crying to make this dish for dinner that night.  After a quick trip to the store for chicken and jalapenos I was set.

First, I have a new love for Panko bread crumbs.  I’ve been using them for a while now and they are so much healthier and so much tastier than regular bread crumbs.  This recipe taught me a new favorite trick – brown them using canola oil before coating the meat.  Love it!

My other notes on the recipe:

• I had three chicken breasts (thankfully, since my husband loved this dish so much he ate two of them!) so I increased the cream cheese by an ounce, the jalapenos by one and the cheddar cheese by 1/4 cup.  I also increased the panko by about 1/4 cup; we like lots of breading.
• I didn’t get too particular when seeding the jalapenos; I got most of them out, but a few seeds just adds some more zing!
• I usually don’t keep seasoning packets in my pantry since we try very hard to keep our sodium intake down.  After browning the panko, I added dashes of garlic powder, cumin, black pepper, red pepper, chili powder, and dried minced onions.  I skipped the oregano, paprika and salt, and didn’t have onion powder (hence the minced onions).
• So simple and yet so good.

Ready for the recipe yet?  Here you go!

Jalapeno Popper Chicken

Enjoy!