Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole
With tender chicken, crispy bacon, and spicy jalapeños in a creamy, cheesy sauce, this easy Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole is one of the best casseroles ever. It is rich, filling, and the perfect comfort food.
Love peppers? Make sure to try my easy recipes for Low Carb Jalapeno Popper Dip, Bacon Jalapeño Poppers, and Keto Chile Relleno Casserole.
Before You Get Started
Here are a few tips to help your casserole turn out perfectly:
- Spiciness: You can vary the spice level. Use fewer jalapenos and remove the seeds for a milder dish. Use more and leave the seeds in for extra spicy.
- Soft cream cheese: The sauce mixes up easily with softened cream cheese.
- Any type of cooked chicken works: Use leftover chicken, store-bought rotisserie chicken, chopped chicken, shredded chicken, sliced grilled chicken, etc.
How To Make Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole
1️⃣ Make the Sauce
In a large mixing bowl, mix the cream cheese, mayo, sour cream, cheddar cheese, bacon, diced jalapeño peppers, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder.
👉 Tip: For a milder flavor, saute the jalapeno peppers in a little butter in a frying pan before adding them.
Raw Jalapenos vs Cooked Jalapenos: I’m not a big fan of very spicy food, the hottest I can do it medium heat. I like a little kick but not having my mouth hurt. Cooked jalapenos are milder than raw jalapenos. We really like Roasted Jalapenos.
👉 Tip: See that pic above? You can just stop here and eat that creamy mixture with a spoon if you want. Or use it as a dip. It is awesome just as is.
2️⃣ Add the Chicken
Fold in the chicken. I prefer chicken breasts in this recipe, but you can also use chicken tenderloins, boneless skinless chicken thighs, or rotisserie chicken. Mix until combined and smooth.
3️⃣ Add to a Casserole Dish
Spread the chicken mixture in a 9×13 baking dish. Add some more bacon, shredded cheese, and sliced jalapeños on top.
👉 Have raw chicken? Cook it in a cast-iron skillet. Remove and chop or shred. Make the sauce in the large skillet, add the chicken, and then pop it in the oven to brown the topping.
4️⃣ Bake the Casserole
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. When it’s bubbly and hot, it’s ready to serve. Garnish with more jalapenos, if desired.
Variations
- More Creamy Sauce – If you like your casseroles saucier mix in 1/2 cup of chicken broth, half and half, or heavy cream to the cream cheese mixture.
- Poblanos – We love poblano peppers. If you are looking to use mild peppers in this recipe, they are perfect.
- Onions – If you enjoy onions, you can add some onion powder or stir in sliced green onions.
Storage & Freezing
Refrigerator Storage (3-4 days) – Store any leftovers of the jalapeño popper chicken casserole in the refrigerator in an airtight container or cover the casserole dish with aluminum foil.
Freezer Storage (2 months) – You can freeze the casserole before or after baking. Simply wrap tightly with plastic wrap and pop in the freezer.
Serving After Freezing – Let thaw overnight in the fridge. Bake until hot when ready to serve.
Common Questions
How to Cook Chicken for Casseroles
To cook the chicken for this jalapeno popper chicken casserole, I put it in a 9 x 13 casserole dish, cover it with foil, and bake it at 350 degrees until it is 160 degrees on a meat thermometer. Ideally, use a leave-in thermometer and check it often. These were huge chicken breasts. You may need to adjust the time depending on the size of your chicken.
The main trick for chicken casseroles is not using dry chicken. Make sure to take the chicken out of the oven once it reaches 157 degrees and let it rest to go up to 160. That way, your chicken casserole will not be dry!
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Video
Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole
Ingredients
Casserole Ingredients
- 2 lb chicken breasts cooked and chopped
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup mayo
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
- 1/2 cup bacon crumbles
- 1/2 cup jalapeno or poblano pepper seeded and diced
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Topping Ingredients
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar
- 1/4 cup crumbled bacon
- 1 thinly sliced and seeded jalapeno optional
Instructions
- Combine the casserole ingredients (except the chicken) in a large bowl. Mix until smooth.
- Fold in the cooked chicken.
- Put into a greased casserole dish. Top with the reserved cheddar, bacon, and sliced jalapenos (if using).
- Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until bubbly and hot.
Notes
Nutrition
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Originally Published December 2, 2016. Revised and Republished on December 10, 2025.
I’ve added this wonderful to my list of favorite low carb recipes. The flavors are incredible and yes, I did eat the creamy mixture with a spoon, it’s heavenly!
Tastes great. Love it. How many serving are in this dish? Or how much is one serving?
Hi Lisa, the nutrition is for 1/8th of the casserole. I’m glad you liked it!
This may be a crazy question but this looks so good so I gotta ask… Is this very spicy or does the jalapeno just give it a little kick? I wanna try it but don’t care much for spicy food..
I haven’t made this one (something similar) but I am going to, looks yummy. If you clean your jalapenos well, remove seeds and the membrane things they are not hot and just give it a nice flavor. Of course I like spicy but my husband does not but he eats it with lots of jalapenos on the chicken and likes it. Every now and then I might get one bite of something hot but once cooked the peppers are pretty mild.
Just a kick however it can be made spicier for those that like it that way!!
My kids don’t like spicy food sometimes so this time I subbed canned green Chile’s and they loved it!
I have added up the nutrients and calories several times and I come up with way more than you per serving. I am on Keto, I just made this and I can’t eat it because it’s way too many calories for so little food. am I doing something wrong? It looks and smells delicious but I can not afford all those calories. sorry.
Hi Bernadette, this is rich and creamy so yes it has a lot of calories. Cheese and bacon are delicious but higher in calories than many other foods. I serve this alongside a big green salad, broccoli, or cauliflower. You can even mix in a vegetable to bulk it up without increasing the calories. Or you could cut the amounts of cheese in half.
Also, I double checked my nutrition facts in two other places and this repeatedly comes out to about 400 calories a serving. I’m not sure what the discrepancy is.
It says 417 calories per serving.
Yes. That is “about 400”. Depending on which brands of cream cheese, cheese, etc you use the calories might vary a bit. Nutrition calculators also can have small differences.
Could this be made in a pressure cooker, to cook chicken with all other ingredients?
I don’t think so. You could cook the chicken first, drain the liquid, and then add it back with the other ingredients to melt the cheese. I think if you put everything in at once it would be soupy.
Ok girls (and guys), I have to ask….. Why can’t you serve raw jalapenos? Thanks;)
Of course you can serve raw jalapenos. That’s the best way next to roasted imo.
Does this recipe freeze well? I wanted to portion it out as I’m a single person then I could just pull it out of the freezer as needed, thanks! I can’t wait to try this tonight ?
I have not tried freezing this one yet. I have frozen my chicken caesar casserole after baking it before.
Freezes very well!!
This recipe is on my to do list along with many other of your recipes! Thanks for sharing! I would love to have supper at your house for a week! ?
Have you tried substituting the mayo with anything?
You could use more sour cream or plain Greek yogurt if you don’t want to use mayo.
what size pan did you cook this in?
9 x 13
Made this for dinner last night. It was great and we enjoyed it even more warmed up today after flavors blended. Will go into my permanent lo-carb file! Thanks!!
Am I overlooking the oven temp?
I just realized that too…it’s in the blog part, but not on the actual printed recipe! 350 for 35 minutes.
Just fixed that! So sorry. Hope you liked the casserole 🙂
I hear my grandma singing it too!
I want to try this.
This looks so delicious! My husband and I both will love it!
My husband will love this. It’s going on the menu for next week!