Jalapeno popper chicken – keto

I’m always looking for ways to jazz up chicken breasts and this was the perfect recipe! Don’t be scared by the jalapenos. This isn’t a spicy dish. I would probably add another jalapeno for more kick next time I make it because I like the heat. If you need a quick dinner that’s easy to throw together, I highly recommend this creamy and delicious meal.

INGREDIENTS

4 slices bacon chopped

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (could do thighs also)

Salt, pepper and garlic powder

4 ounces cream cheese softened

3 to 4 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

1 heaping tbsp of minced garlic or 2 cloves, minced

2 small jalapeno peppers - de-seeded and minced

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375F. In a large skillet over medium, cook the chopped bacon until crisp.

Cube your chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt, pepper and a dash of garlic powder. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove chicken and place in the bottom of a sprayed baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, whipping cream, and garlic. Spread over the chicken in the dish.

Sprinkle with the jalapeno and cheddar cheese, then sprinkle with the chopped bacon. Bake about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the chicken is cooked through.

 

Jalepeno bacon dip pull-apart bread

Another amazing dish from our Beaver Crew mini baconfest night. I dare you not to drool. 

The dip:

5-6 diced jalapenos, diced

2 8oz cream cheese

2 packs shredded cheddar

The bread:

1 tube Pillsbury biscuits

16 strips uncooked bacon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Halve biscuits and wrap in a strip of bacon.  Place around the edges of a greased pan or large cast iron pan. Mix together dip ingredients and place in the middle of the biscuits.

Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or until biscuits are a golden brown and bacon is cooked. 

Bacon Jalapeno Cheese Log

Ingredients:

2 pkgs cream cheese softened

3 cups shredded Mexican style cheese

8 slices bacon cooked and crumbled

4 jalapenos diced

1 onion diced

2-3 green onions chopped, optional

Olive oil

crackers for serving

In a sauté pan, heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and jalapenos and cook for 4-5 minutes until softened and beginning to brown.  Spread jalapeno-onion mixture onto a piece of parchment or waxed paper to cool.

Using a stand mixer or hand mixer, beat cream cheese till soft and smooth. Add Mexican style cheese and beat to mix. Add cooled jalapeno-onion mixture and 3/4 of the bacon crumbles. Briefly beat to combine.

Spoon mixture into a rough log shape onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Sprinkle remaining bacon crumbles and green onions, if using, over the top of the cheese log. As tightly as possible, wrap plastic wrap around the cheese log and press into shape.  Refrigerate until ready to eat. Serve with your favorite crackers.

Rather than doing this as a cheese log I did it as a dip in a bowl. It made a large batch and I found this dip is great on scrambled eggs or chicken breast as well! 

Jalapeno Kettle Chip Crusted Chicken with Jalapeno Ranch

Ingredients:

For the Jalapeno Ranch Dipping Sauce:

1/4 cup mayo

1/4 cup lowfat sour cream

1/4 cup (plus 2 tablespoons) lowfat buttermilk

1 tablespoon Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (the powder)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

dash of cayenne

5-6 hot pickles jalapeno slices, finely chopped

For the Chicken:

4 chicken breasts (about 1 3/4 - 2 pounds total)

1 bag Jalapeno Kettle Chips, crushed

1 cup low fat buttermilk

1 teaspoon salt

dash cayenne

For the Jalapeno Ranch Dipping Sauce:

Mix ingredients together (adding additional buttermilk until desired consistency). Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Chicken:

Preheat oven to 375º. Place an oven safe cooling rack in a large jelly roll pan and spray with non-cooking spray. In a bowl, whisk together buttermilk, salt, and cayenne. Pound out chicken breasts to roughly 1/2" thickness and add to buttermilk mixture (toss to coat well).

Place crushed Kettle chips in a shallow baking dish. Pull one piece of chicken at a time out of the buttermilk and gently shake to remove some of the excess. Dip into the chips and coat thoroughly on both sides. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken breast are thoroughly coated.

Place into oven and bake for 25-35 minutes, until cooked through (cooking times vary based on chicken thickness and actual oven temperature). Serve hot with jalapeno ranch dipping sauce.

Bacon Corn Jalapeno Dip

Ingredients

1 package cream cheese, softened

8 oz (1 cup) sour cream

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can corn, drained and dried

1 package bacon, cooked and drained

2-3 jalapenos, diced

1-2 tbsp hot sauce

Cook and drain bacon, set aside to cool. Stir together cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream. Add in the diced garlic and jalapenos, then the drained corn. Chop or tear the bacon into small strips and stir into the dip. Add hot sauce. Chill for at least an hour and serve with chips, crackers, or raw veggies. 

Made this for a bonfire Thursday night and it was gone before some people even got to try it! I’d say it was a hit. 

Feta Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:

2-­3 avocados, peeled and chopped (I did not use since I’m deathly allergic)

3 roma tomatoes (diced)

1½ Tablespoons minced garlic

⅓ cup red onion (diced)

1 bunch cilantro (chopped)

1 jalapeno (diced)

8 oz. feta cheese crumbles (divided)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

3 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tsp lemon juice (optional)

Mix the diced tomatoes, red onion, garlic, olive oil and vinegar in a bowl.  Carefully mix in the cilantro, avocado and half of the feta cheese crumbles.  Add some salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to a serving bowl and sprinkle the rest of the feta cheese crumbles over the top.  Serve with tortilla chips.

This pico has amazing flavor! I tried it with chips last night.  This morning I put some on my eggs and it was delicious on those too.  Only tip, do not try to put in your contacts after making pico.  Oh the burning of the eyes.  

Southwestern Cheeseball

Ingredients:

8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

¼ cup finely diced onion

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

4 oz can chopped green chilies

chopped cilantro

crackers, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the cheddar, cream cheese, butter, onion, garlic powder and green chilies. Mix completely.  Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form into a ball and wrap tightly. Refrigerate until set up, 2 hours to overnight.  Place chopped cilantro on a plate. Unwrap cheeseball and roll in the cilantro until coated. Serve with crackers.

First of all, I left this as a dip and added the cilantro instead of rolling in it.  I found the original recipe to be a bit blah so I added 2 Tbsp of ranch dressing, a few dashes of hot sauce and half a diced jalapeno.  

Jalapeno Popper Pull-Apart Bread

Ingredients:

1 tube of biscuits (8 rolls)

16 slices of bacon, cut in half

6 medium sized jalapeños

14 oz. cream cheese

14 oz. diced cheddar cheese (I used shredded)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp garlic powder

Cut jalapeños.  Mix cream cheese with 2/3 of cheddar, jalapeños, salt, garlic and pepper.

Cut dough in half and wrap in bacon.

Oven directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray pan with non-stick spray. Place bacon wrapped dough around outside perimeter of the pan.  Place cream cheese mixture in the middle and add the rest of the cheddar on top. Bake for 15 minutes or until biscuits and cheese turn golden brown. 

Grill directions:

Place in cast iron pan.

Place cream cheese mixture in the middle and add the rest of the cheddar on top.

Grill on indirect heat at 400 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.

Hottest day of the year so far and I chose to make this last night.  Great idea, turn on the oven.  Ooh, eat something spicy.  But it was totally worth it.  Delicious recipe.  Next time I will try it on the grill just to see the difference.  

Bacon Jalapeno Beer Cheese Dip

Ingredients:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

¼ C. beer

6 slices bacon, diced and cooked

¼ tsp garlic powder

2 fresh jalapeno peppers, halved, seeded and diced

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Mix all ingredients together except for the shredded cheddar.  Place into greased baking dish.  Cover with shredded cheese and crumble some crackers on top.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown.  Serve warm with crackers or tortilla chips.

This was a major hit at my family dinner on Sunday.  Simple to make and just enough kick to be tasty but not overwhelming.  Could add diced chiles and some sour cream if you wanted to make this go further. 

Corn dip

Review by Audra:

Ingredients:

2 cans mexi corn
1 can green chili
Green onions, chopped
2 jalapenos, diced
1 green pepper, diced
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayo

Dice green onions, green pepper and jalapenos.  Mix all ingredients together and chill in the fridge for one hour.  Serve with tortilla chips. 

World’s Best Tater Tots

Review by Lyndee:

If you’ve ever watched Man versus Food or visited the capitol city, Des Moines, Iowa, you may have heard of the High Life Lounge.  If you’ve been witness to the shag carpet, 70’s throwback beer décor and Tanger bomb shots, it’s very likely you’ve seen their bacon and jalapeno wrapped tater tots.  This appetizer is just a tad on the side of ridiculously awesome.  I mean, who doesn’t love tater tots?  Then load them down with bacon, jalapenos, cheese and some ranch dressing?  My inner fat girl is doing cartwheels at the thought of it.  Because I don’t wanna be fat, I had to come up with a variation of these that would be easier than the deep fried version on my metabolism and my wallet. 

Ingredients:

Tater tots

Shredded cheese

Diced jalapenos

Bacon, RAW, cut into pieces

Salt

Pepper

Garlic powder

First we tried these on the grill but they got a bit of a mush factor to them.  For best results, make these fab nuggets of goodness in the oven.

Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil.  Spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Place a layer of tater tots on the foil.  NOTE-do not spread these out like you normally would when baking tots or fries.  You want a single layer of tots but they should be touching in a bunch.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Spread on the uncooked bacon pieces and jalapenos.  I used the peppers for flavor but if you want some real bite to your tots, be more generous.  Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees.  Remove from oven and add shredded cheese.  I used a Colby Jack combo but cheddar would work great too.  Put under the broiler in the oven for a few minutes, until the bacon is crisp and the cheese is melting. 

Remove and serve! Some people dip these in ranch or ketchup but they are seriously perfect on their own.