Instant Pot Jalapeno Popper Chicken—seasoned chicken breast stuffed with a cheese, cream cheese and pickled jalapeno mixture. Lots of good flavor and not too spicy! You can pressure cook in your Instant Pot or bake the chicken in the oven.
Instant Pot Jalapeno Popper Chicken
You’re going to love this Instant Pot Jalapeno Popper Chicken! This chicken tasted a lot better than it looked! It was so juicy and the filling that was stuffed inside the chicken breast was so flavorful. The cream cheese and the jalapenos go together so well.
If you’re thinking “oh no! I can’t do spicy!” Don’t worry. It’s not spicy. Because I used Mezzetta’s tamed jalapeno peppers instead of spicy it was very mild. You can find these is the same aisle as pickles. They have the spiciness level of about a banana pepper.
The other fun ingredient in this recipe is something I recently discovered. It’s McCormick’s Himalayan Pink Salt with Black Pepper and Garlic*. I like to put this on vegetables, eggs, meats…basically everything. My friend got me a bottle and now I’m hooked! It adds so much flavor.
To make these stuffed chicken breasts you’ll need to use fresh chicken so you can slice a pocket into the side. Since chicken breasts are all different sizes you’ll want to pick some of the same size and thickness. Then choose how long to cook it by the average weight. For example if your chicken breast is 12 ounces you’ll want to cook for 12 minutes (with a 5-10 minute natural pressure release). You’ll be cooking the chicken on top of a trivet.
After your chicken is done cooking make sure to slice it across the grain for ultimate tenderness. Some of the cheesy filling will seep out and that’s okay! Yum yum!
More Instant Pot Chicken Recipes…
Instant Pot Dude Ranch Chicken
Recommendations
Instant Pot Smoky Mountain Chicken
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Instant Pot Jalapeno Poppers Chicken
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
Description
Seasoned chicken breast stuffed with a cheese, cream cheese and pickled jalapeno mixture. Lots of good flavor and not too spicy! You can pressure cook in your Instant Pot or bake the chicken in the oven.
Ingredients
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/3 cup tamed pickled jalapenos*, sliced or diced
- 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 Tbsp lime juice
- 1/4 cup crumbled bacon
- 1 1/2 to 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (of similar size and thickness)
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 tsp McCormick’s Himalayan Pink Salt with Black Pepper and Garlic*
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl stir together the cream cheese, jalapenos, cheeses, lime juice and bacon.
- Place the chicken breasts on a cutting board and drizzle with oil on both sides.
- Sprinkle the McCormick’s seasoning over both sides of the chicken.
- Use a sharp knife to cut a pocket into the side of each chicken breast–cut a slit 3/4 of the way through without cutting all the way through.
- Spoon the cream cheese mixture into each chicken breast evenly.
- Pour 1 cup water into bottom of Instant Pot. Place a trivet into bottom of Instant Pot. Carefully place chicken breasts on top of trivet in one layer.
- Cover Instant Pot and secure the lid. Make sure valve is set to sealing. Set the manual/pressure cook button to the weight of the average chicken breast in ounces. For example, if each individual chicken breast weighs 12 oz then you’ll cook for 12 minutes. If each individual chicken breast weighs 14 oz you’ll cook for 14 minutes. The weight of the chicken breast is measured before it is stuffed.
- When time is up let pot sit for 5-10 minutes and then move valve to venting. Remove lid.
- Carefully move chicken with tongs to a plate. Slice across the grain and enjoy!
Notes
To make in the oven: Do steps 1-5 and then place the chicken breasts in a 9×13 baking dish at 375 degrees. Bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes (plus 5 minute NPR)
- Category: Chicken
- Method: Instant Pot/Oven
*Karen Petersen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
The flavor was delicious, but all of my cream cheese just melted out of the chicken and ended up in the bottom of my Instant Pot 🙁 I followed the instructions just like the video and mine definitely didn’t come out looking as pretty!
Oh shoot! Sorry it didn’t work out as well as you hoped. I am not sure why it did that 🙁
Good flavor! I think next time I’ll try it with boneless skinless chicken thighs and roll them up. How long do you think they should cook for?
★★★★
I would pound them out and use the same time
This looks great, will definitely try it! Question – when doing a natural release, my IP has a “keep warm” feature which can’t be turned off. I am unsure if I should use that or just turn off the IP. Always wonder if it continues to cook the food. Thanks!
It does not continue to cook the food so you can just keep it on.
I did this in the air fryer and i coated the chicken with pam and rolled it in some flour and then air fryer on my chicken setting and it came out wonderful
AWESOME idea Dawn! I want to try that.
Recipe looks great! However, at what temperature should the oven be if I want to bake it? Thanks.
★★★★★
Oh sorry, just added that bit of info. It’s at 375 degrees