A breaded poblano pepper stuffed with cream cheese, chicken, and jalapeno.
This might just be the pinnacle of jalapeno poppers. It takes the ingredients of a jalapeno popper, then shoves it in an even bigger pepper, breading and all. It borders on hubris. And is nothing short of pure delicious indulgence.
The poblano is prepared in the traditional way, broiling, blistering, steaming and then peeling the skin, removing the seeds, etc.
What’s different here – besides the fact that it’s baked not fried – is that it’s stuffed with a mixture of shredded chicken, cream cheese, and diced jalapeno and then breaded in a parmesan cheese and panko crust breading. Speaking of baking, you can probably fry this up if you are interested. The steps would be the same, right up to dredging. After the flour, batter, and breading steps, simply heat up about 2 inches of oil in cast iron. Wait till it’s hot enough and fry for about 5 minutes on each side, until a similar golden brown flaky crust is achieved.
This recipe was everything I love about both chile relleno and jalapeno poppers rolled up in one and joins my ever-growing list of jalapeno popper inspired dishes. Check out the rest:
- Jalapeno Popper Bean Dip
- Jalapeno Popper Pizza
- Jalapeno Popper Chicken Sandwich
- Jalapeno Popper Chicken Lettuce Wraps
- Baked Jalapeno Poppers
- Jalapeno Popper Bean Burgers
- Jalapeno Popper Hot Dogs
- Jalapeno Popper Falafel
- Jalapeno Popper Mac N’ Cheese
- Jalapeno Pepper Mashed Potatoes
Time You Need
- ~40 minutes prep (depends on broiling time)
- ~15-20 minutes cooking
- Yields: 4 chile rellenos
What You Need
- 4 poblano peppers
- 1 cup of all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 2 cups of cooked shredded chicken
- ~4 ounces of room temp cream cheese
- 1 ½ cups of diced jalapeno
- 4 eggs, separated to egg yolks and whites
- ½ cup milk
- Salt (to taste)
- Black pepper (to taste)
- ¼ tsp Cayenne pepper,
- ½ tsp Chili powder,
- 1 tbsp Garlic powder
- 2 cups of panko bread crumbs, plain
- 1 ½ cups of fresh shredded Parmesan
What You Do
- Let’s start with the filling. In a large mixing bowl, add diced jalapeno, cream cheese, and shredded chicken.
- Mix ingredients together until thoroughly combined. Set to the side.
- Take a baking sheet lined with foil, and place poblano peppers on the sheet, and into the oven. Turn the broiler on high and roast peppers, turning them as needed to get evenly roasted. You want to roast the peppers until they start to blister and ever so slightly blacken (about 10 minutes or so should do the trick)
- Turn the broiler off and begin preheating the oven to 375.
- Once they look good, remove from heat and place in a ziploc bag. Let pepper steam for about 10 more minutes.
- Remove from bag and gently peel the charred skins from the peppers. Then carefully cut a small slit down the side of each pepper. Using a small spoon, scoop out seeds and membrane. Use a small amount of water to flush out any remaining seeds.
- Next, carefully spoon jalapeno/chicken and cream cheese mixture into each of the peppers. Don’t over stuff, but fill just enough so that the pepper can close where the initial cut was made. You can also use a large toothpick to help seal up the opening and prevent the filling from spilling out.
- Next up the egg whites. After separating the yolk and whites, using a hand mixer, beat the eggs so that they start to fluff up into a frosting-like consistency. Toss in baking powder, the yolk, and milk, and beat with mixer until batter is fully incorporated.
- In a food processor, add panko crumbs and Parmesan and blend to a fine powder.
- Create a dredging station, with one bowl of flour and all the seasonings, the second bowl of beaten egg batter, and a third with the panko/Parmesan mix.
- Coat each pepper thoroughly in flour/seasonings and then thoroughly coat in the batter, and then toss in the bowl of bread crumbs/Parmesan.
- Place on a foil-lined, greased baking sheet and into the oven. Cook for about 20-25 minutes, until they get a nice golden brown. You can also wait till the 20 minutes are up, and broil on high for about 2-4 minutes to speed up the browning of breadcrumbs. Just keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn!
- Serve hot with rice and beans and your favorite hot sauce!