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This Bacon Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole is the ultimate comfort food. It’s completely dairy free, gluten free, and grain free but tastes exactly like a bacon-wrapped jalapeño popper! Combined with some chicken and cauliflower rice and you’ve got a cozy little casserole the entire family will LOVE!
I absolutely love Jalapeno Poppers. The cool cream cheese + the spicy jalapeños is the ultimate combo. In this casserole, I combined cauliflower rice, pulled chicken, jalapeños, mayo, Kite Hill almond milk cream cheese, and spices to create a creamy, comforting, and delicious meal! The jalapeños lose a lot of their heat when they are cooked, so don’t worry about it being too spicy!
What ingredients do I need to make this Bacon Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole?
Pulled chicken – You can either use a rotisserie chicken or quickly poach your own and shred it (directions below). For rotisserie chickens, make sure to check your labels. Many are made with gluten, MSG and other additives, sugar, etc. I like to get the naked rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods.
Almond milk cream cheese – I get Kite Hill brand which is sold in many stores (Safeway. Giant, Wegmans, Sprouts, MOM’s, etc). The ingredients are Whole30 compliant, but definitely proceed with caution if you are currently doing a round. I’ll leave it up to you whether or not you considered it to be SWYPO 🙂 You can use any of the flavors for this recipe. Chive is my favorite!
Mayo – Sir Kensington’s avocado mayo is my favorite kind of Whole30 / paleo / dairy free / sugar free mayo. I like to get a big jar of it from Costco!
Cauliflower rice – We bake it straight from frozen in this recipe. I usually get a big pack of 1 lb bags from Costco.
Pork Panko– This stuff is the perfect gluten free / low carb / Whole30 replacement for bread crumbs! It adds so much flavor. You can easily make your own by crushing up pork rinds (just check ingredients!), or if you prefer, you can use some crushed up Siete Foods grain free chips instead!
A smaller casserole dish (8×11 inches) works great for this recipe!
If you make this casserole, be sure to tag me on Instagram @maryswholelife!
Looking for some other paleo casserole ideas? Check out my Tuscan Spaghetti Squash Casserole or Dairy Free Cheesy Broccoli Casserole.
Happy cooking!
Mary
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Bacon Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole
Video
Ingredients
- 3 cups shredded chicken*, see notes - I used the meat from a whole rotisserie chicken
- 4 jalapeños, seeded and roughly chopped
- 1 10 oz pack sugar free bacon, cut into 1 inch pieces
- 1 16 oz package frozen cauliflower rice
- 1 8 oz tub Kite Hill almond milk cream cheese, any flavor
- ¾ cup mayo
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp paprika
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- ½ cup Pork Panko*, see notes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish.
- Cook the bacon pieces + 1 of the diced jalapenos in a skillet until crispy. Remove them using a slotted spoon and transfer them to a paper towel-lined plate to drain.
- Mix the cream cheese, mayo, remaining diced jalapenos, onion powder, garlic, powder, paprika, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Add the frozen cauliflower rice to the casserole dish along with the chicken, the cooked bacon/jalapeno pieces, and the cream cheese jalapeno mixture. Toss everything together to combine it well.
- Smooth it out using a spatula and top with the pork panko (or crushed Siete chips). Bake it for 30-35 minutes until the edges are bubbling and everything is heated through. Top with sliced jalapeno (if desired), serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
All nutrition facts are an estimate and automatically calculated. While I fact check them using My Fitness Pal, please note that they may not always be 100% accurate and depend on ingredients used. Weigh your total and divide by the number of servings for the most accurate grams per serving size.
I make this casserole at least every other week. It’s so delicious, and the leftovers make excellent grilled cheese chicken popper sandwiches to dip into tomato soup (Mary’s recipe from her cookbook is PERFECT for this). I will never stop loving this meal even if it means my fingers burn for days after the jalepenos are chopped
I have made this several times and it’s always amazing! This last time I made it with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, we were so tired of eating turkey this was the perfect way to finish it up and love it.
What could you use in place of the Mayo?
I haven’t tested it with anything else – perhaps greek yogurt?
Such a cozy & comforting dish! I sauteed diced chicken thighs in the bacon grease (since my husband doesn’t love the texture of shredded chicken) and mixed in chopped spinach. Such a hit! This is definitely a great paleo meal that fills you up and doesn’t make you feel like you’re missing out at all! Thanks Mary!!
Thanks Sarah!!
It was good, but I wished it was a little creamier instead of sticky, if that makes sense? Perhaps a bit more mayo and less cream cheese? Also, not quite as flavorful as most of your recipes. On the other hand, my husband loved it and had seconds.
Everyone loved it, even our 1 year old had seconds! SO, SO good!
Love this. Made it for my keto hubby and he asked me detail by detail how it was made. He’s going to make it for his meal night at work because it’s that good… and easy. We eat dairy so subbed regular cream cheese and whisps crumpled topping.
My husband is a jalapeño addict and he went crazy over this recipe! We served it with chips and it was such a fun meal for a family movie night. I think it could also double easily as a delicious dip for a football night party. It was not too spicy for my 8-year-old. My younger ones are super sensitive to even the faintest spiciness so I didn’t mix the the jalapeños in with anything and instead tucked raw slices into and half of the casserole and them topped half with slices as well. That way everyone could enjoy.
So glad you all enjoyed it, Erin!
I made this for dinner last night and my husband was standing over the stove eating it out of the pan as soon as it came out of the oven – SO SO good. Tastes so decadent – this is definitely going into the rotation. Thank you for another amazing and easy meal!
This was very good!! I don’t think I’ve made a bad or mediocre recipe yet. My husband said put it on the rotation for sure- a sure win.
Thank you 🙂