I’ve had this Jalapeño Popper Chicken Chili on my list to make for several weeks now, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to try it. I saw it over at Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice and new I needed to try it…mostly for my husband’s sake. I just adapted it every so slightly, according to what I had on hand. I’m not crazy about jalapeno poppers and I’m kind of a wimp when it comes to spicy things, but I knew Brett would love it. My in-laws were in town over the weekend so I decided it would be the perfect meal to make for them, because my father-in-law loves spicy foods just as much as Brett does.
I kept some of the jalapeño seeds and added a pinch of crushed red pepper to the chili, just for the men. I was worried it would make it too spicy for Brett’s mom and I and we’d have to suffer through it or bail and go grab a sandwich. It definitely had some heat, but surprisingly, we both wanted more. And we were all a little sad to see the bottom of the soup pot get scooped clean.
It has the kind of heat and good, rich flavor that keeps you coming back for more, even when your mouth is slightly on fire. It’s perfect for game day, or chilly fall nights!
Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 4 jalapeno peppers diced, seeds removed (leave some seeds for extra heat)
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- salt and fresh ground black pepper
- 6-8 chicken tenders (diced if doing stove top, whole if doing slow cooker. or use 2-3 breasts)
- 2 teaspoons chile powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- pinch of crushed red pepper
- 1 (10 oz) can dice tomatoes with green chiles
- 1 + 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 1 (14 oz) can cannelloni or navy beans, drained
- 1 (14 oz) can corn, drained
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 8 slices of bacon, cooked crispy and crumbled, divided
Instructions
- In a large saucepan (deep enough for soup) heat the extra virgin olive oil over medium heat and sauté onion, jalepeno, and garlic until tender.
- Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then add to the saucepan adding another tablespoon of olive oil as well. Add cumin, chili powder, oregano, and crushed red pepper. Toss chicken and seasonings together and lightly brown chicken on all sides.
- Stir in can of diced tomatoes, chicken broth, corn, and cannelloni beans and increase heat to bring to a simmer. Let simmer for 30 minutes.
- Stir in cream cheese and stir until completely melted. Stir in 1/2 of the crumbled bacon. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper as needed. **Add more chicken broth if too thick.
- Serve and garnish with cheddar cheese and the rest of the crumbled bacon.
Slow Cooker:
After you saute the onion, garlic and jalapeno, place everything but the bacon and cream cheese in a 6 qt slow cooker and cook for 4-6 hours on high. Or 6-8 on low (depends on slow cooker). Remove the chicken and shred. Add back to the slow cooker. Stir in cream cheese and bacon pieces. Serve!
Okay, this looks fabulous. My family is coming in town for Christmas and I must make this for them. We’re all originally from Texas so we like our food spicy!
Thanks Becky!!
this sounds amazing!! i can’t wait to give it a try!
My husband and I are the same way! He loves lots of spice. . .me, I like a little, 🙂 He’ll love this!
I am going to try this on Sunday, yummy!!!
This seriously looks so incredible! I wish I had a bowl right now at midnight =). Pinning to try, thanks!
We are going to have this tomorrow night:) Do you think it would work well in the crock pot?
I hope everyone likes it!! I think you could do it in the crock pot, but you’d still want to saute the onion, and garlic. Then just toss everything in the crock pot!
I made this as written- perfect!!! so easy to make and delicious! thanks for sharing!
We loved it! My husband doesn’t like chili/soup but he went back for seconds and that’s a big deal:) I left out the bacon because I’m on weight watchers and I wanted it to be less points, but the flavor was still so great!
How many does this recipe feed?
serves 4-5 people:) I’ll add it to the recipe.
It listed corn as an ingredient but I don’t see when you add it in the recipe,
It listed corn as an ingredient but I don’t see in the recipe when you add it.
Ah, sorry! Just added it in the instructions. You add the corn when you stir in the tomatoes and beans.
Oh my gosh….this was excellent!!! Thanks for sharing
Yum! I added garnish of cilantro and avocado….so good. Thank you:)
Made this (for a second time:), but this time I made it in my crockpot. I think I prefer to just do it in on the stove because it wasn’t as thick in the crockpot (but it still tastes wonderful!). I know that is a personal preference but I just thought I would share! Also, I was making it for our Sunday school class, and after the first batch I was worried I wouldn’t have enough, so I bought stuff to make a second batch. I ended up buying two 10oz cans of chicken, drained it, and used that instead of fresh and it turned out really well! (I was feeling lazy)
Casey
Great idea! I’ll have to use canned chicken when I’m in a time crunch! And I wondered how the crock pot would turn out, glad to know I should just stick to the stove top!
How much does this recipe yield?
Hi Alicia! It serves about 6!
This was very yummy! I loved it 🙂 I made it even spicier. I added diced tomatoes with habeneros, and it was delish.
This looks good. For me, I will leave out the bacon (doesn’t sound right with “chili”) and I will use either pinto or black beans instead of cannelloni beans.
I made this soup for dinner tonight, and I have to say it was FANTABULOUS! I absolutely loved it! Thank you so much. I also cut up sprouted corn tortillas into triangles and fried them in Coconut oil and dipped them in the soup, they were a perfect pair for this soup. They would be great crumbled up and thrown in as well. I plan to make this soup often, especially since Fall has hit us here in Ontario. Thanks again.
Great soup—the whole family enjoyed it! I made it a tad easier and just used the breast meat from a rotisserie chicken. Oh and plan on needing more broth–I used closer to three cups. Thanks for the great recipe!
this was ahhhmaazzzinng =]
Thank you!! Glad you liked it!
This looks great – pinned. I might try using fat free cream cheese – or is that just being too much of a party pooper?!?!?! Thank you for a great recipe, I can’t wait to try it. Julia (Oooh, I just thought – we are going camping over Columbus Day and it’s bound to be cold – I will make this to take with us for on cold night…)
I just made this for dinner and it was so delicious and so filling!! Perfect for this rainy, cold PA night! I served it with sour cream, guacamole, crushed tortilla chips, bacon and shredded cheese! The soup was so flavorful it really didn’t need anything extra, but my family loves toppings, lol. This soup is so filling and flavorful, cannot wait to make it again!!!
so glad your family liked it!! it’s my hubby’s fav!
I found this recipe on Pinterest, entered it in an annual Chilli cookoff & took 1st place. This is a stellar recipe; only change I made was cooking the bacon first & then using the bacon grease in place of the olive oil. I know, less healthy, but OH MY was it DELICIOUS!
Happy to see this comment! I’m trying it for the first time for a chili cook off!
I hope you like it!!
It won the chili contest (amongst friends) that I entered it in too! I think it’s a fun addition to a chili night & stands out. Plus, it’s infinitely times easier to make than a chili that you have to babysit for 24 hrs 😀
Thanks for the great recipe! I’ve made it with and without bacon… it’s always amazing & hits the spot!
awesome!!! it’s a good one!
I’m making this today. I have a question on the chicken broth. 1 1/2 cups doesn’t make sense
I am making this ahead of time for super bowl. Should I wait until super bowl Sunday to add the cream cheese or will it make any difference. Also it is really spicy, (I added too many jalapeno’s with seeds).
Any suggestions how to tame it down i bit? My daughter-in-law made this for us a few months ago and we absolutely loved it!!
You should be okay adding the cream cheese now! And you could try taming it down by adding a little sugar to reduce the spiciness of the jalapeno!
We LOVED this – the only thing I do differently is I saute everything in a little bacon grease – and then only add a sprinkling of bacon to the top of each dish – that way the bacon stays crunchy – but the soup still has the bacon flavor. This is one of my favorites!
Awesome recipe! Pretty much followed it to a T and it has the perfect amount of heat. If you wanted to make a lower fat version, you could certainly skip the bacon and it would still taste great. Very easy to make as well!
Getting ready to make this right now for the first time! My mouth is watering already.
I hope you like it!
Do you think this would be good with kidney beans or red beans? Thats what I have on hand and don’t really want to go to the store. I also have chili beans, what do you think?
Yeah I think it’d still be great!
This stuff is absolutely delicious!
Thank you! It’s a favorite of ours too!!
Love this soup! I have made it so many times! But I was wondering, is this soup freezer friendly?? Was thinking of making a batch of it and freezing it for later when I don’t have much time to cook!
Thanks Michelle! I think you could definitely freeze it!
This looks great! I am trying to lose weight though, not gain 🙂 Have you made it with any healthier substitutes?
I haven’t, you could use less cream cheese though! That would definitely help!
This was wonderful! I had a bunch of jalapeño I needed to use up and this did the job. I had cooked a pot of pinto beans and used those in place of the kidney. It was great. Definitely a keep at our house.
I’ve made made this recipe at least 10 times now… we absolutely love it! I made some extra and gave it to my sister and her husband and they’ve also made it quite a few times now, also. Thanks for the great recipe!
so glad you guys love it!!
This was a lot of work prepping, im glad i did it a couple hours ahead of time. This chili was well worth the work though, i loved loved loved it, so yummy. Im definitely going to be making this for future guests, thankyou!
Well this has became a staple meal at my house.. at least 1-2 times a month weird thing is it never turns out the same way twice… the spiciness anyways.. I always have to make a double batch and the leftovers if there are any never stay left over for long.. love this I have started changing it up a little though every now and then like throwing some black beans in something like that..
I work at a midewestern liberal arts college and we just had a campus-wide chili cookoff. I made your recipe (after finding it on pinterest) and it won first place, even edging out our College President! Everyone raved about how delicious it is – thanks for sharing!
Sweet!! Glad everyone liked it and congrats on winning!!
This has become one of my favorite soups! Just the right amount of heat and creaminess and bacon. Sooo good! Excited for cooler weather so I can make it more often!!
Thanks Codi! It’s on our menu this week, one of our favorites!
Do you use a can of rotel for the diced tomatoes, or is there an actual can of diced tomatoes with green chilies in the tomato section I am supposed to be looking for? I didn’t know if there was a difference…but wanted to make sure I get this right when I make it. It looks sooooo good! Thanks.
Rotel works!! There are also generic diced tomatoes with green chiles 🙂 Either is fine!
I tried this recipe and I absolutely loved it thank you very much
Your welcome!!
This soup recipe is really really good. The Instructio a were clear and the soup is delicious ! Thanks