Easy Jalapeño Popper Chicken Casserole with Cilantro-Lime Rice

This easy jalapeño popper chicken casserole is a one-pot bake. Making it ideal for any bust weeknight dinner. The jalapeño and cheese stuffed chicken breasts and cilantro-lime rice bake in the oven at the same time, leaving you time to pick up the kitchen and unwind. 

I’ve been making jalapeño popper chicken for years, decades. It will always be a favorite of mine. It has the perfect combination of flavors and spice. When paired with a box of cilantro and lime rice, it’s a complete meal and ready in under an hour. 

How to scale it up (or down) – Measuring the Ingredients 

This meal is one of the easiest dishes to scale up or down. We made it all the time for just the two of us and now with picky eaters, we still occasionally will  make it for less than 4 people. If you’re cooking for one or two, leftovers are also great for the next day lunch.  

The recipe below is for 4 servings. There is a key in the recipe, if you hit 2x it will do the math for you, but read through the notes below. 

For 1-4 servings you will use one box of cilantro-lime rice. If you want to make more than one box of rice, I have not tested it so I recommend using two casserole dishes for 5-8 servings.  

• Per Jalapeño Popper Chicken Breast:
  1 chicken breast
  1 tsp of cream cheese
  1/4 cup of shredded cheese
  1/2 – 1 jalapeño – small diced

• Cilantro-Lime Rice (1 box per for every 4 servings):
  1 box of Cilantro Lime Rice (6.9 oz, approx. 1 cup)
  2 cups Water

Cilantro-Lime Rice 

There are two ways to make cilantro-lime rice for this meal. I buy a seasoned rice box from the grocery store. It works like a charm. 

Another way to make cilantro-lime rice is to make it from scratch. You will want to substitute the seasoned cilantro-lime rice with a cup of white rice. Stir in a two cups of water. Once the casserole is baked, take out the chicken. Fluff and stir in about 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro, a lime’s worth of fresh lime juice and a pinch or two of salt. Fluff and toss until evenly combined. Taste and adjust for your liking. 

Easy Jalapeño Popper Chicken Casserole

This easy weeknight jalapeño popper chicken casserole is stuffed with diced jalapeños, cheddar cheese & baked on a bed of cilantro-lime rice. It's a one pot meal in less than an hour!

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Course: Weeknight Dinner

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Keyword: easy recipe, one pot recipe

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 people

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Ingredients

• 4 Thin Chicken Breasts or Cutlets. I usually trim two large chicken breasts into 4
• 4 tsp Cream Cheese
• 1 cup Shredded Cheese - Pepper Jack, Cheddar or both or you can use slices as well to make it easier
• 2-3 Jalapeños - small diced
• 1 box Cilantro Lime Rice 6.9 oz (1 cup)
• 2 cups Water
• 1 Lime Wedge

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 400F.
• If you need to, carefully cut your chicken breasts in half, so that you have 4 thin cutlets.
  
• Pile on the 1 tsp of cream cheese, diced jalapeños and cheese on the bottom half of the chicken breast, leave the top empty so they fold over.

  Reserve some of the shredded cheese and jalapeños for the top of each chicken

  Fold over the chicken, if needed, use a tooth pick to hold in place.
  
• In your casserole dish, add your rice and water. Stir until combined.
  
• Place your chicken breasts on top of the rice and sprinkle some cheese and diced jalapeños on top.
  
• Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.

  Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes.
  
• Using a fork, fluff the rice.

  Squeeze lime juice over the chicken.