This easy skillet Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole recipe has all of your favorite popper ingredients - but in a tasty chicken casserole. It's creamy and delicious with chicken, sausage, peppers, onion, and ooey-gooey melty cheese! Bonus: this casserole is gluten-free, low carb, has no sugar added, and is keto-friendly.
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You'll Love This Chicken Casserole!
"My whole family loves jalapeno poppers! The thing is, I wanted a way to enjoy them more often, but for dinner instead of an appetizer. The result - a super delicious casserole that they went nuts over. This version uses sausage instead of bacon (our favorite way to make poppers)" -Kori
If you love casseroles, be sure to try this Chicken Fajita Casserole and Creamy Chicken and Asparagus Bake. Both are in the top 10 most popular recipes on this website! 🙂
It's Delicious
Okay, this is a delicious casserole. I was worried because I thought that the jalapenos would be WAY too spicy for me, but it turns out they mellowed quite nicely and added so much delicious flavor. Perfect!
As with most casseroles, I like to balance fresh vegetables with all the creaminess, so it isn't too overwhelmingly rich.
One Pan
Anything I can do to cut down extra steps makes for a much better recipe in my book! I started to make this and transfer everything to a casserole dish, but that's an extra step and an extra dish to wash.
If you don't have an oven-proof skillet like a cast iron skillet - I HIGHLY suggest you get one. A 12" cast iron skillet is one of my most used pans of anything I own.
Customizable Spice Level
You can totally customer the spice level of your casserole. While ½ to ¾ cup of jalapeno pepper may seem like it would be super hot - it isn't. Jalapenos will mellow in spice when baked. If you are unsure and like it mild (like me), start with ¼ to ½ cup—then, if you need to, increase the heat by topping the casserole with fresh jalapenos.
Gluten-Free, Low Carb, and Keto
Only 6 grams of net carbs! With such low carbs, 23.8 grams of fat, and 34. grams of protein, the keto jalapeno popper chicken casserole should fit your daily fat, carb, and protein requirements nicely.
Jalapeno Poppers Chicken Casserole Ingredients
- Diced cooked chicken: I used a frozen bag of pre-cooked roasted chicken, thawed.
- Pork sausage
- Yellow onion
- Green bell pepper: green was used, but any color will do. Yellow, red, and orange will add sweetness to the dish.
- Jalapeno peppers
- Mushrooms: common button mushrooms were used, but baby bellas are really good too.
- Fresh garlic
- Sour cream
- Cream cheese: make sure the cream cheese is very soft.
- Pepper jack cheese: shredded pepper jack or regular monterey jack cheese will work. Pepper jack will give this dish some extra heat.
- Kosher Salt: I used a coarse kosher salt, but you can use sea salt. Table salt needs to be added to taste.
- Ground black pepper
- Cumin
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
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Substitutions and Variations
- Substitute different peppers. While this casserole is not very spicy you can use all green bell peppers if desired. You can also change up the jalapenos to a much spicier version if you like a lot of heat.
- Use bacon instead of sausage.
- Use different cheeses - jack, pepper jack, colby jack, and cheddar all work great.
- Play with your seasoning and use some fresh herbs - oregano and cilantro would be amazing!
How To Make This Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole Recipe
You'll be surprised how easy it is. 🙂 For full instructions, please see the recipe card - enjoy!
1. Brown the sausage in an ovenproof skillet. Remove and keep warm.
2. Saute the vegetables until soft.
3. Add meat back to the pan, sour cream, cream cheese, half of the jack cheese, salt, pepper, and cumin. Stir, then top with remaining jalapeno peppers and cheese.
4. Bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.
How to Serve
This is practically a meal in one, but having a vegetable side is a great option. Here are a few ideas of what to serve with this jalapeno chicken casserole!
- Serve with a side of fresh steam vegetables such as broccoli or cauliflower.
- A side of riced cauliflower is nice.
- If you want a spicy side make buffalo cauliflower.
- Serve with a simple side salad and a favorite dressing.
- If you are not following a low carb or keto diet then a side of rice is a great option!
- Serve in warm tortillas (not low carb or keto)
Top Tips
- Using precooked chicken makes this recipe go much quicker. If you don't have precooked chicken, you can saute diced chicken in the pan with a bit of olive oil until done. Remove and continue with cooking the sausage.
- If you would like to pre-prep this meal, pre-cook the chicken and sausage and store it in an airtight container (the same container is fine). At the same time, your chicken and sausage are cooking, prep your vegetables. Store vegetables in a plastic bag until ready for use. You can also grate your cheese in advance too.
- If you don't have an oven-proof skillet, you can cook everything in a skillet and then transfer it to a casserole dish.
FAQ's
Yes! Definitely. You can pre-prep all the vegetables, grate the cheese and cook the meat in advance—store until ready to bake casserole.
If you are following keto and want to increase the healthy fat in this recipe garnish it with diced avocado and using additional sour cream and cheese. You can also substitute chicken thighs for chicken breast as chicken thighs have slightly more fat content.
You can lower the fat in this recipe by using low-fat or fat-free cream cheese and sour cream. Drain all the fat from the pork sausage and use a little olive oil for sauteeing the vegetables. You can also reduce the amount of cheese if desired.
Transfer any remaining casserole to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 to 4 days.
Reheat this casserole in your microwave on a low setting until warm.
No. This casserole does not freeze well as the peppers become watery, and because it has dairy products, the fats from the dairy will likely separate.
📖 The recipe.
Jalapeno Popper Chicken Casserole Recipe
Equipment
- 12" cast iron or oven-proof skillet (A baking dish may be used. Prepare in a skillet then transfer to a skillet.)
Ingredients
- 24 ounces diced cooked chicken (I used a frozen bag of pre-cooked roasted chicken, thawed - rotisserie chicken works too.)
- ½ pound pork sausage
- 1 cup onion (chopped)
- 1 cup green bell pepper (diced)
- ½ to ¾ cup jalapeno pepper (chopped, reserve ⅛ cup)
- 8 ounces mushrooms (sliced)
- ½ teaspoon garlic (minced)
- 1 cup sour cream
- 4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
- 8 ounces pepper jack cheese (shredded, reserve half for the top)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ½ teaspoon cumin
Instructions
- In a 12" ovenproof skillet over medium heat, brown pork sausage. Remove from pan and keep warm.
- Add onion, bell pepper, jalapenos, and mushrooms to the pan. Cook until vegetables are soft (approximately 5 to 7 min). Add garlic and saute for 1 minute.
- Reduce heat to low and add meat back to the pan. Add sour cream, cream cheese, half of the jack cheese, salt, pepper, and cumin. Stir until it is well mixed—top with remaining ⅛ cup of jalapeno peppers and cheese.
- Bake at 350℉ for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly.
Video
Kori's Tips
- Don't miss all of our helpful hints, substitution ideas, cooking tips, and other delicious recipes that can be found in our post. Check it out!
- Serve warm while cheese is nice and melty. The casserole can be eaten on its own or served in tortillas, over rice, with a side salad, or with fresh steamed vegetables.
- Jalapenos mellow out after cooking so this casserole is on the mild side. If you prefer more heat, add more jalapenos or add them raw as a garnish at the end for the most spice. Adjust to your tastes!
- Using precooked chicken makes this recipe go much quicker. If you don't have precooked chicken, you can saute diced chicken in the pan with a bit of olive oil until done. Remove and continue with cooking the sausage.
- If you would like to pre-prep this meal, pre-cook the chicken and sausage and store it in an airtight container (the same container is fine). At the same time, your chicken and sausage are cooking, prep your vegetables. Store vegetables in a plastic bag until ready for use. You can also grate your cheese in advance too.
- If you don't have an oven-proof skillet you can cook everything in a skillet then transfer it to a casserole dish.
Nutrition
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Donna
Made this with bacon instead of sausage.increased to 8oz cream cheese. Used 1 can of diced chilies with the meat mixture. Added sliced pickled jalapeños to top with the cheese. So very yummy. Thanks
Kori
So glad you enjoyed the casserole! I love your idea with the bacon and chilies. I'm going to give that a try next time I make this. Thanks! 🙂
Karen
This looks delicious. The sausage and chicken would be added in when adding the sour cream, cream cheese, etc? Thank you for clarification!
Kori
Yes you are correct! 🙂 I hope you enjoy the recipe. Have a good day
Joan
What type of sausage do you use?
Kori
Hello! I use just a regular pork sausage. This one was in a 16 oz. tube. I just usually buy the store brand.
Barb
Made this last night for dinner and we loved it!! So good. Great flavor and easy to make. It was a mild spicy which is perfect for me so I could enjoy it. My husband spiced his up with more jalapeño peppers. This will be added to my regular recipe rotation. Thank you!
Kori
Great! Thank you so much. I'm super happy you loved the casserole and that the spicy level could work for everyone! Have a great day 🙂