Make these delicious and spicy jalapeno and cheddar stuffed chicken thighs for your next dinner party and you will wow your guests.
We eat a lot of chicken at our house and these jalapeno and cheddar stuffed chicken thighs are the perfect addition to our chicken repertoire.
The creaminess of the cheese and the sharpness of the jalapenos complement the subtle taste of the chicken thighs. It’s a great way to spice you a chicken dinner, literally.
If you have kids who don’t yet share your spicy palette simply skip the jalapenos and replace them with green bell peppers. A couple of strips per thigh will do the trick.
We still have lots of jalapenos in our freezer from last year’s harvest so I am constantly trying to find ways to use them up. If you have a stash of fresh jalapenos here are some of our favourite ways to put them to good use:
If you have too many to use up before they start to go bad just put them in an air-tight freezer-friendly container and they’ll stay fresh for months!
Preparing Jalapeno Stuffed Chicken Thighs
Ingredients
Chicken thighs: Use boneless skinless chicken thighs. They are perfect for this recipe because they are juicy and flavourful, and are easy to wrap around stuffing.
Jalapenos: A jalapeno is a type of chili pepper. It is medium in size, usually green, though it does turn a bright red when very ripe, and has a Scoville scale heat rating of 4,000-8,500. Removing the seeds makes the pepper much milder and makes it easier to control the heat level.
Cheddar cheese: I like to use old cheddar in this recipe to add a bold flavour. The longer the cheese is aged the sharper the flavour will be. Medium cheddar will work as well.
Old Bay seasoning: Old Bay Seasoning is an American spice mix made from various spices and herbs. Some of these include celery salt, black pepper, paprika, cinnamon, ginger and 13 others. It’s most commonly used for fish and seafood but is really great on everything.
How to Make Jalapeno Stuffed Chicken Thighs
As you can see by the ingredients list these stuffed chicken thighs are very basic. The hardest part is closing up the stuffing in the chicken
Preheat the oven to 400°F before you start.
Step 1: Prep the stuffing
You will want to start by slicing or shredding the cheddar cheese. If you use a cheese block you will need 2 slices per thigh, or 12 slices total. Set it aside somewhere handy in a bowl.
Next, you will need to slice the jalapenos. If you want them less spicy remove the seeds first. You should also set these aside in another bowl, but keep them handy.
Step 2: Prep the chicken thighs
Next, you will need to get your chicken thighs ready. Take the 6 chicken thighs and pat them dry. Some people rinse the chicken under cold water first, but I never got into this
habit. There are different schools of thought on the benefits of this practice so do what works for you.Sprinkle the outside of the thighs (where the skin would have been) with the old bay seasoning.
HINT: You can season the chicken before or after you stuff it. We’re not strict here.
Put the chicken thighs seasoning side down on a cutting board, opening them up to be stuffed.
Step 3: Wrap the thighs and bake
If you use shredded cheese, divide it into 6 portions, roughly.
Add two slices of cheese on either side of the fold of each thigh. Then add 2-3 slices of jalapenos in the middle. The idea is that the cheese will be on either side of the peppers.
NOTE: 2-3 jalapeno slices yield hot stuffed chicken thighs so adjust to your liking.
Once you’re done placing the stuffing in the thighs it’s time to wrap things up.
Fold each chicken thigh in half enclosing the stuffing inside as much as possible. Using two toothpicks per thigh, pierce the edges of each closed thigh with a toothpick to keep it in place. The purpose isn’t to completely seal the stuffing inside so don’t worry if you can’t tuck it all in.
Substitutions
Chicken Thighs: You can use chicken breasts instead of thighs. To learn how to stuff a chicken breast check out our Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Breast recipe.
Jalapenos: If you prefer a hotter stuffing try using habaneros instead of jalapenos. On the flip side, if you want this meal to be mild, just use green bell peppers instead.
Cheddar cheese: As always you can use any cheese that you like. The combination of old cheddar and jalapenos is one of my favourites but you can also get flavour out of Monterey Jack or Havarti.
Serving Jalapeno Stuffed Chicken Thighs
If you’ve been here before you won’t be surprised to hear me say that stuffed chicken thighs pair beautifully with potatoes and a fresh salad. Oven-roasted potatoes are a perfect complement to oven-baked chicken.
But also, they bake in the oven at the same time so I have free time to tidy up and get the family ready for dinner.
And just before everything is cooked, I quickly whip up a fresh salad. Our go-to is this simple spinach salad with any of the following dressings:
You can use any leafy greens you have on hand. I usually happen to have spinach or mixed greens somewhere in the fridge.
Let us know in the comments if you have any other questions. And if you like this recipe be sure to leave us a five-star rating below.
Are you looking for dinner ideas? Check out our recipes:
Jalapeno and Cheddar Stuffed Chicken Thighs Recipe
Equipment
- Grater (optional)
- Knife
Ingredients
- 6 boneless skinless chicken thighs
- 2-3 jalapenos
- 60 g cheddar cheese
- 2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F
- Next, slice the jalapenos. Remove the seeds if you prefer less spice.2-3 jalapenos
- Slice the cheddar cheese. I use a block of cheese and use 2 slices per thigh. You can also grate the cheese instead.60 g cheddar cheese
- Take the chicken thighs and pat them dry. Sprinkle the outside of the thighs, the smooth side where the skin would have been, with Old Bay seasoning.6 boneless skinless chicken thighs, 2 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- Put the chicken thighs seasoning down on a cutting board. Add two to three slices of jalapeno in each thigh.
- Line each chicken thigh with two slices of cheese, or if you grated the cheese divide it into 6 portions and add one portion per thigh. Fold each chicken thigh in half enclosing the cheese and jalapenos. Using two toothpicks per thigh, pierce the edges of each closed thigh with a toothpick or two to keep it in place.
- Place the thighs, toothpick side up, in the oven-safe glass dish or cookie sheet and bake for 35 minutes.
