Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken Breast

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Make a slit in the middle of the thick part of each chicken breast, about an inch long. You don’t want to make the slit too long where it will split the chicken breast. It should be just long enough to make a pocket in the middle of the breast. Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper. Set chicken aside.

In a small bowl, use a wooden spoon and stir the cream cheese until creamy and smooth. Add the Monterey jack cheese and diced jalapeno peppers and stir until well combined.

With your hands, take a generous amount of the cheese mixture and stuff it inside of each chicken breast. You don’t want to over stuff the chicken to the point where you can’t close the chicken breasts but get as much cheese mixture inside as you can.

Now that the chicken breasts are stuffed, use two pieces of butcher’s twine to wrap around the chicken breast to secure the cheese mixture inside. Double tie the twine, make a knot, and cut off the loose pieces of twine. If you do not have butcher’s twine, use a couple toothpicks to stick through the open part of the chicken breast to secure the cheese mixture.

on separate plates, lay out the flour and breadcrumbs. Place the whisked eggs in a shallow bowl or plate. Take each chicken breast and coat with the flour first, then the egg, and then the breadcrumbs. Make sure that each chicken breast is evenly coated with each addition. Set the coated chicken on a plate.

Once chicken has been coated, place a large saute pan on the stove over medium high heat. Drizzle the pan with the olive oil, and once the oil is hot add the chicken. Saute each chicken breast for 3-5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Then place chicken on a rimmed baking sheet that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.

Place pan inside the preheated oven and bake chicken for 20-25 minutes. Then remove pan from oven and allow to cool before serving.