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Food Faith Fitness

Nourishing your body, mind and soul

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Jalapeno Popper Chicken with Quinoa Crust {Gluten Free + High Protein}

Gluten Free
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This jalapeno popper chicken tastes like the popular party food, but is made healthy and gluten free with a quinoa crust! Perfect for busy, weeknight meals!

Quinoa Crusted Jalapeno Popper Chicken - This crowd-pleasing chicken tastes like the popular party food, but is made healthy and gluten free with a quinoa crust! Perfect for busy, weeknight meals! | Foodfaithfitness.com | @FoodFaithFit

Well look what we have here. Crunchety-crispy-cheesy covered chicken that has been baked to golden brown perfection, and STUFFED with MORE ooey-gooey melted cheese and a few little pops of spicy jalapeño pepper.

As delicious as that sounds, that’s kindasorta a mouthful of a title, so let’s just call it what it is: your dinner tonight.

Unless you don’t like things that taste good. Then maybe you shouldn’t have it for dinner tonight. But then you should also question everything you know about life AND I’m questioning our friendship. You know, just keepin’ it realz.

But, like, easy dinners. The kind that you can make when you get home from work after a LONG tough day, and they take not very many minutes to whip up AT ALL, PLUS you can even prepare the quinoa in ADVANCE. You like those kind of meals. And I know that you REALLLLY like them when you walk in the door and your need-food-now-self, well, wants food RIGHT. NOW.

 This is that kind of meal. It’s also the kind that has cheese. Cheese covered AND stuffed chicken breasts. Two kind of cheese. In one meal. HOW CAN THAT EVER GO WRONG FER YER MOUF?
Quinoa Crusted Jalapeno Popper Chicken - This crowd-pleasing chicken tastes like the popular party food, but is made healthy and gluten free with a quinoa crust! Perfect for busy, weeknight meals! | Foodfaithfitness.com | @FoodFaithFit

 Exactly. It just can’t. So it’s also one of those super-safe-everyone’s-gonna-love-it-and-be-like-please-make-this-tomorrow-too-okay-cool meals. No frills, no hoity toity shenanigans, just good home-cooked stuffed chicken breasts EXPLODING with spicy, Mexican YUM.

Can you believe that, just like that Chimichurri sauce awhile ago, I only tried the magical food that is called Jalapeño Poppers for the first time in ALL the evers that I have been existing, a few years back on that SAME trip to Mexico.  I consider my world compl-EAT-ly ROCKED by this totally unassuming little vegetable.
Also, why can’t all vegetables be stuffed with cream cheese and coated in crispy goodness?  I feel like we wouldn’t need to be making things like vegan homemade protein bars with hidden veggies, and other kinds of crazy foods (I’m looking at you cauliflower alfredo) out of veggies if we just covered them all with crispy, fried coating. YOU KNOW?
Smart life ideas are happening here friends.

Anyway. Tender chicken that does not enter the death lands of dry-food-badness due to it being shielded from its BFF quinoa, just like the quinoa crusted chicken with goat cheese. EXTRA-juicy and crispy chicken that tastes JUUUUST like your most favorite little Mexican bite. HELLO.

 Do you wanna hear a funny story? Originally I decided to be all “how-can-I-make-this-even-healthier?” and I tried coating the chicken in CAULIFLOWER RICE.
Quinoa Crusted Jalapeno Popper Chicken - This crowd-pleasing chicken tastes like the popular party food, but is made healthy and gluten free with a quinoa crust! Perfect for busy, weeknight meals! | Foodfaithfitness.com | @FoodFaithFit
Some things are just so much better in my head. I learned that you most definitely CAN make things “TOO healthy.”
Don’t try it. And FOR SURE don’t try mixing your cauliflower rice WITH the jalapeño peppers in the food processor. Unless you want your husband to ask why you made “Hulk Chicken” for dinner.

 If I could insert the crying emoji here I WOULD.
On that note I leave you with this:
Cheese. Mexican. Yum.
OK. GO. NAOW.Quinoa Crusted Jalapeno Popper Chicken - This crowd-pleasing chicken tastes like the popular party food, but is made healthy and gluten free with a quinoa crust! Perfect for busy, weeknight meals! | Foodfaithfitness.com | @FoodFaithFit

I also shared the Jalapeno Popper Chicken Recipe over on Food Fanatic, so be sure to check it out there!

FOR THIS RECIPE, I RECOMMEND:

IF YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE, PLEASE REMEMBER TO TAG @FOODFAITHFIT AND #FOODFAITHFITNESS ON INSTAGRAM! I LOVE SEEING YOUR RECIPE RECREATIONS! :)

Quinoa Crusted Jalapeno Popper Chicken - This crowd-pleasing chicken tastes like the popular party food, but is made healthy and gluten free with a quinoa crust! Perfect for busy, weeknight meals! | Foodfaithfitness.com | @FoodFaithFit

WEIGHT WATCHERS POINTS PER SERVING: SMARTPOINTS: 6 POINTS+: 7. OLD POINTS: 6

Want more chicken and quinoa?

Quinoa-Chicken-Recipe-3

Crusted Quinoa Chicken Recipe with Goat Cheese

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Crock Pot BBQ Chicken Quinoa

crockpot thai chicken FS

Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Quinoa Bowls with Peanut Sauce

Quinoa Crusted Jalapeno Popper Chicken - This crowd-pleasing chicken tastes like the popular party food, but is made healthy and gluten free with a quinoa crust! Perfect for busy, weeknight meals! | Foodfaithfitness.com | @FoodFaithFit

Healther Jalapeno popper-inspired recipes from around the web:

Jalapeno Popper Deviled Eggs – Ari’s Menu

Paleo Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers – Fit Foodie Finds

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  7. CakePants says

    March 18, 2016 at 7:25 am

    I was wondering what I was going to do with that leftover cream cheese in my fridge, but now, problem solved! This chicken looks like the perfect way to shake up my dinner routine – can’t wait to try it!

    Reply

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