• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Mirlandra's Kitchen

Real Dinner Solutions

  • Recipes
    • 30 Minute Dinners
    • Appetizers
    • Asian
    • BBQ and Grilling
    • Beef
    • Bread
    • Breakfast and Brunch
    • Burgers and Sandwiches
    • Cake & Cupcakes
    • Candy Making
    • Canning and Dehydrating
    • Casserole
    • Chicken and Turkey
    • Condiments
    • Cookies & Bars
    • Crock Pot
    • Desserts
    • Dinner Tonight
    • Drinks
    • Fruit Desserts
    • Gluten Free
    • Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts
    • Instant Pot
    • Jam and Fruit Butter
    • Korean
    • Low-carb
    • Lunchbox Perfect
    • Main Dish
    • Mexican
    • One Pot
    • Pasta
    • Pie, Cobbler and Crisp
    • Pork
    • Potatoes and Rice
    • Salad
    • Seafood
    • Side Dish
    • Soup
    • Vegetarian
    • Veggies
  • Holidays
    • 4th of July Recipes
    • Christmas Recipes
    • Cinco De Mayo
    • Easter Recipes
    • Father’s Day Recipes
    • Game Day
    • Halloween Recipes
    • Mother’s Day Recipes
    • New Year’s Eve
    • St. Patrick’s Day Recipes
    • Thanksgiving Recipes
    • Thanksgiving Sides
    • Valentine’s Day Recipes
  • Shop
  • Kitchen Resources
  • Mirlandra
  • Contact Me
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Holidays
  • Shop
  • Kitchen Resources
  • Mirlandra
  • Contact
×

Cheesy Hatch Chile Chicken Bake

August 1, 2019 by Mirlandra 3 Comments

Jump to Recipe

Tender chicken breast is smothered in a queso like sauce full of fire roasted hatch chiles, sprinkled with bacon and then covered in more cheese. Want some?!? 15 minutes to get it in the oven and 20 minutes to cook makes it an easy weeknight dinner.

A plate of dinner features a big serving of hatch chile chicken bake, some sliced tomatoes and a whole roasted hatch chile.

15 Minute Chicken Dinner For The Win

The life of a toddler mom is rich and full but sometimes there doesn’t seem to be a lot of extra time for dinners that take an hour to get on the table.

“Sometimes.” Who am I kidding? More like never! Yesterday I cleaned up two epic spills of liquid off the kitchen floor and my daughter got a sink bath. Dinner prep needs to be fast and to the point!

With the kids at full steam ahead toddler stage I’ve been developing more and more recipes that come together in a few minutes but still have lots of flavor! We focus our meals on meat and veggies most of the week so dishes like this that don’t automatically include a starch are perfect.

Hatch Chile Season

Hatch Chile peppers being roasted in Boise, Idaho at Market St. Albertsons.  The roasting wheel turns automatically while propane fire perfectly blisters the peppers.

This chicken bake gets a wonderful, full flavor from fire roasted Hatch Chile peppers. These tasty peppers are grown in the Hatch Valley region of New Mexico. If you are lucky enough to live in the area every store brings out a roasting wheel and fire roasts the peppers for deep, smokey heat.

Here in Idaho we are very lucky to have a few local stores bring in roasting wheels for a week every summer! They roast the chiles out in front of the store (which is fun to watch) and then you can buy big bags of the cooled down peppers in the store.

What are Hatch Chiles Used For?

PIles of Hatch Chile peppers wait for Roasting at Albertsons in Boise, ID.

Hatch chiles (sometimes spelled chili) are just a chili pepper grown in the Hatch Valley – nothing more, nothing less! The go in pretty much anything and are a Southwest classic.

It is common to pair them with pork, chicken, eggs, and cheese. I still have a few pounds left and I’m planning to make some hatch chili pimento cheese before I freeze the rest!

Let’s put it another way… If a bell pepper would be good in something, a Hatch Chile would be AMAZING! There – you have it.

Do You Have to Peel Hatch Peppers?

Nope! Lots of people say you do and you can, but back to that time thing. I’m not fussy and I just pull out the seeds and membranes and cook up my meal. I don’t have time to dilly dally!

As I’m chopping if some of the blistered skin falls off I push it to the side but that is it.

Are Hatch Peppers Hot?

The heat of hatch chili peppers depends on what you buy. They come in mild, medium, and hot. For our family meals I get mild. They have a spice level along the lines of Taco Bell’s mild sauce.

If you like a kick get medium. They are what most people would consider “spicy” but not overwhelming.

Then there is HOT and that will get your blood flowing! It is pretty zippy.

As with any hot pepper, the spice is mostly in the membrane and seeds. Any part of the pepper that has touched that part will be spicier than the pepper further away from the stem.

Can Hatch Peppers be Frozen?

Hatch season is short and the season where you can get them fire roasted for free is even shorter. I always grab a few big bags and bring them home to freeze.

Lay out the peppers in a single layer on a lined baking sheet, freeze and then toss into Ziploc bags. Or if you know how much you need you could chop them and freeze in one cup portions.

A plate of dinner features a big serving of hatch chile chicken bake, some sliced tomatoes and a whole roasted hatch chile.
Print Pin
4.20 from 5 votes

Cheesy Hatch Chile Chicken Bake

Tender chicken breast is smothered in a queso like sauce full of fire roasted hatch chiles, sprinkled with bacon and then covered in more cheese. Want some?!? 15 minutes to get it in the oven and 20 minutes to cook makes it an easy weeknight dinner. Keto, low carb friendly and gluten free.
Course dinner
Cuisine American
Keyword hatch chile chicken, chicken bake, cheesy chicken, chicken and bacon dinner
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings 4 people
Calories 400kcal
Author Mirlandra

Ingredients

  • 3 strips thick cut bacon
  • 2 boneless skinless breasts
  • 1/2 cup fire roasted hatch chili seeded and chopped (see note)
  • 8 oz cream cheese softened
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 cups Monterey jack cheese shredded

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375 F.
  • Dice the bacon and crisp it up in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Drain the pieces on a paper towel and set aside.
  • Slice the chicken in half. Use the flat of your hand to hold the breast steady on the cutting board and start at the thick end. Slice horizontally to create two slices that are about even thickness. Lay the four pieces of chicken in single layer in a 9”x12” casserole dish.
  • Remove the stems from the chilis and slit them up one side so each pepper lays flat. Use a knife to scrape out the seeds and membranes and discard them. Dice enough peppers to make ½ cup.
  • Thoroughly mix the cream cheese, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Stir in the chopped chilies. Spread the mixture evenly over the chicken. Scatter the bacon on top. Scatter the Monterey jack cheese on top of that.
  • Bake at 375 F until the chicken has reached 160F internally, and the cheese is browning on top. 20-25 minutes.
  • Serve hot over rice with refried beans and fresh tomato slices.

Notes

Mild, Medium or Hot?:   How spicy are hatch chilies? The mild ones are usually suitable for children. The medium is on the spicy side for people who really don’t eat anything hotter than mild sauce at Taco Bell. The hot are HOT. You can make this recipe with any of the three varieties.
When hatch chilies are not in season you can buy them canned. Drain the chopped chilies and use ½ cup as per recipe directions.

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts
Cheesy Hatch Chile Chicken Bake
Amount Per Serving
Calories 400 Calories from Fat 288
% Daily Value*
Fat 32g49%
Saturated Fat 19g95%
Cholesterol 101mg34%
Sodium 529mg22%
Potassium 113mg3%
Carbohydrates 3g1%
Sugar 2g2%
Protein 14g28%
Vitamin A 1087IU22%
Calcium 372mg37%
Iron 1mg6%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

PIN FOR LATER

hatch chile chicken bake promo image

 

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Margaret

    January 17, 2023 at 8:28 pm

    2 stars
    Mirlanda, I am from NM, 63 years old, and have eaten green chile all my life and cooked with green chile a large part of my life. I have NEVER not peeled my chiles after roasting. I know of no one who does not peel their chile. I appreciate you are busy, etc. But with just the few chiles you are roasting, it will only take minutes to remove the skin. The burnt skin will not be appetizing. Otherwise your recipe is fine.

    Reply
    • Mirlandra

      February 08, 2023 at 3:06 pm

      Hi Margaret, I’m sorry you disagree with the recipe method. I know people from NM who do it differently so we might have to just say to each their own here 🙂 I’m sorry if you feel I trod on something you hold dear.

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Welcome!  I’m Mirlandra

I provide real dinner solutions so busy women can kick kitchen overwhelm to the curb and learn to make simple, healthy dinners to fit any schedule and family.

Popular Posts

Ultimate Guide to Grilling Hamburgers: The Best Recipe & Grilling Tips

Three stunning lemon drop martinis with twists and sugared rooms. The table is decorated with a few lemons.

The Perfect Lemon Drop Martini

Copycat-Cracker-Barrel-Pancakes-3

Copycat Cracker Barrel Pancakes

Learn How to Read a Recipe The RIGHT Way for Cooking Success (FREE)

Footer

COPYRIGHT © MIRLANDRA'S KITCHEN LLC 2019. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Foodie Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in