Description
Quick and easy bites that are crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside and loaded with cheese! No one would guess they are only 50 calories and gluten-free!
Ingredients
- FOR THE POPPERS:
- 2 Large Potatoes
- 1 Medium Sized Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
- 6 strips Turkey Bacon
- ¼ cups Reduced Fat Cream Cheese, Softened. Do Not Use Fat Free!
- ½ cups Franks Buffalo Sauce, Or To Taste
- 1 Large Egg White
- ¼ cups Cilantro, Roughly Chopped
- Salt, Pepper And Garlic Powder, To Taste
- 3 sticks Reduced Fat Mozzarella String Cheese Sticks, Unwrapped
- ⅓ cups Gluten-free Panko (or Whole Wheat If You Are Not GF)
- FOR THE DIPPING SAUCE:
- 1 Small Ripe Avocado, Peeled And Pitted
- ½ cups Fat-free Ranch Dressing Of Choice
- 1 Tablespoon Plus 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- Salt And Pepper, to taste
Preparation
1. Preheat your oven to 425 F and line a baking sheet with tin foil.
2. Poke holes all over your potatoes, put them onto the baking sheet and bake until fork tender and soft, about 45-60 minutes. Set aside until it cool enough to handle.
3. While the potatoes bake, bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil and boil the chicken breast until it is no longer pink inside (about 15-20 minutes). Remove chicken from the water onto a cutting board.
4. Shred the chicken with two forks and set aside until the potato has cooled.
5. Once the potato is done baking and the chicken is shredded, spray a large saute pan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Once hot add the bacon into the pan.
6. Cook the bacon until crispy, about 1-2 minutes per side. Transfer to a paper towel and dab off any grease.
7. Roughly chop the bacon and set aside until the potato has cooled.
8. Once everything is ready to go, it’s time to make the bites!
9. Preheat your oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
10. Peel the potato and toss the flesh into a large bowl (discard peel). Mash it with a potato masher or fork, until it is lump free.
11. Add the softened cream cheese and mash until well incorporated.
12. Add in the shredded chicken, Buffalo sauce, egg white, chopped cilantro and chopped bacon and mix until everything is well incorporated.
13. Season to taste with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
14. Chop each cheese string into 12 pieces by cutting each string into 6 even-sized pieces then cutting each of the 6 chunks in half.
15. Pour the panko onto a large plate.
16. Take a tablespoon-sized ball of the potato dough and press a chunk of cheese into the center. Wrap and roll the potato around the cheese until it is well centered and covered.
17. Roll the ball around in the panko until it is lightly covered then place on the prepared baking sheet. Do this for the rest of the dough.
18. Spray the poppers with a bit of cooking spray and place in the oven for 15 minutes.
19. After 15 minutes, take the potato poppers out of the oven and give them another light mist of cooking spray. Bake until lightly golden and crispy, about another 10 minutes.
20. While the bites bake, throw the avocado, ranch dressing, garlic powder and salt and pepper into a small food processor. Blend until well mixed and smooth.
21. Serve poppers hot with the dipping sauce.
