Jalapeno Poppers are the ultimate appetizer. Whether for a party buffet or gameday snacks, you will love this easy appetizer with a creamy, cheesy filling and a crispy bacon crumb topping.
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.
Helpful Reader Review
“Unbelievable, hands down the best recipe for stuffed jalapenos I’ve ever had. I doubled the recipe and added 1 tsp smoked paprika and 2 tsp horse radish, really kicked up the flavor. superb recipe.” – R. Hager ★★★★★
Jalapeño Poppers Video
Jalapeno poppers are one of the easiest, crowd-favorite appetizers. I honestly crave them and can’t keep my hands off these spicy, creamy, cheesy delights.
Easy Jalapeno Popper Recipe
The crispy bacon topping takes these stuffed jalapeno popper appetizers over the top. This jalapeño popper recipe works well year-round, but it’s especially popular for game-day sports parties (hello Super Bowl!).
They also check all the boxes: make-ahead, tasty at room temperature, easy to transport, and easy to serve as finger foods. You can serve it as is, or dip it into Ranch Dressing or Jalapeno Ranch for a little extra kick.
Just like our Guacamole, Cheeseball, Stuffed Mushrooms, and Spinach Artichoke Dip, these bacon-stuffed jalapeno poppers are such a hit at parties, and they always disappear fast. That’s why I included them in my Cookbook.
Jalapeno Poppers Ingredients
- Bacon – 6 ounces equals about 5 strips of bacon
- Cheese filling ingredients – cream cheese (room temperature for easy mixing), medium cheddar cheese, chives, garlic cloves, salt, and pepper.
- Jalapenos – Larger peppers are easier to stuff and handle, but any size works. Wear kitchen gloves whenever handling the raw jalapenos, and never touch your face or eyes!
- Panko – adds a toasted crunch to the top
- Butter – melted, these are soaked in butter and baked on top of the popper
How to Tell if Jalapenos are Spicy
You can’t always tell for sure if jalapenos are spicy, but here are some clues to look for:
- White lines or cracks (“corking”) are usually hotter
- Smaller peppers are often spicier than big, fat ones
- Deep green or dull skin has more heat than shiny, bright green
- Pointier tips can mean more kick
Jalapeno Popper Variations
Customize these cream cheese-stuffed jalapeno poppers to your preference:
- Cheese – Use sharp cheddar cheese zing, or pepper jack cheese for a kick
- Bacon – Make keto-friendly bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers by wrapping the peppers and securing them with a toothpick before baking. Or, omit the bacon to make them vegetarian.
- Adjust the heat – If you like them spicy, leave some of the membrane inside.
- Mini Bell Pepper – Can’t handle the heat? Swap the jalapeños for baby bell peppers.
How to Make Jalapeño Poppers
This jalapeño popper recipe yields 20-28 appetizer bites, depending on size, so it’s enough to satisfy a crowd.
- Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crisp and browned (or make Air Fryer Bacon). Cool and chop the bacon into small bits. I like to reserve some of the bacon grease to stir into the bread crumbs. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Make the filling – Mix the cream cheese, cheddar, chives, garlic, salt and pepper in a bowl.
- Slice Jalapenos – Put on your kitchen gloves in case jalapenos are spicy. Cut the jalapeños in half lengthwise and then scrape out the seeds and membranes. (The more white membrane you leave, the hotter the popper!) I like to leave the stem on as a handle.
- Stuff each pepper half with cheese filling until just level, and then place on a lined cookie sheet.
- Make the topping – combine the butter (or reserved bacon fat) and the panko crumbs in a bowl, and then stir in the bacon crumbles. Spoon a teaspoon of the mixture on each pepper half.
- Bake – Bake for 17 minutes, and then cool for 10 minutes. Garnish with green onion if desired.
How Long to Bake Jalapeno Poppers?
Bake time varies based on jalapeño size. Bake the stuffed jalapeños at 400°F for 17-20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the sides feel soft when squeezed.
Can I Make Jalapeno Poppers in an Air Fryer?
We love the air fryer for making quick and easy appetizers like our popular Air Fryer Chicken Wings. You can make these Jalapeno Poppers in the Air Fryer just as easily. Arrange the stuffed jalapeños in a single layer and cook at 325°F for 10-12 minutes.
Jalapeno Poppers with Bacon are not overly spicy and make a great appetizer or side dish for potlucks and parties. You’ll love the crispy bacon in the creamy filling. These appetizers are always the first to go!
Jalapeno Poppers
Ingredients
- 5 slices bacon, regular-cut
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup medium cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup chives, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 lb jalapeño peppers, about 12-14 jalapenos
- 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 2 tsp unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Cook the bacon slices in a large skillet over medium heat for 3 minutes on each side. When crispy and browned, transfer the slices to a paper towel-lined plate and cool. (Reserve 2 tsp of rendered bacon fat, if desired, to replace the butter in the final step) Chop the bacon and set it aside. Preheat the oven with a rack in the center to 400°F.
- Make the filling – Use a medium bowl and a fork to mash the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, chives, garlic, salt and pepper until combined.
- Slice the jalapeños lengthwise in half and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and membrane. *I recommend using kitchen gloves.
- Stuff the jalapeños with the cream cheese mixtures until the filling is level with the sides of the pepper, and be careful not to overfill. Arrange the peppers on a lined baking sheet in a single layer.
- Make the topping – Combine the panko with the melted butter (or the rendered fat) in another medium bowl. When the crumbs are all moistened, stir in the chopped bacon bits, and then spoon 1 tsp of the mixture over each stuffed pepper.
- Bake the stuffed jalapeños for 17-20 minutes in a 400°F oven until they are tender and the panko topping is crispy and browned. Remove the peppers from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with chives and serve warm or room temperature.
Notes
- To Refrigerate: Store baked and cooled jalapeno poppers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
- To Reheat: Reheat in the oven or air fryer at 350°F. In the oven, they should take 10-15 minutes, in the air fryer, about 8-10 minutes. Microwaved poppers will not be as crispy.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
More Appetizer Recipes
If you love these bacon-stuffed jalapeno poppers, then you won’t want to miss these other easy-to-make appetizer recipes:
- Charcuterie Board
- Cowboy Caviar
- Pico De Gallo
- Baked Chicken Wings
- Teriyaki Meatballs
- Grape Jelly Meatballs
- Taquitos Recipe
These were very good!! BUT make sure to be careful when touching your face, my brother and I were crying our eyes out for 45 mins and could not get any relief from rinsing with water and even cool milk!
Hey Raleigh! Absolutely! I always handle these with gloves to be safe! I’m so glad you loved this recipe!
Where can I find your recipe for the best baked mac and cheese. Had alot of cheese and you layer the sauce
Hi Donna, I have a Creamy Mac and Cheese Recipe. I hope you love it!
Love the recipe, but, how can I handle the jalapeños? They are just way too spicy, almost not able to eat them. I´m a huge fan… greetings from Costa Rica!
Hi Priscilla, make sure you are wearing gloves and make sure to scrape out the membrane and seeds. I’m glad to hear you like jalapenos!
These are the best jalapeño poppers I’ve ever had!
I’m so happy to hear that! Thank you for sharing your great review, Sophia!
We made these on a charcoal grill, sprayed a vegetable bbq cooking pan w/ olive oil spray. Cover to reach as close to 400 degrees as you can get, turn pan (or in our case do-si-do 2 pans) after grill reaches 375-400 for a few minutes… When the cheese tops start to brown (1 rotation – maybe 20min total for us), you’re done. Ours slid right off the stainless grilling pan onto a serving dish. The ones that turned over didn’t stick (ie sufficiently but lightly browned). Tongs come in handy. One lesson we learned is to not overload the poppers with cheese – about even with the popper side is sufficient / better.
The mods we made to this recipe:
– no Parmesan;
– 1/2 mild cheddar, and 1/2 made up of (about 3/4 sharp white cheddar, 1/4 blue cheese)
– 2 cloves of garlic
– himalayan salt and pepper straight from grinders (probably about 2-3 x more pepper than called for)
Left over filling can be used on crackers.
That’s it.
Maybe the best poppers I’ve ever had – enjoy!
Very nice feedback, thanks for sharing that with us! I’m glad the modifications that you made worked out well too.
Can these be frozen? If so should they be cooked first or not. Thanks!
Hi Laurie, I haven’t tested that to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
These are amazing and an awesome quick dish! We don’t eat pork so I omitted the bacon. I also left some of the membrane and seeds of the peppers to give it a little kick and it was perfect! One more confession…I prepped these 7 days, SEVEN, one week in advance haha and they were still PERFECT!! Cheese can last forever anyway so there was nothing wrong with them hanging out in the fridge until I needed them 🙂 For those who like to prepare in advance, I thought that would be useful information 🙂 Thanks for the awesome recipe!! Totally a keeper.
You’re welcome, Jaymie! I’m so so happy to hear that!
Thank you so much for letting us know that they can be made ahead of time and keep well in the fridge!
I am by myself and now I know that I can make these and have some each day!
I am so excited! 🙂
These were phenomenal!! I didn’t have cheddar cheese so I used cream cheese, 1 cup parmesan and 1 cup triple blend cheese and I also only scraped a little of the insides of the jalapeños. They turned out amazing and we couldn’t stop eating them!! So yummy thank you for the recipe!
Yay, that is fantastic and great to hear that it was a sucess! Thanks for your good review, Courtney.
These were excellent. The only thing I did different was omit the salt because my bacon had enough of it and I added a couple more pieces of bacon. Will definitely make again. My first food review. Love your videos.
Will try more of your recipes.
Thanks for taking the time to leave a review here, Becky. I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe!
I going to try these as a main dish by adding shredded leftover chicken!!!
Yum! That sounds delicious! I’d love to know how you like that!
Just made these as an appetizer and they were fantastic!! Everyone loved them! All agreed they were the best we have ever had. Thanks for sharing!!
Aren’t they the best! I’m so happy you also enjoyed them, Dave!
We cannot eat spicy foods but love the taste of jalapeño. Is there a way to do these? Sound and look so delicious.
Hi Laurie, naturally they will be spicy, but the filling and bacon help that. Make sure to follow all the steps in properly cleaning out the jalapeno 🙂
Hi Natasha can I substitute jalapeño peppers for regular mini peppers?
Hi Irina, I honestly haven’t tried that yet to advise. But I think it will work well too. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes.
Spray foil with olive oil spray, put peppers on foil and grill on low until cheese is nice and creamy and peppers soft. Leave some seeds in the pepper if you like them hot.
Thank you for sharing your method for grilled jalapeno poppers.
Can you prepare & freeze these & bake them at a later date?
Hi Shazia, I haven’t tested that to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
Was wondering if they can. Be pan fried instead? I don’t have a oven 😭
Hi Suzanne, I haven’t tested it to say for sure, but it may work covered on a skillet. You might google some instructions for that. Also, we have air fryer instructions above if you have an air fryer.
I make mine like this but add a medium piece of pre cooked fajita chicken meat in the bottom. One that fits the pepper without being to large, I sometimes have to cut it to fit good. Then put the cheese mixture on top and around the meat.
That sounds great! thank you for sharing!
Hi, I don’t have green onions but would really like to make these tonight. Would you replace with another onion or ingredient or just make them without?
Hi Randi, it would work with chives or even leaving out the onion would be ok.
Hello Natasha, I wonder if I can make these in an air fryer? And if so, would it be the same amount of time?
Hi Inna that is a great question. I haven’t tested that in an air fryer to advise. If you experiment, I would love to know how you like that.
These were amazing, so quick and eat and I air fried them for 9-10 minutes! Thank you!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Stacey!
I make mine in my air fryer. 375 for around 8 to 10 minutes depending on how many you are making.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Tim!
These are dangerously addictive! Very quick, easy, and keto friendly. What else can you ask for!? Your recipes never fail. Thank you.
Aww! Thank you for that wonderful compliment, Olga. I’m glad you’re enjoying our recipes.
Love these! Jalapeno poppers are a Super Bowl tradition at our house, and I like that these are less mess and use less bacon than the typical bacon-wrapped poppers. Thanks!
Hello Brooke, awesome! I’m glad you loved it.