These spicy bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers are filled with melty cheese and loads of spices. They're the perfect party appetizer recipe. Watch them disappear!
Jalapeno poppers time, my friends. In my kitchen, it's ALWAYS time for jalapeno poppers, especially when they're stuffed with cheesy awesomeness and wrapped in bacon.
BACON!
As you already know by now, I have quite the obsession with all things jalapeno and all things poppers. #MikesJalapenoObsession. It's been pretty well documented here, considering all of my Jalapeno Poppers Recipes on the site, and not to mention my cookbook dedicated to the subject - Jalapeno Poppers and Other Stuffed Chili Peppers, the Cookbook.
I just can't help myself!
They really are the perfect party appetizer, holiday gathering starter, game day table centerpiece, you name it - if there is a party of any sort, you need jalapeno poppers there to make everyone happy. Like this recipe in particular. We're talking easy, cheesy Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers and they're every bit of fabulous as they sound.
YES!
These poppers are filled with a seasoned mixture of cream cheese and cheddar cheese, all stuffed into cored out jalapeno peppers than wrapped in smoky bacon and baked to crispy perfection. Oh baby.
Don't they look great?
I want to eat them all right now! The party peeps wouldn't be very happy with me, though.
Let's talk about how we make them, shall we?
How to Make Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers – The Recipe
First, slice open your jalapenos in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides, making them hollow enough for your stuffing.
Next, mix your cream cheese (at room temperature for easier mixing), cheddar cheese and your seasoning mixture in a bowl, then fill each jalapeno pepper half with the spicy cream cheese mixture.
A note about jalapeno heat: Most people believe that removing the seeds will reduce the jalapeno heat. However, the seeds actually contain no heat. Most of the jalapeno heat is in the cored out whitish innards, so if you'd like spicier jalapeno poppers, chop it up and mix it in with your cheese mixture.
Next, wrap each stuffed jalapeno boat with a slice of bacon. Pierce with toothpicks to hold the bacon in place for baking.
Sprinkle the poppers with extra chili powder and set them on a baking sheet and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Bake them for 20-30 minutes, or until the peppers soften and the bacon is starting to crisp.
You can blast them with the broiler a couple of minutes at the end if you need to in order to get them as crispy as you'd like.
Remove from heat, cool slightly, and serve.
BOOM! Serve them up! It's party time!
Check out my video below for a full demonstration of how to make bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers.
Tips on Wrapping Poppers with Bacon
Sometimes the bacon can shrink up and partially fall off of the poppers, or they can get a bit soggy underneath. The key to achieving properly wrapped bacon is to use a large enough piece of bacon that wraps around properly. Note that the bacon will shrink up during cooking, so ensure a good wrap.
Second, make sure you cook them long enough. If the bacon isn’t very crispy, keep cooking until it is. You can also hit them in the broiler a few minutes to get that crispy bacon, or sear them on the grill to achieve the same effect.
If you fear the bacon will shrink up too much, use toothpicks to hold them in place. I’ve found, though, that the bacon holds together very nicely, but use your best judgement.
Extra Recipe Tips
As mentioned, most of the jalapeno heat is in the cored out whitish innards, so if you'd like spicier jalapeño poppers, chop it up and mix it in with your cheese mixture.
Also, you can conserve on bacon by slicing them in half and then wrapping the stuffed jalapenos. They're still super tasty this way, though I prefer a lot of bacon in each bite. The choice is yours.
Thin cut bacon is best for this recipe. Thicker cut bacon may not crisp up enough to your preference.
For the seasoning mixture, I used simple chili powder with garlic, salt and pepper, but try using garlic powder, a taco seasoning blend or a Cajun seasoning blend for flavor variations.
Here is an extra tip on a question I get sometimes...
How to Slice the Jalapenos
When making jalapeno poppers boat style, it is best to hold the peppers by the stem and slice with knife from the tip to the stem, straight in the middle. This will get you two even pieces of jalapeno. Then, simply scoop out the seeds and ribs (the whitish innards) to make room for your cheese filling.
Stuffing Options for Your Party Poppers
The beauty of bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers is - you can stuff them with pretty much anything you want! YES! I chose a mixture of seasoned cream cheese and cheddar cheese, but you can try other ingredients, such as cooked chorizo, shredded chicken, pulled pork, and even chopped shrimp.
Try them with other cheeses, like pepper jack cheese or a good sharp cheddar.
So many ideas! I love it.
More Popular Jalapeno Popper Recipes
- Grilled Jalapeno Poppers
- Four Cheese Jalapeno Poppers
- Candied Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
- Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers with Shredded Chicken and Cheese
- Baked Cream Cheese Jalapeno Poppers
- Smoked Jalapeno Poppers
- Air Fryer Jalapeno Poppers
- Pimento Cheese Jalapeno Poppers
- Armadillo Eggs
- Check Out More Jalapeno Poppers Recipes
- Jalapeno Poppers and Other Stuffed Chili Peppers, the Cookbook
If you enjoy this recipe, I hope you'll leave a comment with some STARS. Also, please share it on social media. Don't forget to tag us at #ChiliPepperMadness. I'll be sure to share! Thanks! -- Mike H.
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers - Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 jalapeno peppers
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chili powder + extra for sprinkling
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 16 slices bacon (thin cut)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Slice the jalapeno peppers in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides with a spoon.
- Add the cream cheese, cheddar cheese and seasonings to a bowl and mix well.
- Fill each jalapeno pepper half with the spicy cheese mixture. You might have some leftover, depending on the size of your peppers. Just distribute evenly.
- Wrap each stuffed jalapeno boat with a slice of bacon. Pierce with toothpicks to hold the bacon in place.
- Sprinkle them with extra chili powder and bake the jalapeno poppers about 20-30 minutes, or until the peppers soften and the bacon is starting to crisp. You can blast them with the broiler a couple of minutes at the end if you need to.
- Remove from heat, cool slightly, and serve.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Georgeana L Rodarte says
I'm making these tonight to take to our family dinner tomorrow. Will they be fine reheated ?
Mike Hultquist says
These are good reheated, Georgeana. I think they're better right off the grill, but still good! Warm them in the oven or on the grill before serving. Enjoy!
Karen says
Okay, this recipe looked delicious and easy to adjust. I made mine with a Mexican blend cheese and instead of chili powder I used taco seasoning. Because that blend already had a decent amount of cumin, I added onion powder and chives instead. For the kiddos and adults that don’t want the heat, I’m going to stuff small sweet peppers for them. This tastes so good. I bought thin center cut bacon, which is a tad smaller and covers the peppers completely. This is my go-to forever now. Thank you!!!
Mike Hultquist says
Outstanding! Glad you enjoyed them, Karen!
Rebecca Wilborne says
I made these but using the chili powder they came out dark! Will use less chili powder the next time!
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Rebecca.
Penny says
Hi Mike, love your website and recipes!!
Two questions:
Can I use frozen jalapenos for this recipe?
Can these be made a day ahead and reheated?
Many thanks!
Mike Hultquist says
Thanks, Penny. Yes, you can use frozen. Thaw them and try to dry them out a bit. They will be fairly soft after thawing. Also, yes, you can make them ahead. Keep refrigerated in a sealed container, then reheat to serve. Let me know how it goes for you!
Laura T says
Hello!
Same question, different recipe. Can you freeze these at any point?
Thanks!!!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Laura, check out my post on How to Freeze Stuffed Peppers: https://www.chilipeppermadness.com/cooking-with-chili-peppers/freezing-stuffed-peppers/. I have never tried to cook these from frozen with the bacon on them, but I think it can work. Let me know how it goes if you try it.
sharon meinert says
Amazing!! A new favorite!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Sharon!
Kate says
I made these with thick cut bacon which I happened to have on hand. Good but not great, I think because the bacon was too thick and didn't crisp up at all. Next time I will use plain old regular thin sliced bacon. Flavor was good though and worth a repeat.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thank you for the feedback, Kate. I updated the recipe with a note to mention that thin cut bacon is best for crispiness.
Heath Clawson says
Very good recipe. I did the pepper with buffalo chicken cheese and wrapped it with a thin pounded out chicken cutlet and then bacon. Turned out great.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
That sounds perfect, Heath! I love it.
Phyllis says
I made these to take to a party and didn't want to take the 20-30 minutes to bake after I got there so I cooked them at home, refrigerated them until time to leave. Microwaved them when I got there for 2 minutes on high and they were perfect!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent! Great way to serve them up quickly, Phyllis! Thanks for sharing this tip!
Debra Williams says
These look great. Can you cook these on the grill?
Mike Hultquist says
Yes, these are GREAT on the grill, Debra!
Steve (Murray the K) says
Hey Mike, made these today for Christmas appys. Turned out great! I actually sliced the bacon lengthwise (narrower strips) which tended to "fit" better (and use half as much, lol). Nicely "less hot" for those who like it that way.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Steve. I appreciate it! This is definitely one of my favorite appetizers. Tasty.
Damien C. says
Great recipe, Mike. Made these for a party and they went bananas. Had to run up and make extras. Excellent as always. You da man!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Damien! YOU ROCK!
Cory says
It was good but my filling came out brown because of the chili powder. I’ll back off on the amount considerably next time. Hopefully they will look more appealing for the crowd hahaha.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Cory. Yes, chili powder does color the filling. It is dark, after all. Best to keep that in mind for future cooking if you're concerned about dark filling. I appreciate the comments. Take care.
Fred says
I've tried mixing cream cheese and cheddar, with mixed results. I use plain cream cheese, or "garlic cream cheese" (softened cream cheese mixed with crushed garlic). I find that cheap, thinly sliced bacon works best. These are also good if you use the maple flavored variety of bacon, though I wouldn't recommend that with the garlic cream cheese.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks for the input, Fred! Very helpful.
Jack Jackson says
I roll bacon wrapped peppers in a mixture of chili seasoning and brown sugar. Awesome.
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
I love this deeply. Great cook!
Aaron Geist says
Was looking for options for some jalapenos and ran across this recipe, so made it tonight, with a few slight modifications. Didn't have any cream cheese so used some plain greek yogurt as a substitution, and added a little cumin like your regular baked popper recipe. Cooked on a plate in my circular air convection oven. Had to drain grease and cook a little longer, but came out very good =) My pack of bacon didn't have quite enough slices, so had a few unwrapped ones in the middle of the plate that were also delicious.
Thanks so much for the great recipe!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Thanks, Aaron! I'm glad you enjoyed them!
candace morrell says
I will make these for Sunday..with the bean dip and popper dip.
YUM
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Awesome! Enjoy!
Jeremie says
A classic! Everybody loves jalapeño poppers! I like the garlic ouch of your recipe very much! I used French cheese instead of cheddar: Raclette. Thanks for this Mike!
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
I'd love to try this with Raclette. Sounds like a nice touch!
Darren Williger says
Hi Mike!
Great recipe and total BONUS for me was this is KETO!!
Stumbled onto your website looking up pepper information and ran into this and had to try it tonight. Super easy to make, didn't even have toothpicks and they held up fine. Instead of 350, I'd used the convection setting @325. Liked the broiling idea at the end to finish them. Cheers!
Darren
Michael Hultquist - Chili Pepper Madness says
Excellent, Darren. Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.