Jalapeno Poppers have to be one of my favorite snacks. I certainly don’t care how these lovely nuggets of heat come, I think they are fantastic. You can stuff them with cheese, bacon, shrimp, or just about anything else and they are going to disappear. I think the first time I tried one of these was when I was working in a restaurant, or you might just call it a place that served food. I thought these hot poppers were the best thing we had on the menu.
Crispy, creamy, and just a bit spicy, Jalapeno Poppers are a hard-to-beat party snack or tailgate food everyone will love. The next time you get a craving for these classic restaurant apps, forget about going out. You can make the best poppers at home!
What’s a Jalapeno Popper?
Anyone who hasn’t tried a Jalapeno Poppers is in for a real treat with this recipe. It all starts with stuffing a hollowed-out jalapeno pepper full of your choice of cheese and other ingredients. The stuffed peppers are then breaded and fried until golden brown. What is not to love about that? Serve up these beauties with a pineapple curry or a honey Sriracha sauce for an added kick or mellow out the heat with a dairy-based sauce such as sour cream or a blue cheese dip. Whatever way you like to eat your stuffed jalapeno peppers, after you realize how easy they are to make at home, this recipe will become your go-to crowd-pleaser.
Before You Begin
Making Jalapeno Poppers isn’t tricky, but there are a few basics safety tips anyone who does often cook with jalapeno peppers needs to know. Jalapenos peppers are not exceeding hot, but they can pack quite a wallop with a Scoville rating of between 2,500 and 8000. Before preparing the recipe, remember to:
- Wear gloves when working with jalapenos. The peppers can cause slight skin irritation for people who are highly susceptible to capsaicin oil, but the real risk is forgetting you handled peppers and then touching your eyes, nose or other sensitive areas of your body. That is sure to give you a rather nasty surprise. Remember to always wash your hands with soap immediately after preparing the peppers.
- Test your peppers before stuffing them. Some jalapenos are mild, and some are wild. Do yourself a favor and find out which type you have before starting. The tip of the pepper is the mildest part of the pepper and up by the stem is where the heat-level tops out. Slice off the a tiny bit of the tip of the pepper, taste the pepper, and this should give you an idea of how hot they are.
- Reduce the heat by cleaning out the pepper thoroughly. The pepper’s seeds and the very top layer of flesh on the inside of the pepper called the pith contain the most capsaicin oil. Use a small spoon to scrape out the seeds and remove the pith. You can rinse out the peppers to get rid of even more heat. Make sure the peppers are bone dry before starting to stuff.
Make More Than You Need
The recipe below makes 30 poppers, but you can easily make two or three times that amount at one time. Cook them as directed below, let cool, and then freeze solid spread out on a baking sheet. When frozen, place in freezer bags. Reheat in a 350-degree oven until hot, around 20 minutes.
Jalapeno Poppers
Ingredients
- 30 jalapeno peppers
- 16 ounces cream cheese softened
- 12 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 quart of oil for frying
Instructions
- It is highly recommended you wear gloves when cutting the jalapenos. The oils in the peppers can burn your skin. Slice jalapenos in half lengthwise. Use a spoon to scrape out the pith and the seeds inside of the peppers. The seeds and the pith are where the intense heat is, so you want to remove the heat. In a bowl combine cream cheese and cheddar cheese, stir until well blended. Use a spoon to fill each pepper half with the cream cheese blend.
- Prepare seasoned flour by placing the flour into a small shallow bowl. Add salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, and garlic powder to the flour. Blend spices into flour until it has a uniform appearance. Place milk into a separate shallow bowl. Dip stuffed jalapeno into the seasoned flour, the milk, and then back into the seasoned flour. Place floured pepper on a baking sheet with a rack. Let the peppers "dry" for about 10 minutes. This step is crucial for the peppers. The flour layer will help the stuffing remain inside the pepper, and give the breadcrumbs something to hold onto.
- Pour bread crumbs into a separate bowl. Dip floured jalapeno pepper into the milk and then into the bread crumbs. Place pepper back on the rack. Preheat oil to 350 degrees. Dip pepper into the milk and the bread crumbs for the second time. Go head and dip all, this should be enough drying time for the coating. The bread crumb coating needs about five minutes for its drying time. Fry peppers one or two at a time until golden brown. This will only take a minute or two. Remove from oil and drain on a baking rack. How to cook them from a frozen state: Heat oil to 350 degrees and cook until golden brown.
brenda says
Think pepper should be cook alittle. Little too hard to eat.
stephaniemanley says
I appreciate you input. How long did it take you to great the peppers prepped and ready to go before you started to cook them? It takes me about 10 minutes, but I am pretty familiar with the recipe.
stephaniemanley says
Thanks Brenda, how large were your peppers? Were they a small, medium, or a large size?
brenda says
They r good but takes a long time to get ready. Its longer than 10 min.
Kelly @ Mostly Homemade Mom says
Oh my word, these bring me back to my hometown Philly days as a teenager! Yum!
stephaniemanley says
There are just some dishes that make us yearn for home.
Lauren @ HealthyDelish says
jalapeno poppers are my guilty pleasure. These look perfect!
stephaniemanley says
I know what you mean about guilty pleasures. Thank you for dropping by!
Amanda ( The Kitcheneer) says
These jalapeno poppers look so good! I know what to make when the jalepenos in my garden are ripe!
stephaniemanley says
I can imagine these would be incredible with fresh produce out of your garden.
Jaren says
These sound so yummy!
coolstorybuddy! says
I made these twice! Great general recipe. I especially appreciated your breading technique. The only substitution I made was panko crumbs instead of regular breadcrumbs. The poppers were super crunchy and super tasty. Oh, I highly recommend blanching the jalapeños for about a minute or so (before stuffing) to make sure the pepper would be cooked through without worrying about burning the breading.
stephaniemanley says
I bet these were wonderful with the panko bread crumbs! Great idea.
venusnbleugenes says
Just wonderful! I am glad that I found you and your recipe. Thank You!!
stephaniemanley says
I hope you gave them a try.
Tim Bates says
great recipe! I’m going to make it right now!!!
stephaniemanley says
How did they turn out?
Jay says
You get SO many sparkle points for putting captioning on your video. Thank you–no one else does that, and it is much appreciated by us deaf folks 🙂
stephaniemanley says
Thank you. I was getting some of them done. Many are, I will start it up again. Thanks!
Stephanie
nana303 says
I like the heat. I don’t see the reasoning for removing the tastiest part of the pepper.
stephaniemanley says
Well then you wouldn’t see why I would remove it at all ;). I personally think sometimes they can be too hot, so I feel it is ok to remove the inside.
Victoria Anne Egan says
do they lose the flavor at all if you make them, then put them in the freezer for a little?
stephaniemanley says
I haven’t done long term storage, so my answer would be no.
Carol says
I /made these tonight and they were awesome! This recipe is a keeper.Th
anks for sharing.
stephaniemanley says
I am glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe.
Brandon says
Looks great, we will try them today!
stephaniemanley says
I hope you enjoyed them.
John A Trumpower says
If you freeze them before frying them, how do you cook them from frozen?
stephaniemanley says
You simply deep fry them from their frozen state. They are done when they float.
kristiandior says
thanks. i cannot wait to try this..
Dixi says
My father plants banana peppers every year in his garden. We make hot mustard with them, but we have plenty in the cupboard now. I’m looking for something new to try with them. I’m gonna give your recipe a whirl and hope they turn out o.k. even though they are the banana and not jalapeno.
sarah says
the banana ones are hot to though right? So hopefully it will taste just as good.. just not sure what you can dip them in to cool them down.. sometimes we dip them in ranch dressing or just eat them the way they are… pizza hut used to have them they don’t anymore.. we loved those!
stephaniemanley says
Maybe they would be ok if you remove the seeds.
Dixi says
Oh My!!! I made the poppers the same day I found this recipe. The family flipped!!!!! My father took the extra ones to work and they were begging for the recipe. Dad was upset because he gave the rest of the peppers away just hours before I made these. 🙂 The only problem is, I made myself more work for next season.
To answer the question about the hotness. Banana peppers are milder than a Jalapeno. To balance the difference between the two peppers, I simply added some of the seeds to the cream cheese mixture. They were so delicious we didn’t need a dip. PERFECT!!!! Thank You so much for this recipe.
stephaniemanley says
So you had extra ones? 🙂
mootma says
These came out great! Follow the directions and don’t try to go too fast. If you fry too many at once it doesn’t work…duuhh
stephaniemanley says
Frying too many of one thing at once, always leads to failure. I am glad to hear these came out great for you.
Hélène Péloquin says
They are my fav! Thanks for the recipe.
stephaniemanley says
These are a favorite of mine too!
denise says
Can these be baked instead of frying from the freezer ? Having a large family get together and would love to make ahead of time.
Ashely says
Thank you for the jalapeño poppers they are so so good sike.????????????????????????☺️.
Stephanie says
I am glad you enjoy this.
Kim Beaulieu says
My son would totally dig these. He’s out on his own now and really enjoying cooking.