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.
Molly says
I was looking for this recipe and looked at yours because you had the video. I made these for my Tex Mex themed dinner and they were a Big hit. Delicious! Well done. Easy to make. Just what I was looking for. Thank you ?
Angie says
Made these tonight with garden fresh jalapenos and OH MY GOSH!!! They were perfect! Followed recipe to the t. Waited 30 min. between each set and they fried up great. Kudos to the creator of this wonderful recipe. Cheers!
Stephanie says
I am happy to hear you enjoyed the poppers!
Gina says
If I put bacon should I cut it up raw and add to the cream cheese
Greg ellison says
A great recipe I would not change a thing.????????????????
Gre ellison says
A wonderful recipie would not change a thing.????????????????
Ron says
It would be nice to include a dipping sauce with these. I tried these recently at a well-known restaurant chain and they had a nice “refreshing and cool” sauce that really played well with the heat of the peppers. I know they included avocado, and I use sour cream / natural yogurt with sriracha sauce for a quick and simple sauce.
Stephanie says
I like these served with a nice homemade ranch dip. I will see about getting a dip recipe for this dish.
Glenda says
How can I just use cheddar cheese instead of cream cheese not really fond of it in my poppers.
Stephanie says
I don’t think this will work well. It is possible, but the cream cheese really helps it melt a little nicer. Or you could try it with American cheese, not Velveeta, but American cheese you buy from the deli department in your grocery store.
Joe D says
Great recipie!
I used fresh jalapeño and I would definitely blanch mu peppers first to soften them up.
I used three times as much flour and twice as much bread crumbs as this recipie called for when I made mine.
I am so happy that I found this recipie! I love jalapeño poppers !!!
Kassie Cote says
How do i bake them
Stephanie says
I don’t think these would bake well. I personally would spray the heck out of them with a non stick spray and hope that would crisp up the batter enough.
Slonka says
I think I will attempt these for the family sometime this weekend. Looks like a great recipe. Thanks, Stephanie.
Michele Riccardi-Mees says
Absolutely the best!!…I used fresh jalapeños from my garden…wouldn’t change a thing on your recipe…blanching was not necessary at 350 degrees for 2 minutes…peppers were perfect.. ..waiting is the key after flouring and breading…I waited 30 minutes after each step..Thank You!!
Stephanie Manley says
If they are gigantic thick walled peppers, you may want to blanch them. Sometimes I get them, and it takes a while to cook them down. I am glad you enjoyed the peppers.
Dee says
Good recipe, but the peppers seemed a bit hard still. would definitely blanch the peppers first. Also used quite a bit more milk and breadcrumbs than it called for. I’ll be making these again.
Stephanie Manley says
Sometimes it depends on how large the jalapenos are. I have thought about doing that too when they are really large.
Dee says
We have been putting them in the toaster oven on broil for about 15 mins, then flip and cook another 7. They come out fully cooked, and one side is softer, so it doesn’t tear up the roof of my mouth. I’m making another batch today! Actually a double batch lol We freeze them and eat these a few times a week. Kudos! Love this recipe! And yes, mine are rather big peppers.. But we’re ok with them in the toaster, and staying away from all the fat when frying.
Stephanie Manley says
Great idea. I will have to give this a try sometime.
Stephanie Manley says
I really like this idea. I want to give this a try soon.
Rana says
You first dip them in flour and then the seasoned flour? Or is this a typo – is it milk then the seasoned flour?
Wendy Mitchler says
My bread coating didn’t stick at all.
Diane says
These were great! I’ll make again. Thank you!
Hanifa Vasta says
Can one make a filling with jelopeno ,3cheesses and some feta and wrap in a spring roll sheet.
Stephanie Manley says
I think you could do this in an egg roll wrapper and fry it 😉 But I am from Texas.
Sue Ballard says
I make a lot of egg rolls and poppers, I’m thinking that if you wrapped a popper in an egg roll skin it would brown the skin way before the pepper inside can cook. I’d like to know if this worked.
Sandy says
I am making these tonight. Thanks for the recipe!
Kelly Miller says
Made these tonight. We didn’t have breadcrumbs, so instead, we threes bag of turkey stuffing in the food processor. Turkey only because it’s what we had 🙂 all I can say is wow! Next batch will include Franks red hot sauce in with the cheeses and more seeds!!
stephaniemanley says
Oh I bet this had a very nice flavor! Great substitution on your part.
Staci says
Thank you so much. Made these tonight and my husband loved them. They were delicious!!!!!
alana says
Made these. They were great, however it was difficult to keep the breading from falling off while deep frying. We put half in the freezer. Perhaps those will work better since the breading will be frozen to the pepper before frying.
stephaniemanley says
I generally don’t have this problem. I might suggest that you really wait a bit in between coating and the frying. It is really critical you do this.
Rana says
You first do them in flour and then the seasoned flour? Or is this a typo – is it milk then the seasoned flour?
Sandy Flowers Stephens says
YUM!! I have been over run with Jalapenos at my house!! I have made jalapeno jelly, candied jalapenos and used them in my homemade Salsa that I canned… This sounds like another good way to use my peppers!! Thanks, can’t wait to try these!!!
Danielle says
Could I just hollow the peppers out or do they need to be cut in half? Also do you need to use a second cheese or can it be just cream cheese?
stephaniemanley says
You could do it that way. I have seen them more often done like I split them as pictured in this recipe.
You can also prepare the recipe anyway you like. You could use only 1 type of cheese, but I wrote the recipe using a couple of types of cheese because I thought that they tasted better this way.