Knock Your Socks Off Jalapeño Poppers
Jalapeño Poppers are a go to appetizer recipes. The combination of salty crispy bacon, creamy cream cheese, and spicy jalapeño makes the perfect bite. We have perfected that bite even more with these Knock Your Socks Off Jalapeño Poppers.
Date Night
Occasionally my husband and I will get a much needed date night. Mawmaw and Poppie come grab up the kids and then my husband and I try to figure out how to function without kids for a while.
The first inevitable question that is asked is always, what are we going to make for dinner. While our kids are great eaters overall and will eat nearly everything, they do not like spicy foods quite yet. So when the kiddos are away, my husband and I take the opportunity to really scald our mouths with some spicy fare.
In our most recent date night (really more of a date day/night) we went over the top with appetizers and a delicious (very indulgent) Reuben Potato Hash. But before we started in on that hash we had to have some appetizers to tide us over. Enter stage left, Jalapeño Poppers.
Our Garden
If you have followed me for any time at all, you know that we had a pretty prolific garden this year. With the exception of our cucumbers, everything loved the soil we placed them in. One of the most startling performers this year has been our peppers.
We consume a lot of peppers throughout the year. Jalapeños making up about ninety percent of the pepper consumption in this house. The rest is a split between habaneros and sweet bell. So when our pepper plants took off this year giving us a plethora of our favs we were finding ourselves coming up with some new ideas for preserving and use.
While we have so many jalapeños what better time to really take advantage and make some Knock Your Socks Off Jalapeño Poppers?!
The Components of a Great Popper
Jalapeno poppers coming in all kids. Some have chicken, venison, or beef filling them while others are sans bacon (sacrilege in my opinion). These are a simple version that tout a dressed up cream cheese mixture, bacon, and you guessed it, jalapeños.
Prepping the Jalapeños
We really prefer that our poppers pack a punch. Hence the “knock your socks off” part of the recipe name. So we leave some of the seeds in the jalapeños.
To start, wash the jalapeños. Remove the cap and slice the jalapeños in half lengthwise. You will want to use a small paring knife to remove the membrane inside. If you want a less spicy version make sure you grab all the seeds.
The seeds contain capsaicin which is responsible for the heat that is delivered from these poppers. We keep a majority of the seeds still in tact because we like a lot of kick, but feel free to adjust the heat level to your liking.
The Cream Cheese Filling
The cream cheese filling is one of my favorite parts of the popper. We combine cream cheese along with shredded cheddar, garlic, and some more of those spicy seeds for a deliciously creamy and spicy kick.
Once the filling is well mixed, it is evenly divided amongst the peppers.
Finishing with Bacon
A lot of recipes that we have seen have raw bacon wrapped around the stuffed jalapeños. I have found that doing that lends to an underdone bacon on the inside and a mushy jalapeño. Neither in my book are delicious.
For this recipe, we render the bacon strips down slightly so they are still flexible, but not completely raw. How long you do this will be dependent on the fat content in your bacon. Leaner bacon (if there is such a thing) will require less time in the skillet prior to wrapping than a fattier piece of bacon.
Once the bacon is rendered, but still pliable, move it to a paper towel lined pan to cool slightly. Once cool enough to handle, wrap each popper with the bacon and secure with a toothpick. Typically I do not use a whole strip of bacon for each popper. I use a half strip, end to end and secured. However, you can use one whole strip if you would like. I like the bacon to be fully crunchy and I can get that with a half strip. Using one whole strip for each popper leave a bit of chewier bacon under the crispy outside. If that is your thing, go for it!
Grill ‘em Up.
Once wrapped and secured, the poppers are ready for the grill. Make sure your grill is hot, sitting around 400 to 450 so the bacon doesn’t stick. Grill for around five to seven minutes until the bacon is crispy and the jalapeños start to soften. We like for our jalapeños to still have a little bite to them, hence why we precook the bacon. If you want a softer pepper, precooked your bacon a little less and increase grill time by five minutes.
Serve Up Some Knock Your Socks Off Jalapeño Poppers
This recipe is more method than measurement. You can make a couple to share with you and your significant other, or you can load up the grill for a full fledge party appetizer. They make a great addition to any snack day! However you serve them, you may want to have an extra gallon of milk in the fridge for the weak of heart!
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Knock Your Socks Off Jalapeno Poppers
Ingredients
- 4 Jalapeños
- 3 oz Cream Cheese softened
- ¼ cup Colby Jack Cheese shredded
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 8 Strips bacon
Instructions
- In a pan begin to render down the bacon. DO NOT cook fully- render until flexible and becoming opaque. Set aside to cool slightly
- Slice the jalapeños lengthwise and clean out membrane leaving majority of seeds intact (for milder remove seeds). set aside.
- In small bowl, combine cream cheese, garlic powder, and cheese as well as any remaining seeds that are on the cutting board.
- Fill jalapeños and wrap with bacon, securing with a toothpick
- Grill for 10 to 15 minutes on 400 until bacon is cooked through and crispy
4 Comments
Mind Beauty Simplicity
this sounds delicious! thanks for sharing!
Vourneen
Wow these look so lovely! If only I could eat jalepenos, but my stomach has decided not to like them haha. What a lovely idea to do on date night 🙂
Heidi | The Frugal Girls
The bacon and lovely cream cheese filling you’ve created compliment the peppers so perfectly. With just 5 ingredients and 20 minutes required… this really is a must try party appetizer!
Molly | Transatlantic Notes
Oh, my goodness these sound AMAZING! Thanks for this recipe; it’s nice an easy to follow!