Jalapeño poppers come in all shapes and sizes and about 1000 different variations. These are wrapped in thick cut bacon and baked. These cheesy treats are great for any gathering.
Doing all of this baking and eating a good portion of it I went on keto a while back and ended up trying all kinds of popper recipes and came up with this one. I love making these since it only takes a few minutes and you are good to go. They are great for any gathering and work well with gochujang wings, teriyaki meatballs, and buffalo chicken sliders.
In this recipe
One of the best parts about this recipe is its simplicity. There are only 5 ingredients. This makes it a great last minute kind of recipe even if you have to run to the store quickly to get everything. To make it go even faster you can buy shredded cheese instead of doing it yourself. I prefer to shred mine in a food processor to avoid any additional non-caking additives.
Personally I like to forego using the standard cheddar cheese when making these and opt for Colby jack and pepper jack cheeses. I like the additional heat that comes with the pepper jack. These two cheeses have a unique flavor that I think goes well with the jalapenos and bacon. Well all know it is about the bacon.
Thick cut bacon is the way to go with this recipe. It is a bit harder to work with but you will get more of that wonderful flavor in each bite. In my personal experience although it is easier to use thinner bacon however there isn’t a lot of bacon in each bite. The trick is to stretch out the bacon a little before you wrap the jalapenos. This will make the slices a bit longer so they cover the entire pepper.
To get the most space out of the jalapeno it is important to remove the pith and seeds. Once cutting in half using a sharp knife make a v-shaped cut around pith (the white part at the top) to remove. If you like spicy jalapenos leave the ribs running down the sides in tact. That is where the glands that hold capsaicin in them are located.
The Best Bacon Jalapeño Poppers
Equipment
- Foil lined sheet pan
- Baking and cooling rack
- Food processor
Ingredients
- 9 jalapeño peppers halved, cored
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 oz pepper jack cheese shredded
- 4 oz Colby jack cheese shredded
- 1.75 lbs thick cut bacon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F or gas mark 6.
- In a food processor combine the Colby jack, pepper jack, and cream chesses together. Blend until combined.
- Using a spoon fill the cavities of the peppers. Then starting from the top of the pepper with the wider of the two ends of bacon wrap the bacon around the pepper and tuck in the ends.
- Place on the wire baking rack on the foil lined sheet pan and bake for 30 minutes or until the bacon is cooked.
