Ingredients
Scale
- 6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1/3 cup Panko breadcrumbs
- 8 ounces cream cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 10 jalapeño peppers, halved lengthwise and cored
Instructions
- Prep the oven and baking sheet. Preheat oven to 375°F. Mist a baking sheet with cooking spray or line with parchment.
- Cook the bacon and breadcrumbs. Fry the bacon in a large sauté pan over medium heat until crispy. Transfer the bacon to a paper-towel-lined plate and set aside. Leave about 1 tablespoon of bacon grease in the sauté pan, and drain off any excess. Add the Panko breadcrumbs to the pan and sauté in the bacon grease for about 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until lightly golden. Remove from heat and transfer the breadcrumbs to a separate bowl until ready to use. Finely chop the crispy bacon.
- Mix the filling. In a medium bowl, stir together cream cheese, cheddar cheese, cilantro, chives, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and most of the chopped bacon (you want to reserve about 2 tablespoons) until evenly combined. Transfer the filling mixture to a zip-top bag, seal, then use scissors to snip off a corner to make for easy piping.
- Fill the jalapeños. Spread the jalapeño halves out in an even layer on the baking sheet. Pipe the mixture into the jalapeños until they are all evenly filled, then top each with a sprinkle of Panko.
- Bake. Bake until the filling is melty and the jalapeños have slightly softened, about 15-20 minutes.
- Serve. Transfer the pan to a wire cooling rack. Top the jalapeños with a pinch of the reserved bacon bits plus some extra chives, if you’d like. Serve warm and enjoy!
Yum!!!! I’d have to eat mine sans bacon, but they sound awesome!
I remember seeing this on facebook or instagram about your pup eating all your bacon… how can you be mad at that adorable face? lol. Love the lighter version and I know Aggie will love this too!
Awe, you dog is so cute! It would be hard to get made at him!
Love the lighter poppers and they are perfect for a baby shower too! So fun and everybody would love them!
These are STUNNING! And even better that they’re light! Thanks for (another) great recipe :)
A perfect popper, love the “lighter” factor = more for me to indulge in!! ;)
Ali, these are perfect! I could pop a few for breakfast, mmmm!
I think you’ve created a jalapeno popper I would actually eat and ENJOY!! These look amazing!!!!! Love the perfect balance of healthy and delicious. Thank you so much for participating!!!
Wow! These look and sound so great. Love that you’ve lightened up the poppers. That’s one appetizer that I’ve never really gotten into because it was just too much (oily, creamy and spicy). This version is something I would definitely love.
These are so soo cute, Ali! Thank you so much!!
Absolutely gorgeous, Ali! My pepper plants are finally in their productive phase, so I will definitely be giving these a go in the next week or two.
Lovely photos. It’s fun being a part of this virtual baby shower with you!
I’m so in love with these Ali!! I crave poppers, but not the guilt that goes with them usually!
I have a 4 legged photo assistant too. ;) And these jalapeño poppers are happening ASAP. Beautiful photos Ali. You even make jalapeños gorgeous. Such a sweet baby shower!
Yum!! Yum!! These look fantastic! Love that you’ve lightened them up a bit!
These look delicious!!! Poppers are a huge hit in my house – have to try these!!!
I love jalapeno poppers, this lighter version is a fantastic idea!
Love these lighter poppers! (And your dog’s guilty face – hysterical!)
I am so excited that you made a lighter version!! These are one of my fav appetizers. YUM!
Yum–these look delicious! Even your dog couldn’t resist trying them!
Oh, girl, these are one of my favorite appetizers! Looks fabulous! Aggie would LOVE these!
These are awesome, Ali!
So exciting for Aggie! And these sound great!
Love how colorful these poppers are. And without the fried coating, you can see all the colors so much better!
Would it be wrong if I ate a dozen of these in one sitting? Great appetizer, Ali, and I’ll bet they would be a hit at any shower.
Great appetizer for any party…especially a shower:)
Finally a post today where I won’t feel guilty after eating a few. The pictures are great! I love your blog!
I love everything about these! Perfect for a baby shower too!
Oh man these look so good! A perfect spicy kick for Aggie’s Baby Shower!!
Oh wow, these look awesome! My hubby loves spicy food and this might be something we can both agree on.
These look delicious. I love that you lightened them up a little, too :)
One thing I missed about my garden this year is all the jalapeños!! These look amazing Ali! Thank you so much for being a part of my sweet surprise! xo
Ali, these poppers are PERFECTION! I always struggle with jalapeno popper photos but you have really captured the essence of this. Amazing. And I love the lightened-up version. That just means I’ll have twice as much as I would normally have!
OMG I had to laugh at your assistant!! I had that happen once, my 2 little ones don’t bother my food, but one time the german shepherd was in the house and I happen to be shooting on the kitchen floor, I steped into the other room to grab something and came back to a brownie missing off the styled try on the floor!! ……..had I been gone longer, she would have eaten all of them!
Love the poppers!! I might make them for a party next week!
Love love love the lightened up version. And our 4 legged assistance aways try to sneak in on our work!
Well, if I was your assistant, I’d be stealing, too. :) These look so good – love the crunchy topping!
Can the poppers be frozen before baking to be enjoyed later.
It All sounds Delightful!!! How does one get the recipes? I am going to make the poppers fo our sq. dance group, know they’ll love em, especially because they’re light. Thank you!,
I followed the recipe exactly and they were amazing. When I was making them my husband seemed indifferent to them, but said they were absolutely amazing and wished that I had made more. Thank you for making a lighter non deep fried version. These are actually better tasting than the typical jalapeno poppers that are deep fried.
I love Jalapeno Poppers, when I was introduced to them they were wrapped in Bacon, they were amazing. However, I am thrifty so I made mine using cream cheese, with a small strip of turkey bacon on top instead of wrapped. The next time they were with Shrimp laid on top, I used a toothpick to poke holes in the Jalapeno for the liquid to run out, YUM!
Tonight I found your recipe, who knew it was the light version? I have always done something similar yet not with bread crumbs, I have Panko, and Cornmeal crumbs with seasoning. What I did was stuff the cut peppers minus their seeds with the Cream Cheese, and slid a loaded pie plate into the oven. I also was cooking Barber’s Raw Stuffed Chicken Breasts, “Cordon Bleu”. They are on another glass pie plate. I had three extra poppers so placed those with the Chicken. After 20 minutes at 350 degrees I removed them to place slivers of Sharp Cheddar Cheese and the crumbs. On three of them I put Feta Cheese to see how I liked that. It is to be very cold tonight in Florida, so I am heating my little home to keep the Chill out by baking in the oven !
Glad I am not in New York, they are getting a record breaking Blizzard tonight! I bet they would love some Poppers! I smell them, have to check and make sure they are okay! Cheers!
Wow these Jalapeno Poppers looks simply wonderful! perfect idea.
Thanks Christina — we hope you enjoy them! :)