Jalapeno Poppers are my obsession! Fresh Jalapenos are sliced in half and filled with a rich creamy cheese filling and topped with a crisp Panko topping. These poppers are baked until golden and bubbly for the perfect game day snack!
This easy Jalapeno Popper recipe makes the perfect bite; crispy, creamy, spicy, cheesy… and quite honestly the best appetizer ever!
Jalapeno Popper Dip is not only my daughter’s favorite recipe of all time, it’s the one recipe I’m asked to bring to every single gathering. I love jalapenos in any way, shape or form! Making homemade poppers is super easy and tastes way better than frozen store bought or restaurant!
How to Cut a Jalapeno
You guys, whatever you do, please please please don’t cut these without wearing gloves (and don’t touch your face). The oils in the peppers can cause burns on your hands, I speak from experience, it’s VERY painful.
The spice in jalapeños is found in the seeds and inner membranes. To reduce the heat in this recipe, clean out all of the (light colored) inner membrane and seeds. If you like lots of heat, leave a little bit of membrane.
When I cut the jalapeños for poppers, I cut them lengthwise and try to keep the stem intact on both halves (mainly for appearance).
To cut jalapenos to make jalapeno poppers:
- Put on gloves!!
- Slice jalapenos in half lengthwise.
- Using a small spoon, scoop out seeds and membranes and discard.
How to Make Jalapeno Poppers
Jalapeno Poppers have a few essentials; the jalapeno itself, a creamy filling and breading.
- Jalapenos: Obviously!! We use fresh and slice them in half (as mentioned above). If you have people in your group who cannot tolerate any spice (like my husband) you can also make these using baby bell peppers which don’t have heat! Make some of each!
- Cheesy Filling: Cream cheese is the base and I add in a sharp cheddar as it has more flavor. I also add a dash of garlic powder and some chives which you can add or skip. I find green onions have a bit too much onion flavor so chives add just the right amount (or add a pinch of onion powder if you’d like). You can also add crisp cooked bacon, cilantro or your own favorites!
- Crispy Breading: A traditional deep fried popper has a breaded coating. When making baked poppers, I find it’s not worth the time/effort to try to coat the whole jalapeno in crumbs. Instead, I make a simple Panko topping to sprinkle on top for the perfect crunch! If you’d like to make keto Jalapeno Poppers, simply skip the bread crumbs for your low carb friends!
- Optional: There are lots of amazing things you can add to jalapeno poppers! If you’d like skip the bread crumbs and wrap them in bacon to make Bacon Wrapped Poppers! Add your favorites; onions, monterey jack cheese, ground beef or sausage. The sky really is the limit!
At a restaurant, they’re usually coated in breadcrumbs and deep fried and while I love them, I truly do not love deep frying. I dislike the smell and the mess and to be honest, I these baked jalapeno poppers taste even better than the fried ones.
How Long to Bake Jalapeno Poppers
I bake these poppers about 20 minutes, enough to soften the peppers and melt the cheese. You don’t want them too soft or they’re hard to pick up and eat!
Once baked, serve these alongside some cool ranch or blue cheese dressing.
Jalapeno Poppers can be made a couple of days in advance or even prepared well ahead of time and frozen. Cook right from frozen about 25-30 minutes at 425°F.
More Jalapeno Recipes You’ll Love
- Bacon Jalapeño Cheese Ball Recipe
- Jalapeno Popper Crescent Cups
- Mini Jalapeno Popper Egg Rolls
- Bacon Wrapped Poppers
- Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Jalapeno Poppers
Ingredients
- 12 jalapeños
- 6 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
- ¼ cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Wearing gloves, slice the jalapenos in half lengthwise. Using a small spoon, scoop out the seeds and membranes.
- In a bowl mix cream cheese, garlic powder, cheddar cheese and chives (if using).
- In a separate bowl, combine Panko crumbs and melted butter.
- Fill jalapenos with the cheese mixture. Top with crumbs.
- Place on a baking pan and bake 18-22 minutes or until golden.
- Cool 5-10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Appetizer
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I love this recipe.. I hate fried foods this is a very tasty way to make them..Thank you I Just Love it and so do my friends..Great Job
You’re welcome!
My boys rave about these.
These are fabulous. Hubs and I love making them for our date nights at home. However, now every time I use my oven, it smells like jalapeños any ideas on how to get rid of the smell? It has been cleaned.
So happy to hear you love this recipe, V! To help get rid of the smell I would place a bowl of vinegar and water in the stove and let it come to a boil. As it evaporates it should remove the odors. Hope that helps!
Best poppers I have ever made. Easy, easy, easy. I made them for a family reunion. One of the couples came a bit late. He picked up all the ones that were left. With his mouth full of these poppersI heard him tell his wife they were so excellent he took the last 5!! I added the “Real” bacon bits…I’m sure that’s what took it over the edge! YUMMY !!!
Love it, Nancy! Glad they were a hit!
By appearance, these were more of Jalapeño Floppers My peppers were small, but how do you get them to keep the U shape??? Mine were flat by the time they were done baking. Maybe chill before baking? Regardless, they were DELICIOUS.
So glad you enjoyed them, Sarah! I have never had that issue so it may be because your jalapenos were so small, they didn’t have the structure to hold up while baking. You could also try this bacon-wrapped jalapeno popper recipe, the bacon holds everything in shape and they are sooo good!
Planning on making these for a party. I read that you said you can make them ahead of time. Can I make them the night before and put them in the fridge? Thanks!
Hi Megan, that should work well! Enjoy :)
Have made them often, don’t see oven temp in this recipe, only air fryer. These look so very much tastier.
Hi Lola, we bake these for 18-22 minutes in the oven at 400°F.
Could this be done in an air fryer?
Hi Lilly, these should work well in the air fryer. Cook them at 400°F still but I would check them after 8-10 minutes to see the cheese has melted and the jalapenos are tender-crisp.
Ah, wish I’d read the comments before making these last night! I definitely overcooked mine, leaving them in for the full 18 minutes in a convection oven. Should have checked them sooner. Still tasted good, but the peppers were very, very soft. I used four jalapenos & four salsa peppers as that’s what was available in the garden. I had some of the cheese mixture leftover, which I plan to eat on crackers. Next time I make these I’ll reduce the cook time, and add a little seasoning to the crumbs.
These are delicious!!!
I don’t normally leave reviews but these were sooooo good!! Your recipe is perfect. Only thing I did was add some cilantro to the cream cheese mixture and doubled the Panko mix. Really delcious and defintely a go to!!
Can you freeze these???
I think they should be okay frozen and reheated. Just seal them in an airtight container or freezer bag and reheat them in the oven. They may be a little softer in texture though. You could also freeze the cheese mixture and use fresh jalapenos and breadcrumbs when rebaking for a crunchier texture.
I wouldn’t just because I’ve experienced my jalapeños freezing in my refrigerator before and they got all gross and puffed with water and I tried using them still and it was disgusting
I’ve frozen them after baking and they reheat well. Usually I make a ton at once, allow to cool, freeze on a sheet pan then transfer individually frozen to a baggie. I’ve also found the key to reheating is to place them in a hot oven. Every time I try to skip the fully pre-heated oven step, the cheese oozes out.
Kind of a mess, cheese spilled out from all of them…maybe I should have used less filling or bigger jalapeños. But still delicious!!! Thank you for the recipe.
My friend loves jalapeño poppers but I never made them before. I found your recipe easy to follow. I had some friends over for happy hour and offered them my poppers. They were well received. My friend thought they were great. He has a birthday in June and a promised to make him some for his birthday. I’m enjoying your “spend with pennies” daily recipes. Thank you
You’re so welcome Jackie! How wonderful to hear how much everyone loves the poppers!
Looks like a good recipe. My only question is, after mixing the panko with the butter, what’s the best way to top the peppers with the mix? Won’t the mixture be somewhat gooey? Thanks and I’m looking forward to trying the recipe.
The mixture is not gooey at all, it is crumbly. You can turn over the poppers and press into the cheese and it will stick, or sprinkle on top. Enjoy John!
I just dipped my poppers face down into the bowl and it stuck right to it :)
That looks good jalapeno popper
I will make some
This recipe is great!
I added a bit of parmesan to the crumbs and a tbs of butter and mixed. Then topped the poppers. The butter added a perfect touch to the breadcrumbs. It made them crisp up a bit more.
WHOA!! I brought these to a superbowl party and these were the HIT!! I don’t usually even like jalapeno poppers, I just make them for my husband. This recipe doesn’t need any fixing. I’m making them again tonight for must my hubby and I and now the only problem is to trying to figure out how to make a meal out of them. LOL. Thank you. I will always bring this to parties now!!
You’re very welcome Jennifer!
Delicious recipe. I made this for the super bowl and it was a huge hit. I will be making this again soon.
Super weak. Strangely they didn’t taste like anything. They weren’t spicy, they were barely savory, and they somehow weren’t even that cheesy? I even added some black pepper to the breaded top and mixed some seeds in the filling and it was still just like eating warm cream cheese. Add plenty salt and paprika to this recipe is my recommendation.
Sorry to hear that you didn’t enjoy these jalapeno poppers as much as we do Robbie. Thanks for trying them.
Love these! Only had 3 jalapenos so made 1/4 recipe. (More cheddar though) Soooo good!
I had one giant jalapeño and cut the recipe down to a 1/4 ..worked perfectly!
Love your recipes
❤️