Jalapeño Popper Dip is creamy, cheesy, spicy and totally addicting! It’s the perfect party appetizer to pair with chips, crackers, veggies and crusty bread!
Looking for more party dips and game day eats? Try my Air Fryer Chicken Wings, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Slow Cooker Party Meatballs, and Cheddar Jalapeno Pretzel Bites.
Why This Recipe Works
Game Day Perfection: This jalapeño popper dip recipe takes everything you love about jalapeño poppers without all the fuss of assembling each and every one. It has all of the cheeses your heart could desire along with spicy jalapeño pieces and crispy panko breadcrumbs for loads of flavor! This appetizer dip is perfect for game day or summertime BBQs.
Serve with Anything: Seriously, you can dip just about anything in this dip! From tortilla chips to Fritos, crackers to crusty bread, to fresh veggies like carrots, cucumbers, bell peppers and celery! It is a super versatile dip that is so delicious and perfect for all those dunkable snacks.
Simple to Make: You can whip up an amazing dip like this in just over 30 minutes and in less than 5 steps! Simply prep your jalapeños, mix all of the ingredients together, top with breadcrumbs and bake. The rest of the work is deciding which snacks you want to dip into this delicious creation!
Ingredients
- Cheeses: Jalapeño popper dip is all about the cheese. This recipe has a combination of grated cheddar cheese, cream cheese and parmesan cheese for maximum cheesy goodness!
- Sour Cream & Mayo: A mixture of sour cream and mayo make this dip creamy and smooth. You can use light mayonnaise if preferred!
- Jalapeños: I use a combination of jarred jalapeños and fresh jalapeños in this dip recipe. They both have distinct flavors and varying levels of spice!
- Spices: Garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt are used to season up this dip to perfection!
- Panko Breadcrumbs & Butter: The panko breadcrumbs and melted butter create a crispy layer on top! No need to measure perfectly!
- Green Onions: Sliced green onions on top add flavor and texture!
Here’s How to Make It
Step by Step Instructions
- Preheat: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. (not pictured)
- Mix Ingredients: In a large bowl, beat together the cheddar cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, jarred jalapeños, fresh jalapeños, mayonnaise, parmesan, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and salt until smooth. (photos 1-2)
- Bake: Transfer to a baking dish and sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top. Drizzle over the butter and bake for 20 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden and the dip is bubbling. (photos 3-5)
- Serve & Enjoy: Leave to stand for 10 minutes before sprinkling over the green onions and serving. Enjoy! (photo 6)
Expert Tips
- Use gloves when handling jalapeños! It is best to use gloves while handling and de-seeding fresh jalapeños, since the residue can stay on your hands even after washing and drying!
- Make sure cream cheese is room temperature! In order for this to be a cohesive mixture without clumps of cream cheese, it needs to be at room temperature.
- Change the heat level! You can adjust this recipe depending on how spicy or mild you want it to be. It isn’t super spicy to begin with, but does have a bit of a kick. Decrease the amount of fresh jalapeño you put into the dip and make sure to get rid of all the seeds if you are sensitive to spice!
- Top it off with bacon! My jalapeño popper dip recipe doesn’t include bacon, but I know that some crunchy cooked bacon would be a yummy addition on top if you want it!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can make the mixture and place it in a baking dish covered with plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days. When you are ready to serve, top it off with the panko breadcrumbs and melted butter and bake as instructed.
To store leftover jalapeño popper dip, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave or in the oven.
More Appetizer Recipes to Try
- Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
- Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Blue Cheese Stuffed Buffalo Chicken Meatballs
- Cheddar Bacon Jalapeño Cheeseball
- Southwest Loaded Potato Skins
Jalapeño Popper Dip
Ingredients
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup cream cheese - at room temperature
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup jarred jalapeños - roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 jalapeños
- 1/4-1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp melted butter
- sliced green onions - to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- In a large bowl, beat together the cheddar cheese, cream cheese, sour cream, jarred jalapeños, fresh jalapeños, mayonnaise, parmesan, garlic powder, cayenne pepper and salt until smooth.
- Transfer to a baking dish and sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top. Drizzle over the butter and bake for 20 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden and the dip is bubbling.
- Leave to stand for 10 minutes before sprinkling over the green onions and serving.
Tried it, it WAS easy. it WAS delicious, and now I have to make more! Thanks for a great recipe, just printed out the Slow Cooker Broccoli Beef to try next!
I added my own twist to this and started putting noodles in it. It goes from soup to like a jalapeño mac and cheese that is super easy to get even my two year old to eat!
This is sooooo good. Can’t wait to make it again tonight.
It was the first meal I made in our new home, so it will always be special to me. Thanks for sharing!
Aw congrats on your new home Nicole!! So glad you enjoyed this recipe and that it was part of a special event in your life!!
So my wife and I gave this a try tonight. When we added the jalapeno juice to the milk and roux, the milk immediately curdled. Did we not cook it long enough? Would we have better luck with fattier milk (we only keep 2% on hand)?
Would love to be successful with this soup, so any guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Hi Kevir, I think two things might have had something to do with the milk curdling. I do think a fuller fat milk would be less likely to curdle in general, however I usually make this soup with fat free half & half and I’ve never had an issue with curdling! Also, was your jalapeño juice cold or room temperature? If it was cold you might want to try adding it at room temperature (or a little bit warm even) and that might help!
Just made this after getting home from work. 30 minutes later…. bomb soup!!!!!
Can’t go wrong with a quick soup after work! So glad you liked this!