Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers are the ultimate party appetizer, featuring a cheesy, savory filling and wrapped in crispy bacon! These spicy, poppable bites are seriously irresistible, and made super easy in the oven!
More finger-licking appetizers right this way! Try my Classic Deviled Eggs, Air Fryer Chicken Wings, Spinach Artichoke Dip, and Slow Cooker Party Meatballs with just three ingredients.
Why This Recipe Works
Perfect for a Crowd: To make a party extra special, bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers are my go-to appetizer! Seriously, I don’t think I have met anyone who doesn’t like these! They are spicy, creamy, smoky and savory all at the same time, and they have a variety of textures that are so amazing together! So, to please a crowd, whether it be on game day, 4th of July, or any special occasion, this jalapeño popper recipe has got your back!
Baked not Fried: A lot of people steer clear of making jalapeño poppers at home since they are traditionally deep fried. My easy jalapeño popper recipe is baked, not fried, and they still turn out perfectly crispy and SO delicious. Plus, from start to finish this recipe only takes 45 minutes and you can double the recipe if you are serving a lot of people! Trust me, these will disappear quickly!
Ingredients
- Cream Cheese: I used light cream cheese, but you can use any plain cream cheese you prefer!
- Grated Cheese: Any kind of grated cheese will work here including cheddar, mozzarella, pepper jack or monterey jack cheese!
- Seasonings: Garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper will season up the cheese filling to spicy and savory perfection!
- Jalapeños: Fresh jalapeños will need to be cut in half and carefully hollowed out so that no seeds or white membrane remain. I recommend using gloves if you have them, since the oils from the seeds can stay on your hands! If you don’t have gloves, be careful to touch the inside of the jalapeño as little as possible and let your knife do the hard work.
- Bacon: Each jalapeño popper will get wrapped in a piece of bacon that will crisp up beautifully in the oven.
Here’s How to Make It
Step by Step Instructions
- Preheat & Prep: Preheat the oven to 400 F. Beat together the cream cheese, grated cheese, garlic powder, cayenne and a little salt and pepper, and set aside. (photos 1-2)
- Prepare Jalapeños: Halve each jalapeño down the middle and using the tip of a sharp knife, hollow out the seeds and the white membrane to create a little boat. (not pictured)
- Fill: Using a small spoon with a flat edge, fill the jalapeños with the cream cheese mixture until they all have relatively level tops. Depending on the size of your jalapeños, you may not need all the mixture, but don’t be tempted to overfill. (photo 3)
- Assemble: Halve each bacon slice and wrap a half slice around each jalapeño, securing the loose ends with a toothpick. (photo 4)
- Bake: Transfer the jalapeño poppers to a lined baking tray and spritz with cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes, before finishing under the broiler to crisp the bacon. (photo 5)
- Serve: Wait until the cheese filling has stopped bubbling before serving and enjoy! (photo 6)
Expert Tips
- Avoid thick-cut bacon! Don’t get me wrong, thick cut bacon is delicious. But you’ll want to use normal bacon here so that it has time to crisp up in the oven!
- Serve them with sauce! These bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers are amazing on their own, but they also great with a side of ranch!
- Adjust the spice! If you leave some seeds or membrane in the jalapeños, they tend to be more spicy. If you thoroughly take out all of the seeds and membrane, then they won’t be very spicy at all! You can also omit the cayenne pepper if you don’t want that extra spice!
- Keep the stem on for easy eating! When you slice the jalapeños in half, it is a good idea to keep the stem on so that they are easy to grab and hold onto while eating.
Frequently Asked Questions
Definitely! Since the preparation time is a bit long due to hollowing out the jalapeños, it could be advantageous to make these a day ahead of time. I would assemble the jalapeño poppers just until they are ready to be baked, but instead of baking them, store them in the fridge for up to one day prior to baking them and serving. You can also choose to freeze the jalapeño poppers once they are assembled, and bake directly from frozen instead. Just add about 10-15 minutes extra baking time to account for them being frozen!
To store, place in an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to 2 days. You can reheat them in the microwave prior to eating. The bacon will no longer be as crispy, but it will still be tasty!
More Appetizer Recipes to Try
- Jalapeño Popper Chicken Taquitos
- Crispy Baked Chicken Wings
- Cheddar Jalapeño Pretzel Bites
- Best Guacamole Recipe
- Taco Queso Dip
Did you try this recipe? FANTASTIC. Please rate the recipe below and be sure to tag me on social when you share a photo of your CDLC creation!
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers
Ingredients
- 6 oz light cream cheese
- 6 oz grated cheese
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- salt - to taste
- cracked black pepper - to taste
- 12 large jalapeños
- 12 bacon slices
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Beat together the cream cheese, grated cheese, garlic powder, cayenne and a little salt and pepper, and set aside.
- Halve each jalapeño down the middle and using the tip of a sharp knife, hollow out the seeds and the white membrane to create a little boat.
- Using a small spoon with a flat edge, fill the jalapeños with the cream cheese mixture until they have relatively level tops. Depending on the size of your jalapeños you may not need all the mixture, but don’t be tempted to overfill.
- Halve each bacon slice and wrap a half slice around each jalapeño, securing the loose ends with a toothpick.
- Transfer the jalapeño poppers to a lined baking tray and spritz with cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes, before finishing under the broiler to crisp the bacon.
- Wait until the cheese filling has stopped bubbling before serving.
This looks amazing, of course! And I love your creativity so keep doing what you’re doing.
Is it 2 teaspoons or 2 tablespoons of creole seasoning? You say teaspoon in list but directions have tablespoon
It is supposed to be teaspoon. I have now corrected that typo. So sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for bringing that to my attention!
These are soooo easy to make! I make them as a side dish for a weeknight dinner – that’s how easy it is! A few suggestions to make prepping slightly easier – because I’m all about shortcuts: instead of wrapping the bacon, just chop cooked bacon into the cream cheese filling and you’re done! And, when I say “cooked bacon” – I’m talking about Costco/Kirkland cooked bacon. BEST INVENTION ever! You get 45-55 PRE-COOKED slices that you literally can microwave in 1 minute flat. Or heat in a skillet for a couple minutes each side. NO MESS. And, it’s always in your fridge for use in other recipes that call for chopped bacon (spaghetti carbonara anyone?) It even freezes! And, until you open the actual package, it usually is good for almost 6 months in the fridge. And, last tip on the poppers: I do cut the stem off, because it makes de-seeding them way easier! Stem off, cut in half, and just run your paring knife up and down the rib of the seeds and voila – the seeds are even removed intact! Throw the seeds in your garden and get more jalapeños! This dish could take me maybe 10 minutes prep plus the 15 minutes to roast in the oven. BAM! But, I love your idea to wrap the bacon when doing appetizers for a party.