Breaded Bacon Cheddar Jalapeno Poppers Recipe

I didn’t do spicy food growing up. Not really because I just didn’t like it – we just didn’t do spicy at my house. I mean, mild salsa was about the top of where we ventured on the heat spectrum.

Luckily, after a little traveling amongst the folks of Central America when I flew the coop, that changed drastically. And it’s a good thing. Because my husband does do spicy – and when I say spicy, I mean, SPICY! I mean, I can usually hold my own, but not against Ben. He kind of owns me. Luckily, we can find a happy medium with these jalapeno pepper poppers (now wasn’t that just fun to say?). Jalapenos, although they have a kick, are not really that high on the spicy scale. And if you are really not feeling it, if you are very thorough in removing the white membrane inside each pepper, it virtually takes away all of the spice (but just a warning – you can still get surprised at times).

These poppers are a definite fav, especially among Ben’s man friends. I mean, as I always say, anything that has bacon is just a winner. Originally, we just halved the jalapenos, filled them with a little cream cheese, wrapped a piece of bacon around each one, and cooked at 425 F for about 25 minutes. That is a great and easy way to get the job done. But, over time we changed things up with this recipe to create a truly yummy “man” food that keeps the greasy bacony mess to a minimum and still keeps everyone coming back for more.

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Bacon Cheddar Jalapeno Poppers

Course Appetizer

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes

Total Time 45 minutes

Author Ben and Christina Lakey

Ingredients

• 8 jalapeno peppers
• 6-8 pieces bacon or 4-6 slices if thick cut style
• 8 ounces cream cheese 1 package, softened
• 1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese
• bread crumbs or panko

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut your jalapenos lengthwise, removing the stem. Remove the core with the seeds. To keep it spicy, leave the white membrane in tact (the majority of heat is in the membrane and seeds). Lay out on a flat rimmed baking sheet.
3. Over medium-low heat, cook the bacon until crispy. Remove from pan, blot excess grease, and let cool. When bacon is cool enough, crumble into small pieces.
4. In a mixing bowl, combine the bacon, softened cream cheese, and cheddar cheese and stir together until well-combined.
5. Spoon cream cheese mixture into peppers. It's okay if it heaps over the top a little.
6. Take each popper and dip the top into your bread crumbs or panko to coat.
7. Cook in oven for 20-25 minutes or until tops are golden brown and peppers are softened.