My favorite jalapeño poppers recipe needs just 5 ingredients and turns out extra delicious thanks to the crispy bacon wrapping. They’re creamy, smoky, and guaranteed to fly off the plate.
These easy bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers are shockingly good. I’ll take a few of these over the store-bought fried kind any day! Thin-cut bacon is the secret. The bacon fat melts into the cream cheese filling and over the peppers as they bake, making them unbelievably flavorful.
If you love stuffed peppers (and of course you do!), check out our sweet pepper poppers stuffed with cream cheese and bacon. Or make these into a dip with our jalapeño popper dip recipe.
Key Ingredients
- Jalapeños: I look for firm, small to medium jalapeños with smooth skin. When choosing peppers for stuffing, pick ones with enough space inside to hold the filling. Also, jalapeños do vary in spice level, so you may want to taste one from your batch to see where they land.
- Cream Cheese, Green Onion, and Garlic: My jalapeño popper filling is super simple. I mix softened cream cheese with sliced green onion and a little grated garlic. The combination of this creamy filling and the rendered bacon fat that drips over the peppers makes every bite seriously delicious.
- Bacon: I’m usually a thick-cut bacon kind of girl, but for bacon-wrapped poppers, I always choose thin-cut bacon. It cooks faster and crisps up perfectly in the same time it takes the peppers to soften. If you only have thick-cut bacon, try partially cooking it first before wrapping, just like I do in my bacon-wrapped shrimp.
Find the full recipe with measurements below.
How to Make the Best Jalapeño Poppers
Tip 1: Prep the jalapeños. Halve each jalapeño from stem to tip, then use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and white membrane. These parts hold most of the heat, so remove them completely for mild poppers. For a spicier version, leave the membrane but remove the seeds. Consider wearing food-safe gloves when handling multiple peppers since the oils can easily irritate your skin.
Tip 2: Make the simple filling. My easy jalapeño popper filling is just softened cream cheese mixed with sliced green onions and grated garlic. Spoon the filling into each jalapeño half until nicely filled but not overflowing.
Tip 3: Wrap with bacon (thin-cut works best). Wrap each filled pepper with a strip of bacon. Thin-cut bacon crisps up beautifully in the oven or on the grill. If you have thick-cut bacon, consider par-baking it before wrapping the peppers so that it turns out nice and crispy for serving (here’s how to cook bacon in the oven to help you out). If your peppers are small, slice the bacon strips in half before wrapping.
Tip 4: Bake or grill them. I usually bake my poppers, but you can definitely grill them instead. Both methods give you creamy filling, tender peppers, and perfectly crisp bacon. I’ve shared instructions for both in the recipe below.
Our Favorite Variations
I love these with my simple cream cheese filling, but you can easily change things up. Add sautéed onion or crispy fried shallots for some sweetness, or mix in a melty cheese like cheddar or Monterey Jack. For more protein, stir in crumbled cooked sausage or shredded chicken. And for an extra spicy kick, add a few dashes of hot sauce or mix in a little buffalo sauce.
Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers
- PREP
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- TOTAL
When I need a slam dunk appetizer, I make this super easy jalapeño poppers recipe! Every time I make them, they fly off the plate. I highly recommend making a double batch!
Watch Us Make the Recipe
You Will Need
6 jalapeño peppers, see tips for larger peppers
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion, white and light green parts
1 small garlic clove, finely grated or minced
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
12 slices thin-cut bacon, see tips
12 wooden toothpicks, soaked, soaked in water for 30 minutes
Directions
1Prep: Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
2Prepare peppers: Slice each pepper in half, lengthwise. Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and white membrane. (The seeds and white membrane are what make peppers spicy.)
3Make filling: Stir the cream cheese, green onion, garlic together, ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper together. Fill the pepper halves with the cream cheese mixture. If you have any leftovers, place it in an airtight container and use it for bagels or sandwiches.
4Wrap with bacon: Wrap one piece of bacon around a filled pepper half. If the bacon is so long that you need to double wrap it, slice it so that it will wrap around the pepper once. Then, secure the bacon with a toothpick. Watch our video for reference.
5Bake: Arrange the peppers, filling side facing up, onto the baking sheet. Bake until the bacon is crispy, and the peppers are tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Grilled jalapeño poppers: Heat your grill to medium-high heat. Place a grill basket or aluminum foil on the grill. This prevents the poppers from falling through the grates. Arrange the peppers, filling side facing up, in the basket or on foil. Grill until the bacon is crispy and the peppers are tender, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Pepper size: Jalapeño peppers vary considerably (see our video for proof). The filling shared above should be enough even if your peppers are on the larger size. You want enough bacon to wrap around each pepper half once (don’t double wrap, as it won’t crisp as well). If your peppers are small, you may want to cut each slice of bacon in half.
- Soaking toothpicks: Soaking them in warm water for 30 minutes to an hour before baking or grilling prevents them from burning in the oven or on the grill).
- Make ahead: Stuff and wrap jalapeño poppers up to 1 day in advance. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to bake.
- The nutrition facts provided below are estimates.
I love these Poppers. I use to buy a similar type at Sam’s club and paid a fortune. This recipe is over the top. I’ve made them several times and it is one of my favorites. So easy to make and tastes so good.
I made these with Morning Star meatless bacon, making them with zero grease & vegetarian. And as a middle aged woman with ulcers & IBS, my stomach thanked me! + I absolutely hate greasy meat & always have even as a child. I also learned how to Blanche the jalapeños to remove half the heat: the dropping them in rapidly boiling water for 2 mins worked much better than dumping them in ice water for 5 to 10 mins. It made them much softer & less tough as well. Unless you like full jalapeño heat & a very crunchy popper/oh’derve. Just thought I’d share how to enjoy them if you have belly pain.
These were delicious! I used turkey bacon, people didn’t know the difference. I had extra cream cheese mix and put it on pablamo peppers. Yum!
I love this recipe and your easy explanation! Thank you!
Thank you. Super simple and delicious. My kind of recipe.
Love those jalapeno recipes!
Great stuff! Like it!
Great stuff! Like it!
I put the cream cheese in a sandwitch bag to fill the popper’s/ cut corner off bag’ just squeeze into popper’s.
Only change I made was adding equal parts shredded cheddar cheese to the chives and slightly increasing the recipe for 10 jalapenos. Went to a potluck party with them. Heard “Who made these jalapeno poppers” several times follow by “They are amazing”. Did not go home with any.
fab recipe! really easy and quick.
I love how simple this recipe is made with only chopped chives and bacon. I made 3 dozen for a get together ahead of time and kept refrigerated until just before serving. Everyone loved them and they disappeared quickly! A big 5 stars!!!
Great tip on the baggie never thought of it
I used the mixture that I make for Stuffed mushrooms. i took cream cheese, bacon bits (instead of putting a slice of bacon on top), and minced fresh garlic. I did blanch them to make it cook quicker. I also sprinkled a little bread crumbs on top to give the breaded taste.
Made them today and the family LOVED THEM!!!
These are great – took them to a Halloween party and everyone loved them. Per suggestions, I added cheddar to the mix. I also added a sliver of Carne Asada from the Mexican market. I also did not wrap the bacon, mostly because I got lazy and did not wear gloves while cutting the jalapenos and my hands were on fire. I filled each with the cheese mix and then just put a piece of Carne Asada and piece of bacon on top of it. Really great – thank you for the recipe.
Thank you for that simple but oh so effective suggestion of the ziplock bag! I found these a bit fiddly and time consuming to prepare the first time around. Will also just lay the bacon on top the next time … wrapping it was also a bit fiddly.
Great tip, Lisa! Thanks for sharing.
Add browned ground sausage to the cream cheese and its so much better!
Great idea!
If the pepper is too spicy, put some sugar can decrease the spicy taste and add some cool burnt taste.
Oh yeah, one more thing: For best results, place the peppers on a shallow raised rack inside the baking pan as shown above (though not required). You can fit more peppers in the same space that way, and all the bacon grease drips down into the foil-covered pan for less (icky) grease, and super-quick clean-up.
Great tip!
There are no words adequate to describe the veritable symphony of rapture and decadence that these little pieces of creamy bacon heaven (or hot-as-hell)-filled jewels will unleash upon your taste buds. Seriously, these pepper-poppers are simply exquisite. And don’t be afraid to experiment…be creative! I usually start with 5 full-size jalapeno, and 5 full-size banana peppers (for a total of 20 halves). To the softened cream cheese, I add additional chopped chives (more than double called for here)…a dose of garlic powder…a dash of steak seasoning, some Italian seasoning (dry herb mix), and a heapin’-helpin’ of either shredded sharp cheddar or shredded gouda cheese. *Oh my! * Next, I cut an entire 12oz pkg of bacon in half (to create the mini half-slices)…and instead of wrapping each and running the toothpick all the way through, I just drape a (half) slice of bacon down the length of, and over each and every pepper (covering the cheese filling). I then insert a single toothpick either straight up, or at an angle in the top of each (through the bacon, cheese, and just into the bottom of the pepper) and you’re good to go. (Doing this instead of wrapping each cuts your prep time down dramatically, and adds bacon to every single succulent mm of pepper instead of just wrapped around the middle.) Furthermore, I’ve found that making a batch this way (20 mixed halves) takes EXACTLY ONE regular 8oz block of cream cheese to start. * When you’re done, Pop ‘em in the oven at 375 for about 25-30 minutes as stated above. Believe me, you’re going to win some SERIOUS brownie points with your dinner mates or party guests. And If, by chance, you’re preparing these to impress a first date or special someone…’Fogetaboutit!!, you know what I’m sayin’?!! =)
These sound amazing!! I was wondering if I can premake these the night before. I have a Mexican themed potluck lunch at work this Friday, and as you can imagine I don’t have an oven/conventional oven to make right before serving. any suggestions? Will they taste terrible if I refrigerate over night and then keep them at room temperature until lunch time the next day? Please help.
Hi Pamela, Yes you can definitely pre-make these. You can even freeze them. We do prefer them served warm (because of the bacon), but they do still taste great at room temperature.
I’ve been making a version of these for 4 or 5 years now to take to my annual Christmas staff party. People get upset when I suggest I might bring something different instead! This year I changed it up a bit. First I quartered the peppers, so after cutting them in half lengthwise, I cut each half in two, giving four smaller sections per pepper. This achieves 2 things – first, a better bacon to pepper ratio. I still use half a slice of bacon per quarter pepper. Secondly, it truly makes them ‘poppers’ as you can pop the whole thing in your mouth. Everybody really enjoyed this. The other thing I did was brush them with a sweet chile sauce before baking, adding a bit of sweetness to them. Also a hit with mostly everybody. However you choose to make these easy, delicious treats, they are sure to be a hit at your party!
Have made these MANY times and find that allowing them to cool in the freezer for about 30min or so allows the bacon and pepper to cook better without letting the cheese melt out of the peppers. Also add crushed pineapple to the cream cheese sometimes Delish….Thanks for the video
Love your idea to add pineapple!
I mix garlic powder and shredded cheddar cheese in the cream cheese. Garlic really add great flavor!
They are great. Suggestion: try a dollop of BBQ 10 min before.
loved it!! but next time I think I will bake on a rack to keep out of the bacon fat… but it was super good!!
I just made these, 24 of them for FOUR people and they all got eaten lol.
We made these yesterday with fresh jalapenos from our garden. They were AWESOME! Thanks for the fantastic recipe!
I got this recipe on another site, Food.com or something, not sure. In the comments it was recommended that the bacon be partially cooked because it doesn’t cook completely if it is raw and wrapped around the jalapeño. DON’T PARTIALLY COOK THE BACON. It was difficult wrapping the bacon around the stuffed jalapeno. Also it was recommended to blanch the jalapenos before seeding them. DO BLANCH THE PEPPERS, they are more pliable making them easier to cut, seed and stuff. I used jalapenos from the garden which were delicious but very hot and small. I didn’t need to add seeds to kick up the heat in these. I did wish the peppers were bigger. I also added shredded asiago and mexican cheese to the cream cheese before stuffing the peppers. And I sliced one side of the jalapeno so that I could wrap it around the stuffing.
My son loved it. I mean bacon, right? I actually wished I had stuffed the peppers with more cheese stuffing (can you over stuff them if they’re cut in half and not have the cheese leak out?) I put the finished peppers on a toaster oven broiler rack so that the oil would drip down and the jalapenos wouldn’t soak in the oil. That worked out. I wished there was more creaminess inside the jalapenos. Maybe I’ll try these with maple cured bacon.
Thanks for the tips!
These turned out amazing! My family loved them, even the ones who normally don’t like peppers, but all the heat was cooked out of these. The only thing I changed was that I used half a strip of bacon per pepper instead of 1/3 of a strip. Awesome recipe, thanks for sharing 🙂
Half a piece of bacon for each popper, and add FAJITA seasoning before wrapping them! MUCH better!
Nice addition!
Needs more bacon.
Doesn’t everything? 🙂
These are fantastic! We used thin sliced bacon and it helped it crisp up quickly. Great combination of crispy, creamy, heat.