Jalepeno Poppers: Grill, Bake, or Freeze

I always go a little over board on planting peppers, especially jalapeños. I just love them so much, but about this time of year I wonder what to do with all of them. My solution is jalapeño poppers.

Cut those bad boys open, clean out the seeds, fill them with cheesy-goodness and freeze. I freeze them all as I’ve found that jalapeño poppers are easier to grill if they’ve been frozen first- the best way to keep the cheese from leaking out under that hot fire. But I also freeze in bulk- in preparation for the long winter, when I’ll need something to heat up my insides!

Jalapeño Poppers

The first step to making these delicious appetizers is to mix all the ingredients together, minus the bacon and jalapeños.

Stuff your cheese mixture into the jalapenos. Jalapeños can be very spicy- wear gloves when handling (otherwise you will regret it later when you go to take your contact lenses out…).

Cut open your jalapeño- cut a slice down the length of the pepper, enough to scoop out the seeds and to re-stuff with cheese. Once you have it stuffed, stick a toothpick through the center. The toothpick will help everything stay together, but more importantly, will be needed to attach the bacon later on. It is not easy to stick a toothpick through a frozen block of jalapeño popper- so now is the time.

Place all the stuffed peppers in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Put in freezer for 4-8 hours to freeze through. You can either bag them from there, or wrap them in bacon to grill (or bake)!

In order to further preserve the cheese mixture, place the poppers on an aluminum foil sheet when grilling. You can also bake your poppers in the oven, but I like that smoky flavor the charcoal grill gives them.

Print Recipe

Grilled Jalapeño Poppers

Course

Appetizers, Snack Food

Cuisine

Appetizers, Grilling

Servings

Ingredients

• 17-25 Jalapeños (or other small pepper)
• 4 Sun-Dried Tomato Slices smashed
• 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 cup Shredded Cheddar
• 1 cup Cream Cheese
• 10 slices Bacon cut in half

Course Appetizers, Snack Food Cuisine Appetizers, Grilling Servings Ingredients 17-25 Jalapeños (or other small pepper) 4 Sun-Dried Tomato Slices smashed 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder 1 cup Shredded Cheddar 1 cup Cream Cheese 10 slices Bacon cut in half

Instructions

1. Mix together the sun-dried tomato, garlic powder, and shredded and cream cheeses until thoroughly mixed.
2. Wearing gloves: Slice open jalapeños- cut a slit up the side of the pepper, making a hole big enough to pull out seeds and push in cheese, but not enough to slice the side off. Scoop out seeds from pepper and fit as much cheese into it as possible. Quantity that will fit will vary depending on size of pepper
3. Stick a toothpick through the center of jalapeño. Lay all poppers in a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze for at least 4 hours.
4. After 4 hours in freezer; Heat grill. Wrap half of a bacon slice around the popper (connecting it with the toothpick that is already frozen through the center). Bag up any poppers you don't plan on eating now and put back in freezer.
5. Place poppers on a sheet of aluminum foil and place on grill. Cook for 5 min and turn over. For a quick sear, place popper on grill grates for about 30 seconds and remove, before you lose the cheese filling. Remove. Serve warm.

Share this Recipe