Bacon and Cream Cheese Jalapeno Poppers (Video)

Name: Bacon and Cream Cheese Jalapeno Poppers
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: PT-480858H51M26S
Total time: 35 min
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 6-9 jalapenos (depending on the size); 8 ounces cream cheese; 1/4 cup sour cream; 1/3 cup sharp cheddar cheese; 1/4 cup shredded parmesan; 7 slices thick cut bacon; 1/4 teaspoon white pepper; 1/4 teaspoon onion powder; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

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Bacon and cream cheese jalapeno poppers are made with cream cheese and smoky bacon. They make a great addition to your appetizer menu or snacks for any time. Poppers are keto friendly, gluten free and low carb.

Wear gloves when cleaning jalapenos!

I cannot stress enough how important it is to wear latex gloves when handling hot peppers.

A personal story I must share with you…..

A few years back I was working down in Texas for a catering job. It was the last day with heavy clean up and we were disposing of all the leftovers. There had been an overly spicy jambalaya dish that I had admittedly put too many cayenne peppers in. I had used my entire arm and hand to scoop the hotel pan of leftovers into the garbage.

Feeling the burn

My arms and hands were on fire for hours. Mind you, it was also over 100 degree weather. I couldn’t take the burning pain any longer and went to a drug store to buy some type of burn cream. Nothing was catching my eye so I ended up buying Preparation-H. I know, trust me it was as stupid of an idea as it sounds. I thought “it calms down burning in a certain area, why wouldn’t it work on my arms?”

Wearing a latex glove and seeding with a pepper corer.

It was time to head to the airport to get the rental car returned. By now, my arms and hands were in about ten times as much pain and I was beyond beside myself. After dropping the car off, I walked straight into the airport and asked for medical attention.

They didn’t have a medical team, instead I was detained for questioning. I continued to ask for ice over and over while they asked me questions over and over and over. Being so close to the border, they thought I was a drug mule that was having a reaction to drugs leaking into my body.

I can’t say how I finally convinced the security team about the reality of my story but I finally got released…with no medical help. They had finally retrieved an ice bag for me and told me I couldn’t fly in the condition I was in.

To fly or not to fly?

I had no intention of flying and was only debating on going to a hospital. With no medical insurance and the high costs for hotel rooms, food, taxis and changing flight plans, I was just hoping to stick it out.

It was almost 4 p.m. and we hadn’t eaten a thing. My sous chef and I stopped at a Mexican restaurant inside the airport. She was so great and was googling like a mad woman! She had the wait staff bring me towels and bags of ice to wrap each of my arms in and made a request I didn’t even know about. Some time went by and a staff member took me in a private room and there was a large plate PILED high with sour cream.

I lathered my arms in sour cream, wrapped the towels around them for about 10-15 minutes, then had to go to the nearest restroom and use soap and water to wash it all off and repeated that three times. This took a couple of hours and by then, I was feeling good enough to fly…with a bag of ice.

What had happened was the Preparation-H had sealed in all the capsaicin oil inside my arms and it couldn’t escape. A lesson, I promise, I only had to learn once.

Jalapeno heat scale

Jalapenos are pretty low on the Scoville heat scale, ranking from 2,500-8,000. Even though they are not near as hot as a cayenne pepper, which rank 30,000-50,000 on the Scoville heat scale, they can certainly still do some “damage”. The plants are usually two to three feet high and produce about 30-40 pods. The average length of the jalapenos I pick up in the store are generally about 4 to 5 inches. To learn more about jalapenos click here.

How to make Bacon and Cream Cheese Jalapeno Poppers

With your gloves on, clean out some or all of the seeds and membranes of the jalapenos. Sometimes I use a pepper corer, other times I like a little more heat to my peppers so I slice them in half and leave some of the seeds and membrane behind.

In a large skillet, fry seven slices of thick sliced bacon until medium well done. Remove from the pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels to drain the fat. Once the bacon has cooled take a sharp knife or kitchen shears and chop or cut into small pieces and set aside.

Have the cream cheese at room temperature and place in a bowl or stand mixer with a paddle. Add the sour cream to the cream cheese and blend together. Combine the sharp cheddar, parmesan and bacon together and mix into the cream cheese, then add the spices.

With a spoon or fork, fill each pepper with cream cheese. Don’t completely over-stuff them or the cheese will overflow when baking.

Set oven to 400 degrees and spray a pan with nonstick spray. Place the stuffed jalapenos in the pan, not touching one another and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the cheese has browned.