These Easy Jalapeño Poppers are a sure fire way to bring some heat to the dinner table. The spicy, crunchy peppers are stuffed with an incredibly creamy filling seasoned with garlic and paprika and topped with bubbly, gooey melted cheese and they’re ready in just 20 minutes.
About these Poppers
You guys. I had my first jalapeno popper last month (shocker, I know) and it was SO DELICIOUS! It was stuffed with crab salad (right?!) and I knew immediately that I needed a jalapeño popper recipe on the blog. And while this recipe doesn’t use crab salad as a stuffing, it uses other incredible ingredients like cream cheese and hummus.
Hummus is an atypical popper ingredient, but I’ve found it really elevates the appetizer for an even smoother filling texture with a more complex taste.
You can choose to make this a vegetarian appetizer or add meat. I recommend adding bacon and the bacon grease into the stuffing mixture, but these will still taste amazing without.
Scoop one up like a nacho and dig on in! You definitely won’t regret these Easy Jalapeno Poppers as a pre-dinner snack. If you love the flavors in this recipe, you may also love my Shrimp Jalapeño Poppers if you’re looking to make it a meal or these Enchilada Stuffed Peppers if you want to tone down the heat, but still love the idea of a stuffed veggie.
Recipe Ingredients
- Jalapeños: Makes for a spicy little appetizer! We will deseed them so its not overwhelming amounts of heat.
- Cream Cheese: It’s creamy texture and helps cool down the appetizer.
- Hummus: Not a typical jalapeño popper ingredient but it is GOOD. I recommend using a Roasted Garlic hummus but you can get creative with all of the different hummus flavors out there.
- Cheese: You’ll want shredded cheese to sprinkle on top. I like Colby Jack because it melts well, but a Mexican blend, cheddar, or pepper jack are good options, too.
- Bacon: Optional. Omit if you want to make this a vegetarian appetizer. If you do choose to use it, drizzling some of the bacon grease into the filling tastes AMAZING!
See the recipe card below for a full list of ingredients and measurements.
How to Make This Recipe
1. Preheat the oven or an air-fryer to 375°F. Wash and halve the jalapeños. Remove the seeds.
2. In a mixing bowl, fold together softened cream cheese, hummus, and seasonings and mix until combined. If you are using bacon, add bacon and some bacon grease at this step.
3. Use a spoon to scoop the mixture into each jalapeño. Place stuffed jalapeños in an oven safe dish and bake/air-fry for 12-15 minutes.
4. Carefully remove the tray from the oven or air fryer and top each pepper with shredded cheese. Change oven to broil and let cheese melt for approximately 2-3 minutes. If using an air fryer, pop back into the air fryer. Serve hot and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Store extras in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. I do not reccomend freezing.
For the best results, I recommend reheating in the air fryer, oven, or toaster oven. You could do the microwave, too, but they may get a little soft. Not a bad thing, but depends on your preference!
Whatever your favorite is! I love Colby Jack, but I bet cheddar, pepper jack, mozzarella, or provolone would be great, too. I would probably just avoid cheeses like goat or feta that don’t melt as easily. Also keep in mind that every cheese is going to have a different melting point, so keep a close eye on your poppers!
You can customize these Easy Jalapeño Poppers in so many ways! That’s why I’m calling them easy!! I had crab salad stuffed jalapeño poppers at a restaurant once and they were INCREDIBLE. You could try taco flavors with ground beef or go Mediterranean with hummus, olives, and tzatziki sauce. I’ve even stuffed poppers with mini Taquitos and they were amazing! Don’t be afraid to get creative.
Jalapeño Poppers are great with salsa verde. Regular salsa would be a good option too, or some sour cream, ranch, bleu cheese dressing or guacamole. As for toppings, add some chopped cilantro, toasted bread crumbs, sliced chives, or even some red pepper flakes for extra heat!
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Easy Jalapeño Poppers
Equipment
- Air fryer or oven
- Cutting Board
- Mixing Bowl
- Knife
- Spoon
- Oven safe dish
Ingredients
- 4 large jalapenos
- 4 oz cream cheese
- ¼ cup roasted garlic hummus
- ½ cup colby jack cheese, shredded
- 1 tsp sriracha
- 1 tsp paprika
- ¼ cup bacon, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven or air-fryer 375°F.
- Wash and halve the jalapeños lengthwise and remove the seeds.
- In a mixing bowl, fold together cream cheese, hummus, paprika, and sriracha and mix until combined. If you are using bacon, add bacon and some bacon grease at this step.
- Use a spoon to scoop the mixture into each jalapeno.
- Place stuffed jalapenos in an oven safe dish and bake/air-fry for 12-15 minutes.
- Carefully remove the tray from the oven or air fryer and top each pepper with shredded cheese.
- Change oven to broil and let cheese melt for approximately 2-3 minutes. If using an air fryer, pop back into the air fryer.
- Serve hot and enjoy!
Nutrition
Notes
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If you’re using MyFitnessPal, search ‘A Paige Of Positivity’ and find Cheesy Jalapeo Poppers calories and nutrition facts. Disclaimer: for most accurate macronutrients and caloric breakdown, it is recommended that you input each ingredient into your MyFitnessPal food diary.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. It’s my passion to create dishes that can be shared with others. Tell me something you loved or just say hi!
My husband and I really enjoyed this recipe! We’ve made a version of jalapeno poppers before but never would have thought of adding hummus – that was genius! We were out of paprika so I used a little cayenne pepper which was added an extra kick.10/10 would make again!
Just made these the other day for a family party and everyone loved them! I used bacon with extra cream cheese instead of the hummus and they turned out great. They taste so fresh compared to stored bought poppers!
Okay woah!!! Hummus is not something you typically see in a jalapeño popper recipe, but this just works! The perfect creaminess without being just a mouthful of cheese. I loved it <3
There are 2 crowd winning football apps in my book: These jalapeno poppers and APOP’s buffalo chicken dip. the limit doesn’t exist for how many times people ask me for the recipes.