It isn’t often that my husband, Jon, is influenced by a food in such a way that he feels the need to recreate it. These Jalapeno Bites are an exception. He came home one day from work, raving about an appetizer his friend Adam brought in. Cream cheese filled jalapenos. I’ll be honest – I’m not a fan of spicy foods, and hot peppers have never really been my thing. That is, until I got a bite of one of these bad boys.
The overall experience isn’t all that hot. What you get is a nice tangy punch from the cream cheese, the salty, greasy goodness of the bacon, and just enough bite from the jalapeno to let you know you are onto something good. I can’t take any responsibility for this one at all folks…it’s all the Man. He took his friend’s idea and changed it up, according to what he he felt seemed appropriate.
I think he really hit the mark.
Give it a try at your next gathering or tailgate party – you’ll have some impressed eaters!
Bacon Wrapped Cream Cheese Jalapeno Bites
makes 24
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Old Bay
- Pinch of Salt
- 12 Jalapenos, halved & seeded
- 24 – six inch pieces of bacon, uncooked
Preheat oven to 350F.
Combine cream cheese and spices in small bowl. Spoon mixture into each pepper half, until level. Wrap each in bacon, and place on baking sheet. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove and enjoy!
Until next time, have a great day!
{ 57 comments… read them below or add one }
I made something similar years ago off of a recipe from Emeril’s tailgate special. It was one of those competitions where people sent in recipes. The guy who made these had sun dried tomatoes in the cream cheese.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-live/joes-screaming-stuffed-jalapeno-poppers-recipe/index.html
I look forward to trying your version since I’m a big fan of Old Bay. I bet they are yummy. These work well on a grill at a tailgate too.
I made these before and they were so hot, no one could eat them! Any advice? I seeded them, but maybe I need to remove more of the pulp? Thanks!!
Really? I can’t imagine why, unless you accidentally bought peppers that weren’t jalapeno. Hmm. I personally do not like hot foods, and these are just a little bit of a kick. I’ve heard from dozens of people who adore these, so I’m honestly NOT sure what to tell you, other than to try again? Please let me know!
Some jalapenos are much hotter than others. It depends on the time of year, where they were grown, growing conditions, and a myriad of other factors. Most of the capsaicin (the chemical responsible for making things hot) is in the translucent membrane that lines the inside of the pepper. Slicing that out with a sharp paring knife will cut down on the heat considerably. Wear gloves! My hands were burning for hours last time I got caught off guard with a particularly hot batch of peppers.
Thanks for the information. I’ll try cutting out more of the membrane next time and maybe pre-cooking prior to filling them.
I’ve found that the longer you cook them, the milder they are. I’ve parboiled them prior to filling them to take some of the heat out.
What I do is heat the pepper up on a frying back before stuffing them. Or you could boil them for a quick 30 seconds.
Many times jalapenos aren’t hot enough, and other times they are too hot. This is normal, and happens often. The membrane is as hot as the seeds also!
to keep them from being hot take out all of the ribs and seeds, then they will be very mild
Try putting a shrimp on each pepper under the bacon.
Sounds yummy and I know my oldest would LOVE them!
I make these for every event or party I go to…they are always a hit and I never take any home with me (sadly). They are always requested.
All I do is mix a little honey with the cream cheese. Plain and simple. The sweet/salty/spicy mix is da bomb!
I’ve been wanting to try something like this. I might brush some sweet bbq sauce over the bacon just before they are done, sounds fantastic!
I love these! I tried them for the first time last year, and fell in love with them instantly. I like making them for the Super Bowl, too!
Do you think I could keep them warm in a crockpot or are they good at room temp? We always bring bacon wrapped smokies for Holiday events, this would be a great addition!
I just made these yesterday when I hosted the chili cook off for my MOMS club. They were delicious and not one was left!!! I can’t wait to make them again!
INSANE girl, these look so great!!
Bacon…cream cheese…sold! These look awesome!
I love this easy appetizer. Fantastic flavors all in one little bundle.
I made these for our “football food” today! AMAZING!!! Thanks for the recipe!
The trick is to make sure you “gut them” well. And rinse with cold water. I sip the seasoning & use pineapple cream cheese. OMG they are sooo addicting. I’ve made them numerous times andthe pineapple is by far the best!
These are in the oven right now — I hope they turn out! I went with one of the other suggestions above and bought a small can of crushed pineapple to mix in with the cream cheese instead of the more savory seasonings, and I made sure to seed these really well and remove the ribs inside the peppers. Hope they’re not too hot – about to bring them to a post-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving dinner…! They look great!
How’d they turn out??
Delicious! They were a huge hit. Though some of them were pretty hot, others weren’t hot at all. Seems to depend on the pepper!
We love these but we do them on the grill outside. We mix it up, sometimes put a stick of cheddar in the middle of the pepper along with the cream cheese. We have even put peanut butter in them with cheese. The smoke gives them so much flavor. Yummy!
Mrs. Dough, you have done it again!
I made this before but the cream cheese melted and ran out of the peppers. What is the trick to avoid this?!
Hmmm. Strange! We’ve not had that problem at all. One trick is to move quickly, don’t let the cream cheese get too warm. If you think you’ve taken too long, pop them in the fridge for a bit before baking. Any chance your oven isn’t keeping good temp?
RE: melted cream cheese.
I have made mozarella sticks before & to keep the cheese from melting you freeze it before you dip, bread & bake them. Maybe doing that with the cream cheese would help?
Has anyone prepped the night before then popped them
In the oven?
I did not do it the night before, but I did make them about 9 hours before I wanted to cook them. I put them on the pan they would be cooked on, prepared them completely, then covered them with plastic wrap until cooking time. No problems.
Try adding Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage to the mix. Mmmm that’s how we do them and they are delish!
I made these for Super Bowl and they are delicious! The only thing is that the bacon was not as crispy as my family would prefer. (I find this happens on “bacon wrapped” things.) For next time, I will use all the same ingredients and measures, but I will cook the filled peppers separately from the bacon, then sprinkle the bacon on top. That will give us the wonderful crust that forms on the cream cheese, and crispy bacon bits to boot. LOVE THEM!
For those complaining about the heat, the more of a point the pepper has, the spicier it will be. So the rounded ends are less spicy!
I live in the south and everybody knows, we love our spicy foods! My dad has been making ‘armadillo eggs’ since I was a baby! Simple cream cheese stuffed in jalepenos and wrapped in bacon. Throw em on the grill and let them smoke for about an hour and they are DELICIOUS!
My husband tried making these tonight (He is a great cook!) For St.Patties Day, and he did an excellent job, thanks so much for this recipe!
How far ahead of time can I prep these?
Good question! I’m not positive, but I would expect 2 days or so wouldn’t be too far in advance.
I love my stuffed jalepeno with smoked gruyere instead of cream cheese.
DEFINITELY WEAR GLOVES! I cannot stress that enough — the first time I made these my hands were burning for hours afterwards. Nothing like having your mother pour milk and lime juice over your hands in the kitchen in front of the boyfriend you were trying to impress with your cooking skills
I also like to add shredded cheddar cheese on top of the cream cheese before i wrap the bacon around. I feel the way that the cheddar melts helps to keep the cream cheese from melting out and keep the bacon in place. It also helps cut out even more of the spice.
Made these with lunch today. I didn’t have whole jalapenos but had a can of diced. I just mixed it up with everything else and wrapped the bacon to make a pouch…SO delicious! Will be making these for my next party too.
We do this except add a little smoky to the middle. I can’t imagine having it without the little smoky! We call them Armadillo eggs.
What about grilling these rather than in the oven? Or would the cream cheese ooze out too much (while trying to get the bacon cooked thoroughly)??
I’ved made these using Monterrey Jack cheese rather than cream cheese… yummy.
Hi there! I happened to repin your recipe for this on Pinterest awhile back and since then it has been repinned from me 1,922 times!! I finally made them yesterday and I can see why they are such a hit…they were fantastic! I was amazed at how simple they were. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe =)
I used capers with the cream cheese. SO YUM!!!!!!!!!
We cook ours on the grill. They are great!!
I am trying these tonight. I am adding lump crab meat to the cream cheese mixture!
Another twist we do traditionally when we have gatherings is just plain cream cheese, no spices and place a lil smokies sausage into the cream cheese and wrap the whole thing in bacon. The juices run wild in your mouth from the combination of the bacon, the lil smoky and the jalapeno. Let me know what you think of that one. We love it. And yes, the membrane is what makes the jalapeno hot, I only leave a tiny bit in ours. Montezuma truly does get revenge!!
I make these too, but I baste them with Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce. The sweet adds a nice layer to the taste.
My husband makes these and they are to die for! He puts a little smokey in each pepper in the cream cheese. After wrapping them in bacon, he then rolls them in brown sugar. Then smokes them on his treager. You will think you have died and gone to heaven!
Can u use pickled jalapeno’s instead of fresh
No…not in this recipe.
Hi all. Just reading this recipe with much interest. My husband would love these, but I do not eat peppers. Would there be an alternative that I could use for myself whilst using jalapeños for him? The actual recipe sounds very mouth watering, so I’m hoping that I can find something for us both to enjoy. Happy new year to you all. X
Eek – not sure what it would be. As long as you are careful and remove all of the seeds, these really aren’t too hot. I am not a fan of hot foods, and I love these peppers!
I can’t WAIT to try these tomorrow for New Years snacks……my hubby is a big an of HOT foods!
I made these last night and they were absolutely delicious and easy to make,can’t wait to make them for a family party in afew weeks.
I made these last night they were absolutely delicious,can’t wait to make them in afew weeks for a family party.