Smoked Jalapeño Poppers

These 4-ingredient smoked jalapeño poppers are creamy and cheesy in the middle and wrapped with crispy bacon! Smoked to perfection, they make a great party appetizer or easy addition to a bbq dinner. Smoked jalapeno poppers are easy to make, have a ton of flavor, and taste incredible. They are creamy, crispy cheesy, and spicy and I know you will enjoy these so much!

What are jalapeño Poppers?

Jalapeño Poppers became a popular appetizer in the United States in the late 1990s. They are jalapeño peppers that are stuffed with cheese, rolled in a batter, and then deep fried. I remember being skeptical about trying them at first because I didn’t really love stuffed peppers and I was at the age where I only really wanted mozzarella sticks or nothing. But, someone ordered them, I tried them, and I was immediately into them. The mild spiciness of the jalapeño mixed with the creamy cooling flavor of cheese, wrapped in a batter and deep fried was insanely delicious to me.

My jalapeno popper dip went viral this past winter, and for good reason. This gooey, cheesy, and delicious dip is made with jalapeño peppers, garlic, and bacon. Then, I topped the whole dip with pepper jelly, which is a sweet and spicy jelly that pairs perfectly with cream cheese. If you love traditional cream cheese filled jalapeño poppers, I know you will love this dip. Grab some chips and dippers and enjoy!

I didn’t know at the time, but this dish was very already very popular in Mexico and Tex-Mex cuisine. Peppers stuffed with cheese had been popular there for decades, if not a century. Chiles Rellenos are a popular Mexican dish that I have also grown to love. It consists of poblano peppers, stuffed with cheese, battered and fried. If you have never tried one before I urge you to try it next time you see it on a menu. They are so good!

Smoked Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

Normally, jalapeño poppers are fried, and sometimes baked, but I decided to smoke these and I loved the way they came out. First, I halved the jalapeños and scoop out the inside and the seeds. Then, I made a filling to stuff my peppers. I stuffed the jalapeño halves with a filling made from cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and bacon bits. Lastly, I wrap the jajapenos with a slice of bacon. Depending on the size of the pepper, you can use a half of a slice of bacon. In fact, when you use too big of a slice the bacon has a hard time crisping up, so use your judgement here.

Smoked Jalapeno Popper Ingredients

• Jalapeños – Obviously, these cannot be substituted if you want to call these “jalapeño poppers”. I like to look for medium sized jalapeño peppers when I pick them out. Also, make sure all of the peppers are relatively the same size. You want all of the peppers to cook at the same speed.
• Cheese – I use a mixture of cream cheese and cheddar cheese. Normally, jalapeño poppers use one cheese or the other, but I love how both taste so much, I wanted to use a blend of both.
• Bacon – Choose thinly sliced bacon, or regular cut. Thick cut bacon does not crisp up in this recipe and I would hate for your poppers to come out soggy.
• Seasoning – I like to add a little BBQ rub to the outside of my peppers and inside of the cream cheese for this recipe. You can use any dry rub you wish, but make sure it has some important ingredients like garlic, paprika, and brown sugar.

How to make jalapeño Poppers on the Smoker

EQUIPMENT

• Smoker

INGREDIENTS  

• 8 jalapeños cut in half
• 16 slices bacon thin or regular cut. do not use thick cut.
• 8 oz cream cheese softened at room temperature for several hours
• 4 oz cheddar cheese shredded

Optional but encouraged

• 2 tbsp BBQ Rub

INSTRUCTIONS 

• Preheat your smoker to 275F
• Cut your jalapeños in half longways. A lot of people use gloves while cutting jalapeños. If you choose not to use gloves, that is ok too, just make sure to wash your hands well after handling them and do not rub your eyes.
• Scoop out the seeds from the jalapeños.
• Mix together the softened cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and bbq rub if you are using it.
• Fill your jalapeños with the cream cheese filling.
• Wrap a slice of bacon around the jalapeño making sure the seams are on the bottom. Alternately, you can use just a half a slice of bacon if that works better. If the bacon is wrapped too thick, it will not crisp up.
• Lay your peppers on a rack that you can easily transport to your smoker. Or, lay the rack on a baking sheet and put that in the smoker. If you use the baking sheet, this will protect them from burning, but it will take longer for the bacon to crisp up. Either way, you will want to keep an eye on them. It should take about 45 minutes to 1 hour to cook.

275 for 45 mins? 300 for 60-80 mins?