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Bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers are what I make when I want people to think I worked a lot harder than I did, and I smoked a tray of twenty last Saturday afternoon with nobody around to stop me, because Maddie is off at college now and Lizzie was at a friend’s house. That was not a warning. That was the plan. If you already love our jalapeno popper crescent rolls, these are the smoky ones with the bacon crisped tight around the outside.
Ten jalapenos, one block of cream cheese, and the same smoker that turns out our smoked spatchcock chicken doing the slow part for you, and by the time that bacon tightens up you will understand why the store bought box never stood a chance.
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 20 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 20 poppers
- ⚡ Calories: 88kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Smoky and creamy with a warm jalapeno kick that the cheddar cools right back down
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, about the same lift as our air fryer bbq bacon wrapped pickles
Quick Answer
Halve ten jalapenos lengthwise and scrape out the seeds and pale ribs, then fill each half with a mix of softened cream cheese, grated cheddar, kosher salt, and black pepper. Wrap every filled half in half a slice of bacon and pin it with a toothpick. Smoke the poppers at 180 degrees F for 30 minutes, then raise the grill to 375 degrees F and cook 30 to 60 minutes more, until the bacon is crisp. Let them rest a few minutes before serving.
Jump to:
- Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers Quick Look
- Quick Answer
- Why This Recipe Works
- Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Key Ingredients
- Variations and Substitutions
- How to Make Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
- Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Serving Ideas and Suggestions
- Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers FAQs
- Other Recommended Game Day Appetizers
- Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Two temperatures do two different jobs. The 30 minute stretch at 180 degrees F is purely for flavor, because smoke clings to cold fat and cold cheese far better than it clings to hot ones. Cranking to 375 afterward is the only part that renders the bacon.
- Cream cheese is the binder and the fire extinguisher. Fat coats the capsaicin that makes a jalapeno burn, so a full block keeps the heat at a warm hum instead of a spike and holds the cheddar together at the same time.
- Halving the peppers beats coring them. A boat shape gives the bacon more surface to grip and leaves more filling exposed to the smoke than a whole hollowed pepper ever will.
- Half a slice of bacon is exactly right. A full slice overlaps itself and stays flabby underneath. Half a slice wraps once, crisps evenly all the way around, and still covers the pepper edge to edge.
- The toothpick is not optional. Bacon shrinks as it renders and will unwrap itself right there on the grate. One toothpick straight through the middle holds the whole thing together until you pull it off.
- A rimmed sheet pan catches the drippings. Bacon fat hitting a hot grate flares up and scorches the bottoms. The pan keeps the render where it belongs and turns cleanup into one step.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Seven ingredients, and you already have five of them. Jalapenos, cream cheese, cheddar, bacon, salt, pepper, toothpicks. That is the entire list, and nothing on it is hard to find.
- The smoker does the babysitting. About twenty minutes of hands on work, then you close the lid and go do something else while the grill earns its keep.
- They vanish faster than anything else on the table. Put a tray of these out next to a pan of loaded tater tot nachos and watch which one empties first. It is not close.
Key Ingredients
A seven ingredient list means every single one has a job, so here is what each is actually doing.
- Jalapeno Peppers: Look for firm, smooth, medium peppers about the length of your finger. Those pale lines you see when you cut one open are where almost all the heat lives, so scrape hard for mild poppers and leave a few behind if you want them to bite back.
- Cream Cheese: Full fat block cream cheese, softened on the counter first. The tub style is too loose and runs straight out of the pepper on the grill, which is the same reason we reach for block in our baked cream cheese wontons.
- Cheddar Cheese: Grated medium or sharp cheddar gives the filling body and that orange marbling you can see in the bite. Pre shredded is fine here since it is melting into a bound filling anyway.
- Bacon: Standard thin cut, sliced in half across the middle so one strip wraps two poppers. Thick cut tastes great but needs the full hour at 375 degrees F to crisp, the same lesson our cheddar bacon ranch stuffed celery sticks taught us about bacon and patience.
- Kosher Salt and Black Pepper: A tablespoon of each sounds like a lot right up until you remember it is seasoning eight ounces of cream cheese and a full cup of cheddar. Coarse grinds season better here than fine ones.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
The base is forgiving, so here is where you can push it around.
- Stir in cooked sausage or leftover beef. Half a cup of crumbled breakfast sausage folded into the filling turns these into an actual meal, and chopped chuck roast burnt ends work even better if you have some sitting in the fridge.
- Swap the cheddar. Pepper jack adds heat, smoked gouda doubles down on the smoke, and a Mexican blend melts the softest of the three.
- Go the oven route. No smoker, no problem. Bake at 400 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes, then broil the last 2 minutes to crisp the bacon, the same way we handle our jalapeno popper mummies.
- Make them sweet and spicy. Brush the bacon with a little brown sugar and hot sauce right before you raise the temperature, borrowed straight from our bacon wrapped pierogies.
- Leave the ribs in a few. Keep the seeds and ribs in two or three peppers and do not tell anyone which ones. Somebody at your table has earned it.
How to Make Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
- Fire the smoker up to 180 degrees F and let it come to temperature while you work. Cut ten jalapenos in half from top to bottom, then scrape out the seeds and the pale ribs with a small spoon. Do not rub your eyes afterward. Ask me how I know.
- Drop the softened cream cheese, a cup of grated cheddar, a tablespoon of kosher salt, and a tablespoon of black pepper into a medium bowl.
- Stir until it turns into one smooth thing with no plain white streaks left anywhere. This is the part where I sneak a spoonful for quality control. Somebody has to.
- Spoon the filling into every pepper half and level it off with the edges. Pack them full, this is not the place to be shy about it.
- Wrap each one in half a slice of bacon and push a toothpick straight through to hold it together. Lay them out on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer so the smoke can get all the way around.
- Smoke at 180 degrees F for 30 minutes, then crank the grill to 375 degrees F and give them 30 to 60 minutes more, until the bacon pulls tight and goes crisp. Pull the toothpicks and let them cool a few minutes before you bite in.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Wear gloves or wash your hands twice. Jalapeno oil clings to skin for hours and finds your eyes later in the evening. This is the tip I ignore most often and regret every single time.
- Soften the cream cheese on the counter, not in the microwave. Thirty minutes out is plenty. Microwaved cream cheese goes greasy and separates once it hits the grill heat.
- Pick peppers that sit flat. A pepper with a hard curve rolls on the pan and dumps its filling. Flatter halves stay put and keep the cheese where you put it.
- Do not skip the low temperature stretch. Those 30 minutes at 180 degrees F are where every bit of the smoke flavor gets in. Go straight to 375 and you have just made oven poppers on a grill.
- Check the bacon, not the clock. Thickness and placement on the grate change everything, so let the bacon tell you when they are done. Same rule we live by on our key lime grilled chicken wings.
- Make the filling a day ahead. It keeps covered in the fridge overnight and honestly tastes better on day two, which turns party day into nothing but fill, wrap, and smoke.
- Pull them before the cheese runs. If the filling starts sliding out the top they are past peak. A little bubbling around the edges is exactly the window you want, the same one we watch on our smoked mac and cheese.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
These are a game day appetizer first and foremost, so they belong on a table next to things people can eat standing up with a drink in the other hand. I usually run them alongside air fryer buffalo chicken tenders and a tray of loaded potato skins, which covers the crispy, the creamy, and the handheld all in one pass.
If the smoker is already hot, use it. The poppers go on while a bigger cut rests, and once they come off the grate is wide open for a smoked pizza while everybody is still standing around picking at the tray.
For a longer table, put something cold and something bready next to them. An everything bagel cheese ball gives people a break from the heat, and a pan of ham and cheese sliders keeps the folks who do not do spicy from going hungry.
Cost wise this is one of the cheapest trays you can put in front of a crowd. Ten jalapenos, a block of cream cheese, a bag of shredded cheddar, and one pack of bacon feeds a room for less than a single appetizer costs at a restaurant, which is most of the reason it shows up at our house every football season.
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers FAQs
Yes. Bake them at 400 degrees F for 25 to 30 minutes on a rimmed sheet pan, then run them under the broiler for the last 2 minutes to crisp the bacon. You lose the smoke flavor, but the texture lands in almost the same place. A pellet grill, a charcoal kettle with a couple of wood chunks, or a gas grill with a smoker box all work as well.
Mild to medium, and you are the one who controls it. Almost all the heat in a jalapeno lives in the white ribs and the seeds, so scraping them out completely leaves you with a warm, gentle pepper. The cream cheese and cheddar cut whatever heat is left behind. Leave a few ribs in if you want them to actually bite back.
Yes, and I usually do. Fill and wrap the poppers up to 24 hours ahead, then keep them covered on the sheet pan in the fridge. Pull them out while the smoker comes up to temperature and cook them straight from cold, adding about 5 extra minutes. The filling on its own also keeps for 3 days.
The grill either did not get hot enough or did not stay hot long enough. The 180 degree stretch is for smoke, not for rendering, so all of the crisping happens after you raise the temperature to 375 degrees F. Thick cut bacon can need the full hour. Watch the bacon itself rather than trusting the timer.
Let them cool completely, then store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat in a 350 degree F oven or air fryer for 8 to 10 minutes so the bacon firms back up. Skip the microwave, because it turns the bacon soft and the filling watery in about thirty seconds.
Freeze them before cooking for the best result. Fill and wrap the poppers, freeze them in a single layer on a sheet pan, then move them to a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Smoke them straight from frozen and add about 15 minutes to the total cook time. Cooked poppers can be frozen too, they just never crisp back up quite the same.
From our kitchen to yours, Jason, Maddie and Lizzie. If you are building out the whole spread, our 30 best game day recipes roundup has the rest of that table covered.
Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
Ingredients
- 10 jalapeno peppers medium size
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 10 slices bacon cut in half across the middle
- 20 toothpicks
Instructions
- Set the Traeger to 180 degrees F. Close the lid and let the grill heat for 15 minutes. Turn on Super Smoke if your grill has it.
- Cut each jalapeno in half from top to bottom. Use a small spoon to scrape out the seeds and the pale ribs inside.10 jalapeno peppers
- Add the softened cream cheese, grated cheddar, kosher salt, and black pepper to a medium bowl. Stir until the filling is smooth and no streaks of plain cream cheese are left.8 ounces cream cheese, 1 cup cheddar cheese, 1 tablespoon kosher salt, 1 tablespoon black pepper
- Spoon the cheese mixture into each jalapeno half. Pack it in and level it off with the edges of the pepper.
- Wrap each filled pepper with half a slice of bacon. Push a toothpick straight through to hold the bacon in place.10 slices bacon, 20 toothpicks
- Place the poppers on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer so the smoke can reach every side.
- Set the baking sheet on the grill. Close the lid and smoke the poppers at 180 degrees F for 30 minutes.
- Raise the grill temperature to 375 degrees F. Cook about 30 more minutes, then check the bacon. Keep cooking until it is as crisp as you like, which can take up to 1 hour.
- Take the poppers off the grill. Let them cool for a few minutes, pull the toothpicks out, and serve them warm.
Notes
- The filling and the bacon come off the smoker screaming hot. Give the poppers at least 5 minutes and take a small first bite.
- Thin cut bacon crisps faster and wraps tighter. Thick cut works too, it just needs closer to the full hour at 375 degrees F.
- For mild poppers, scrape out every seed and every pale rib. Leave a few ribs behind if you want the heat to show up.
- Set the cream cheese on the counter about 30 minutes ahead. Cold cream cheese fights the spoon and tears the filling.
- Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat at 350 degrees F for 8 to 10 minutes to bring the bacon back.
Nutrition
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These are perfect for game day and so easy to make. Enjoy