Smoked Jalapeno Poppers
Smoked Jalapeno Poppers are an extraordinary treat that never fails to surprise my guests! I love to put them out as an appetizer while we are chatting over a drink before dinner. Or when we have friends over on game day. They never last long and I don’t think I have ever had any left-over!
I mean seriously, who doesn’t like a dollop of cream cheese now and then? And bacon, who doesn’t love that smoky taste of hickory smoked bacon? Then there is just a little heat from the jalapeno, not overpowering just the right spicy bite!
The other great thing about this is I’m going to show you how to make your own jalapeno popper smoking rack. No need to go out and buy any specialized equipment for this recipe.
Create your own popper stand
There are a lot of smoking, BBQing and grilling gadgets out there. You can make your own jalapeno popper cooking rack in literally 3 minutes!
I use a couple of 8-inch aluminum pie plates. All you do is take a sharp paring knife, cut 6 circular holes in the bottom of each pie plate. Turn it over and voila, you have a perfect smoked jalapeno popper stand.
You can cut the holes as small or as large as you need to in order to accommodate the size of your jalapeno’s. I know here the size of the peppers vary greatly depending on the time of year.
Sometimes they are small, maybe 1 inch in diameter and other times they can be more than double that size. I have had some so large that I couldn’t fit them in my jalapeno holder that I have. This method works great for me!!
Once you have your pans ready to go you need to get your poppers stuffed. Using a small paring knife cut the top off your pepper and carefully remove the seeds and ribs.
SMOKED BACON WRAPPED JALAPENO POPPERS
Next step is to stuff your poppers with cream cheese. I simply use cream cheese, but you could use a cream cheese mixture. Even a cream cheese and cheddar cheese blend or a flavored cream cheese would be great. Make sure you try to fill the pepper completely with the cheese as it will settle while it smokes.
Next we need to complete the preparation, take your stuffed popper and wrap it in bacon. I use ½ a slice of good quality smoked bacon per popper. Secure each piece of bacon with a toothpick and place it standing up in the foil pie plate popper rack you made.
HOW LONG TO SMOKE JALAPENO POPPERS
I used my Masterbuilt electric smoker for these poppers. It’s quick and easy to set up, heats nicely, and you simply add in your wood chips and start smoking. I like hickory wood chips for these poppers, but sometimes I will mix in a little apple wood too.
You need to smoke these poppers for about 2 hours at 240 degrees F, or until the bacon is cooked. As tough as it is, you will want to let them cool slightly before serving. The cream cheese will be very hot right out of the smoker!
Smoked Jalapeno Poppers
Ingredients
- 12 Jalapeno peppers
- 6 Strips of bacon cut in half
- 1 Small tub of cream cheese
- 12 Toothpicks
- 2 Eight-inch foil pie plates
Instructions
- Heat your smoker to 240 degrees F. Add your wood chips, I used hickory wood chips.
- Carefully cut 6 holes in the bottom of each of the foil pie plates using a paring knife. Make the holes a little smaller than you think you need as it is easy to enlarge them but very difficult to make them smaller again. Set aside.
- Cut off the top of each jalapeno and using a paring knife remove the seeds and ribs.
- Fill each jalapeno with cream cheese.
- Wrap each jalapeno with 1/2 a slice of bacon and secure with a toothpick.
- Place your bacon wrapped jalapenos in the upside down foil pie plate.
- Smoke for 2 hours or until the bacon is cooked.
- Allow the poppers to rest for 10 minutes before eating as the cream cheese will be very hot.
These look delicious!