If you’ve never made homemade jalapeño peppers, today is the day! If you have, you’ve got to give my flavor-packed recipe a try. Making poppers is way easier than you think. And they taste so much better than any restaurant or frozen variety.
To get started, you need to get some fresh jalapeños in your produce aisle or at the farmer’s market. I like my jalapeños crunchy, so I don’t pre-cook them. But if you prefer soft jalapeños, you’ll need to parboil them after scooping out the seeds and stems, and before stuffing them.
Cut the jalapeño peppers in half lengthwise.
Then scoop out all the seeds. This will make room for the filling and will also make your jalapeño poppers a little milder. For extra-hot poppers, take the seeds and add them to your cheese filling.
Make the filling by mixing cream cheese, cheddar cheese, chipotle chili powder, cumin, garlic, onion and jalapeño seeds if desired; stuff into each pepper half.
Now the jalapeños are ready for the breading process. First coat them in flour that has been seasoned with salt and pepper.
Then dip them in a milk and egg mixture...
and then back in the flour.
Dip them into the milk mixture again.
Now coat with bread crumbs. (If want your jalapeños extra crunchy, dip them back in the milk mixture and bread crumbs one more time.)
Now they are ready for the fryer.
Fry them in oil preheated to 350° about 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. I only fry a few at a time, being careful not to crowd the deep fryer.
You can serve these poppers with queso, sour cream, guacamole or fresh salsa. But they are so full of flavor, we eat them without a dipping sauce!
Ingredients
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6 oz cream cheese (from 8-oz package), softened
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1 1/2cups shredded cheddar cheese (6 oz)
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1teaspoon ground cumin
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1/2teaspoon chipotle chile pepper powder
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1/4teaspoon onion powder
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1/4teaspoon garlic powder
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10jalapeño chiles (2 to 3 inch), halved lengthwise, seeded
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1cup Gold Medal™ All Purpose Flour
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1teaspoon salt
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1teaspoon pepper
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1 1/4cups milk
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1egg
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1 1/2cups from 1 box (8 oz) Progresso™ Plain Panko Crispy Bread Crumbs
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Vegetable oil for deep frying
Directions
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1In medium bowl, mix cream cheese, cheddar cheese, cumin, chile pepper powder, onion powder and garlic powder until well blended. Spoon mixture evenly into chile halves.
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2Spoon mixture evenly into chile halves, pressing to pack down the filling until level with sides of pepper half.
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3In pie plate or shallow dish, mix flour, salt and pepper. In second pie plate or shallow dish, beat milk and egg with whisk or fork. In third pie plate or shallow dish, place bread crumbs.
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4Dip each stuffed chile half in flour mixture and then in milk mixture; dip again in flour mixture and milk mixture, then dip in bread crumbs (making sure chiles are completely coated).
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5In deep fryer or heavy saucepan, heat 3 inches oil to 350°F. Fry chiles in batches in hot oil 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. (If cheese starts to ooze out, poppers are starting to overcook; remove immediately.)
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6Drain on paper towels. Serve warm.
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