Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Hot Dogs with Hot Pepper Jelly

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These jalapeno popper hot dogs combine two favorite party foods into one epic gourmet hot dog on the griddle! Bacon wrapped hot dogs meld with all of your favorite jalapeno poppers flavors for one dang good hot dog that your back deck party people will be raving about. Topped with hot pepper jelly for the perfect blend of spicy, sweet, and creamy!

My wife and I love jalapeno poppers, so much so that I’ve been trying to figure out how to incorporate them into a recipe that I can make on the griddle. Yes, you could make actual poppers and shallow fry them on the griddle, but I wanted to up the creativity factor… plus, shallow frying on the griddle is great for flatter items like country fried steak, but not so great when you try to get a rounder food like jalapenos or egg rolls crispy on all sides.

So after some debate and recipe testing, we decided to try some jalapeno popper hot dogs on the Pit Boss Ultimate Griddle. And I’m glad we did!

These gourmet style hot dogs are freaking delicious, especially when topped with a little hot pepper jelly. And I have to give a shout out to Arby’s… the spicy jelly condiment is a nod to the “Bronco Berry” sauce that they used to serve with their jalapeno poppers. The perfect blend of sweet and spicy, these bacon wrapped dogs will probably remind you of a spicy cocktail weenie… the kind that are made with grape jelly and served in a Crock Pot.

Here’s how to make these awesome jalapeno popper hot dogs:

Ingredients for Jalapeno Popper Hot Dogs

• hot dogs – I used Nathan’s Angus Beef Franks.
• regular bacon – No center cut or thick cut.
• cream cheese – I used whipped cream cheese so that it spread easier on my hot dog buns. Or, you can also let a block of cream cheese soften a bit before making your spread.
• shredded cheddar cheese
• Pit Boss Bold Burger Rub – or your favorite all-purpose seasoning – This just adds a bit more savory flavor to your cream cheese spread.
• fresh jalapenos
• hot pepper or jalapeno jelly – The perfect sweet condiment for these jalapeno popper hot dogs! We used the Braswell’s brand of jelly… Some brands call it “hot pepper jelly”, “red pepper jelly”, or “jalapeno pepper jelly”.

Tips for Making Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs

Throw those toothpicks out… with these easy tips, you’ll be making perfect bacon wrapped hot dogs in no time, without your party guests biting into a forgotten toothpick!

Skip the center cut bacon.

Center cut bacon is nothing more than “regular bacon with the fatty ends cut off” (according to Cooks Illustrated). Yes, it’s leaner than regular bacon, but since the ends are trimmed to remove the excess fat, center cut bacon slices are shorter as well. When you’re wrapping bacon around hot dogs, the extra length of the bacon will help your hot dogs stay wrapped as you’re rotating them on the griddle to cook, so stick with regular bacon for this hot dog recipe.

Do the stretch and roll for the best bacon wrapped hot dogs.

The key to a nice tightly wrapped hot dog is a little technique I like to call the “stretch and roll”.

Lay one piece of bacon out flat on a cutting board and put the end of the hot dog perpendicular to the end of the bacon slice. Then start rolling the hot dog over the bacon. As you’re rolling, pull gently towards you to stretch the bacon slice a bit. This makes your bacon a bit thinner and tighter as you’re rolling it around the hot dog.

Put your bacon wrapped hot dogs on the griddle seam side down first.

Whether you’re making bacon wrapped hot dogs on the griddle, grill, or in a cast iron skillet you always want to cook the dogs on the seam side down first. So find where the bacon slice ends and make sure to put that side of the hot dog down on the griddle first. As the bacon cooks around the hot dog on the first side, it will start to meld together and it will be less prone to sliding off your hot dog as you rotate it.

How to Make Jalapeno Popper Hot Dogs on the Griddle

These fantastic hot dogs are really easy to make in just a few simple steps, so they’re great for entertaining or even whipping up at your next tailgate! Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Make your cream cheese spread.

First make the cream cheese spread that will act as the “glue” to hold your jalapenos to your hot dog bun. Just mix together softened cream cheese (or use whipped cream cheese like I did), shredded cheddar cheese, and a little bit of your favorite all purpose seasoning. Then set it to the side to use as a spread later.

*Note – I added the Pit Boss Bold Burger Rub to mine… it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite all-purpose seasonings. It’s a great blend of salt, pepper, garlic, and butter flavor.

Here’s what my cream cheese spread looks like:

Step 2: Prep the hot dogs and jalapeños for the griddle.

Sautéing the jalapeños before adding them to your hot dog knocks off a bit of the raw crunchiness and softens them up a bit. To prep your peppers, just cut them into thick strips. First cut off the top of each pepper, and then cut down the side of the pepper to create 3 or 4 strips. Just use the inner seed part as a guide for where to cut like this:

Then, wrap one slice of bacon around each hot dog using the tips above.

Step 3: Cook the bacon wrapped hot dogs and jalapeno pieces on the griddle.

When all of your ingredients are prepped, it’s time to start cooking the hot dogs and jalapenos. Just add the bacon wrapped hot dogs to the griddle so that the side with the end of the bacon slice cooks first. Allow the hot dogs to cook on the first side until the bacon on that side is cooked, then rotate the dogs to the next side. Continue this process of rotating and cooking until the bacon on all sides of the hot dog is cooked through.

Let the jalapeno slices cook on the first side for a few minutes to develop some charring, then flip them to the second side to continue cooking.

When the hot dogs and jalapenos are almost done cooking, go ahead and toast your hot dog buns on the griddle in that leftover bacon grease.

Step 5: Assemble the jalapeno popper hot dogs.

Here comes the fun part! To assemble your jalapeno popper hot dogs, spread the cream cheese mixture on the bottom of the hot dog bun. Then add some jalapeno slices (I recommend 4-5 slices of jalapeno for each dog). Add your bacon wrapped hot dog on top of that and finish it off by drizzling on some hot pepper jelly.

And when you bite into these awesome jalapeno popper hot dogs, here’s what you get… a thing of beauty:

Jalapeno Popper Hot Dogs Recipe

Want to add this recipe to your list of crowd-pleasing favorites to make on the back deck or on-site at your next tailgate? Just print the recipe card below!

Then hop over to see how I made the Juicy Lucy burger, another awesome and cheesy griddle recipe!

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Popper Hot Dogs

Created by: Neal

Cuisine Entrees

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

6 hot dogs

These jalapeno popper hot dogs are wrapped in bacon and topped with a sweet, spicy hot pepper jelly! All of the flavors of jalapeno poppers on a bun!

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Ingredients

  

• 3/4 cup whipped cream cheese
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 teaspoon all purpose seasoning – like Pit Boss Bold Burger Rub
• 6 hot dogs – like Nathan’s Angus Beef Franks
• 6 slices regular bacon
• 6 fresh jalapenos sliced into long thick strips
• 6 hot dog buns
• hot pepper jelly – to be used as a condiment on top

Instructions

• Make the cream cheese spread by combining cream cheese, shredded cheddar, and all purpose seasoning in a small bowl. Mix together and set to the side.
• Wrap one piece of bacon around each hot dog.
• Add the bacon wrapped hot dogs to the heated griddle. Make sure to set them on the griddle so that the end of the bacon slice is in contact with the griddle first.
• Cook hot dogs on the griddle on the first side until bacon is cooked on that side. Then rotate hot dogs to the next side. Continue rotating and cooking hot dogs until bacon is cooked through on all sides.
• As the hot dogs are cooking, cook the jalapeno pepper strips in the leftover bacon grease. Cook the peppers on both sides until they soften a bit and a nice char develops.
• When the hot dogs and peppers are almost done cooking, toast the hot dog buns sliced side down in the leftover bacon grease on the griddle.
• When hot dogs and jalapeno pepper strips are done cooking, remove them from the griddle.
• Assemble the jalapeno popper hot dogs. Spread about 1/6 of the cream cheese mixture on the bottom of a hot dog bun. Add about 4 jalapeno pepper strips. Top with a bacon wrapped hot dog. Drizzle hot pepper jelly on top. Enjoy!

Notes

Use regular bacon for this recipe. Center cut bacon is typically shorter which is not as good for wrapping around the hot dogs.

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