This Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese sandwich is loaded with cream cheese, cheddar cheese, jalapeños, bacon, and shredded chicken. Whip this up when you’re craving a flavorful sandwich, and use the leftover mixture to make pinwheel appetizers!
One of our family’s favorite things to cook on the grill is jalapeno poppers. We skip the deep fried breaded version of the popular game day snack, and we wrap ours in bacon and cook them on the grill instead. And to add even more flavor to our jalapeno poppers and help keep the cheese from oozing out on the grill, we also add in some shredded chicken.
So when we were brainstorming grilled cheese sandwich recipes to make on the griddle recently, I knew that we had to make our favorite smoked jalapeno poppers in sandwich form. And this smoked jalapeno popper grilled cheese sandwich was born!
Our grilled cheese sandwich started with a smoked whole chicken and smoked jalapeños, but you can skip a few steps and use pulled rotisserie chicken and jarred jalapeños instead. Here’s how to make this flavorful sandwich on the griddle:
Ingredients Needed
Here are the ingredients that we used for our jalapeno popper grilled cheese sandwiches:
Jalapeños
You can’t make a jalapeno popper grilled cheese sandwich without jalapenos, and you have a few different options for what type to use. To keep this recipe easy and save some time, you can add diced or sliced pickled jalapenos to the sandwich. Or if you have more time and you’ve got your smoker or charcoal grill going, you can smoke some whole fresh jalapenos like we did.
You could even add fresh slices of jalapeno to the top of the cream cheese chicken mixture or cut your jalapeños into flat slices and sauté them on the griddle until they’re tender… There really are a ton of different ways to make a jalapeno popper grilled cheese, so feel free to experiment!
Cheese
We used a mixture of freshly shredded sharp cheddar and cream cheese for our sandwich. I find that shredded cheeses tend to melt better when I shred them myself, but you can also use store-bought bagged shredded cheese to make this recipe easier. And feel free to try different cheese options as well – a good pepper jack would be a nice addition to this sandwich, especially if you like some extra spice!
Shredded Chicken
I smoked a whole chicken for this recipe, but you can also use leftover chicken breasts or store-bought rotisserie chicken. Just shred the chicken to mix in with the cheeses and jalapeños. We used one whole chicken breast in our mixture to make about four grilled cheese sandwiches.
Bacon
Since we wrap our grilled poppers in bacon, I decided to cook up a few slices to add to this grilled cheese sandwich also.
Bread
I found an awesome Jalapeno Cheddar loaf at my local grocery store to use for this recipe, and it was perfect! If you can’t find anything similar, you can use any type of sliced bread that you have on hand.
How to Make a Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese
Our jalapeno popper sandwiches are super easy to make after you’ve got your chicken pulled… Then you basically just mix up all of the ingredients and spread them on some bread to toast.
I’m not going to go over how to smoked your chicken in this post, but I’ve got a super detailed tutorial for how to smoke a whole chicken on a charcoal grill here… This is basically the exact same method that I used, except I switched up the seasonings.
And remember, if you don’t want to smoke your chicken, you can just use rotisserie chicken or even substitute some pulled pork or sliced ham.
Why add chicken to the sandwich? Our family sometimes adds shredded chicken to our grilled jalapeno poppers… Since we wrap them in bacon and cook them low and slow on the grill, the cream cheese is more likely to ooze out of the pepper because there’s no egg wash and breading mixture to hold everything together like you would have for fried poppers. So I thought, why not try adding some shredded chicken to this sandwich also?!
Step 1: Make the filling for your jalapeno popper grilled cheese sandwiches.
Yes, these sandwiches have more of a “filling” instead of just layered ingredients like sliced cheese that you would get on a normal grilled cheese sandwich.
Just add the shredded chicken, chopped cooked bacon, chopped jalapeños, cream cheese, and shredded cheddar cheese to a large mixing bowl like this:
If you want more spice, I would suggest adding more chopped jalapeños, but since I was making these sandwiches for me and my wife, I just stuck with about one smoked jalapeno (with the seeds removed) per grilled cheese sandwich.
Then, just mix all of the ingredients together and then you’re ready to build your grilled cheese sandwiches… And if you have some leftovers, try this:
Two Recipes in One!
This cream cheese chicken mixture is also perfect for griddle pinwheel appetizers! Just spread the mixture on a large flour tortilla, roll it up, and slice into pinwheels. Toast on both sides on the griddle like I did for these awesome buffalo chicken pinwheels on YouTube!
Step 2: Butter the bread slices and spread on the popper mixture.
Once your mixture is done, add butter or mayonnaise to one side of each piece of bread, then spread a good thick layer of the popper and chicken mixture on to make your sandwich.
Step 3: Grill the jalapeno popper grilled cheese on the griddle or in a skillet.
To finish these sandwiches, just put them on the griddle and cook until both sides are nice and golden brown and the cheese mixture is warm and gooey.
The trick to the perfect grilled cheese sandwich is to make sure your pan or griddle isn’t too hot. If it is, then the bread will burn before the filling and cheeses have a chance to warm up and melt. So low heat and a bit slower is best!
You can also add a weight or press on top of the sandwiches to help ensure even contact with the griddle surface, but it’s not necessary.
Other Griddle Sandwich Recipes to Try
Want to try some other creative sandwich recipes on your griddle or inside in a skillet? Check out these sandwich ideas:
- The BEST Chicken Caprese Sandwich – Easy Store-Bought Ingredients!
- Fried Chicken Breakfast Sandwich – Easy Blackstone Griddle Recipe
Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese Recipe
Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese
Ingredients
- 1 chicken breast cooked and shredded
- 4 oz cream cheese softened
- 4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
- 4 jalapeños, cooked to tender seeds removed
- 8 slices bacon cooked and chopped
- 8 slices jalapeno cheddar loaf bread or substitute your favorite bread
- mayonnaise or butter to toast the bread
Instructions
- Dice the cooked and seeded jalapeños, or substitute jarred jalapeños. See notes section below.
- Preheat griddle on low.
- In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, diced jalapeños, chopped bacon, and shredded chicken. Mix until well combined.
- Spread about ¼ of the cream cheese and chicken mixture on a slice of bread. Top with second slice of bread to form a sandwich. Repeat for the other 3 sandwiches.
- Add about ½ tablespoon of softened butter or mayonnaise to the top bread slice of each sandwich. Then, place the sandwiches on the preheated griddle, buttered side down to begin toasting. Add an additional ½ tablespoon of butter or mayonnaise to the top of the second slice of bread, now facing upwards.
- Allow the sandwiches to cook on the first side until golden brown, then flip to the second side and continue to cook until golden brown and cheese is melted. For best results, cook on low heat so that cheese can melt and the sandwich can toast fully before the bread burns.
- When sandwiches are done, remove from the griddle and allow to cool slightly before serving.
Notes
- Smoke whole jalapeños on a grill or smoker at about 250 degrees for one hour to tenderize them. Then, allow the peppers to cool, cut in half, and remove the seeds before dicing.
- Cut whole jalapeños in half and remove the seeds. Place them cut side down on a foil-lined baking sheet, and broil in the oven for about 5 minutes or until the skin is slightly charred. Allow to cool, then dice.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. De-seed and dice fresh jalapeños. Add a drizzle of oil to the heated skillet, and saute the diced peppers until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Substitute jarred pickled jalapeños.
Great idea, looks good.
I love how you break everything down for people like me to enjoy cooking. Well done
Love this recipe. Would have never thought to do this. Congratulation on 100k on YouTube!