Smoked Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers (with a Mexican Twist)
These smoked bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers have a delicious cream cheese filling made with chorizo, ground breakfast sausage, shredded cheddar cheese, and taco seasoning. Wrap the stuffed jalapeños in bacon and smoke them on your grill or smoker for easy smoker appetizers, perfect for your next fiesta!
Servings: 32 poppers
Ingredients
- 16 large jalapenos
- 32 strips bacon
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 8 oz shredded cheddar cheese
- 8 oz cooked ground breakfast sausage crumbles (not flavored)
- 3-4 oz cooked chorizo sausage crumbled
- 1 tbsp Mexican seasoning or taco seasoning plus more for sprinkling on bacon wrapped poppers
For the Chipotle Cream Sauce:
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2-3 chipotles in adobo sauce canned individual peppers
- 1 tsp lime juice
- ½ - 1 tbsp half & half if needed to thin sauce
Instructions
- Make the filling for your stuffed poppers by combining softened cream cheese, shredded cheese, cooked chorizo and sausage crumbles, and Mexican seasoning in a large bowl. Mix until well combined. You can use a hand mixer to make it easier.
- Cut the jalapeños in half length-wise and use a spoon to deseed and hollow them out.
- Stuff each jalapeno half with about 2½ - 3 tablespoons of the cream cheese filling mixture, depending on the size of your peppers. The filling should not extend past the top edge of your halved pepper too much.
- Wrap each stuffed jalapeno pepper with one strip of bacon, securing with a toothpick so the bacon stays in place. *At this point, you can place the prepped jalapeno poppers on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight to smoke the next day. Or, continue on to the next step.
- Preheat smoker or grill to 400°F.
- Place a wire cooling rack on top of a foil lined baking sheet. Place the prepared bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers on the cooling rack with some space in between each one. Sprinkle the tops with Mexican seasoning.
- Place the baking sheet of jalapeno poppers in the smoker and close the lid. Smoke the poppers for about 50 minutes to 1 hour at 400°F. Turn the heat up to 450°F and smoke for an additional 10-15 minutes or until bacon is cooked through.
- While the jalapeno poppers are smoking, make the chipotle cream sauce by adding sour cream, lime juice, and chipotle peppers in adobo to a blender cup. Blend just until smooth. For a thinner sauce, add ½ - 1 tablespoon of half & half or cream if desired. Store sauce in the fridge until peppers are done cooking.
- When peppers are done cooking, remove from the smoker and allow to cool for about 10-15 minutes on the cooling rack/baking sheet. Top the jalapeno poppers with a drizzle of the chipotle cream, and sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro. Add the remaining cream sauce to a small dip serving bowl to serve alongside the poppers appetizers.
Notes
- You can cook the ground sausage and chorizo a day ahead of time and store it in the fridge. I used a leftover cooked sausage and chorizo mix that I had from preparing another recipe the day before.