Cheesy baked jalapeño poppers
Jalapeño halves stuffed with garlicky cream cheese and cheddar and baked until bubbly, milder than you’d think and hard to stop eating.
- 40 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 12
- About $0.47 a serving
- 110 calories
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Most of the time here is hands-off, so you can sit down while it cooks.
Ingredients
For 12 servings.
- 12 jalapeños, large
- 8 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1 cup shredded cheddar, divided
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp cilantro, chopped (optional)
From your pantry
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp salt
Each serving has about 110 calories, 4 g protein, 3 g carbs and 10 g fat, and costs about $0.47 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No cilantro? Fresh parsley works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 400°F, line a with , and set the cream cheese on the counter to .
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Sheet pan. A sheet pan is a flat metal baking tray with a low rim all the way around. The rim catches juices, and the wide surface lets food spread out and brown.
How you’ll know: Everything fits in one layer with a little space between the pieces.
Parchment paper. Parchment paper is a nonstick, oven-safe paper for lining pans. Food lifts right off and cleanup is easy, but don’t swap in wax paper or put parchment under the broiler.
How you’ll know: It lies flat in the pan, and the food slides off when you lift it.
Softened. For vegetables it means cooked until they bend and lose their crunch; for butter, left out until it dents easily. Soft onions taste sweet, and soft butter mixes in smoothly.
How you’ll know: Onions squash easily against the pan with your spoon, and butter dents under a finger without looking greasy.
the jalapeños and scrape out the seeds and white ribs with a small spoon.
Halve. Halving means cutting something into two equal pieces. Even halves cook at the same speed, so one doesn’t dry out while the other finishes.
How you’ll know: The two pieces look like mirror images of each other.
Lengthwise. Lengthwise means cutting along the long side, from stem to tip, which gives long pieces. Crosswise is the other way, straight across the middle, which gives short, round ones.
How you’ll know: Lengthwise halves of a zucchini look like two little canoes; crosswise pieces look like coins.
Dolly’s tip: Wear gloves, or wash your hands well afterward and don’t touch your eyes. The ribs hold most of the heat.the cream cheese, ¾ cup of the cheddar, the garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt and green onions until evenly mixed.
Stir. Stirring means moving food around with a spoon or spatula so it cooks evenly and doesn’t stick. Unless the recipe says constantly, every so often is plenty, and it gives food time to brown.
How you’ll know: When you drag the spoon across the bottom, nothing is sticking or scorching.
Spoon the filling into the jalapeño halves, mounding it a little, and set them on the pan cut side up.
Dolly’s tip: Fill them up to a day ahead, cover and chill, and bake when you need them.Sprinkle the rest of the cheddar over the tops.
15 to 20 minutes, until the peppers are tender and the filling is bubbling and in spots.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 18 min
Let them cool 5 minutes, scatter the cilantro over them, and serve warm.
Timer: 5 min
Dolly’s tip: They’re good warm or at room temperature and can sit out up to 2 hours.Food safety: Food with mayonnaise, dairy, eggs, cooked meat or cream, like dips, salads and cream desserts, can sit out for 2 hours at most, or 1 hour above 90°F. Keep cold food in the fridge or on ice until serving, and hot food at 140°F or hotter.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
When you host a dinner, Dollop builds the menu around your guests’ allergies, works out a cooking timeline back from when everyone sits down, and puts it all on one grocery list.
