Recently my friend Jeffrey bragged about an amazing appetizer — cream-cheese-stuffed, bacon-wrapped grilled jalapeños — he had made for a party. Never one to be outdone, I decided immediately to make bacon-wrapped cheese-filled jalapeños that were better than his. After scouring the Internet for the perfect recipe, I chose one from Food Network because it incorporates sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil in the cream cheese mixture.
The resulting appetizer is wildly delicious, intensely spicy, and downright addictive. The most difficult part is removing the seeds from the jalapeños without cutting the entire pepper in half. For best results I recommend using a sharp paring knife and small spoon. To look at the recipe, read more.
Modified from Food Network
Ingredients
12 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
2 cloves chopped garlic
3/4 cup grated Monterey jack cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
Pinch salt, fresh cracked pepper
16 jalapeño peppers (larger than average size will make them easier to stuff)
8-16 slices of bacon* (depends on the size of your peppers)
Skewers, soaked in cold water for at least 30 minutes
Directions
- Preheat the grill.
- Mix the cream cheese with chopped garlic, Monterey jack, sun-dried tomatoes, and basil. Season with salt and pepper. Mix until mixture is soft and manageable.
- Slice each jalapeno lengthwise on one side, being careful not to cut the jalapeno in half. Remove the seeds if you don't think your friends can handle the heat, otherwise leave them if desired. Depending on your pepper, you may have to slice around the stem of the pepper to create a manageable opening to squeeze the filling in.
- With a small spoon, scoop a liberal amount of the cream cheese mixture into each jalapeño. Be careful not to overfill as the filling may spurt out during cooking.
- Wrap each pepper with a strip of bacon, securing the opening in the pepper. Secure the bacon with a skewer.
- Barbecue the peppers until they're lightly roasted, or until the bacon is fully cooked. Enjoy!
Makes 16.
*For a vegetarian variation, wrap the jalapeños in a basil leaf.
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Cath Kidston
Holy god that sounds good.
1Yummy! My Dad made these for my Mom yesterday. However he stuffs his with shrimp and cream cheese, then wraps in bacon.
2so scrumptious!
3Holy guacamole Bat Man, those look good!
4Holy jalepeno....I am going to make these!
5i recommend using the small end of a melon-baller to remove the seeds. i bet my husband would really like these.. i'll give them a shot. thanks for the idea and recipe!
6I have been making these for years...they are always such a hit and so easy to assemble early in the day and throw on the grill. I mix a little Rotel in with the cream cheese. Mmmmmmm, maybe we'll make some next weekend!
7I've made something similar and although they were yummy I wasn't a fan of all of the bacon grease catching the grill on fire.
8I baked some in the oven didn't have to worry about bacon flare ups on the grill.
9This is definitely on my list of things to make!
10Not sure I'd like these.
11Yum! I made the cream cheese stuffed, bacon wrapped jalapeno thingies and they were fantastic. To step it up, i dipped the bacon in a mix of cumin and brown sugar before wrapping it around the pepper. I can't wait to try this recipe!
12These are called ABT's Atomic Buffalo Turds.
13OMG that sounds fantastic
14A "gourmet" version of this that I have done was using proscuitto instead of bacon and I also have used the flavored cream cheeses, herb, chive & onion etc.,
I always make a batch with jalapenos and then just as many with the little yellow orange and red peppers that are shaped like jalapenos for those tender-tongued people!
I have stuffed them with cooked & herb seasoned prawns and regular cream cheese as well... the possibilities are limitless! (if you don't have time to cook the prawns yourself... there are frozen pre-cooked and sometimes seasoned bags of them in the freezer section!)
I've also used scallops and sliced up trader joe's sausages as well!
If you do not have a little spoon... I found a teaspoon works VERY well! Also you CAN seed them under running water it helps rinse the seeds away and makes them a little less spicy, just keep in mind you have to then make sure you dry them off before finishing the recipe!!
15I've made these for years but with goat cheese, chevre
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