Fry

Cheeto-Crusted Jalapeño Poppers With Bacon

by:
January 20, 2014
5
1 Ratings
Cheeto-Crusted Jalapeño Poppers With Bacon
  • Makes 16
Author Notes

I take my game day food seriously and you should, too. It's not every day we can get away with frying all the things and washing them down with beer. So let's go all the way. Let's put bacon in everything. Let's use Cheetos to coat jalapeño poppers that are stuffed with cheese, bacon, and peppers.

Go team! —molly yeh

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 4 strips bacon, cooked and chopped
  • 4 ounces or 1/2 cup chopped pimientos or roasted red pepper
  • 6 ounces cream cheese
  • 1 cup shredded smoked gouda
  • 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar
  • 1 dash cayenne pepper
  • 1 dash paprika
  • 8 jalapeños, stemmed, cut lengthwise, and with the seeds removed
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • 5 cups cheetos, ground in a food processor
  • Oil, for frying
Directions
  1. Make the filling by combining the first seven ingredients.
  2. Stuff the jalapeño halves with the filling and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment.
  3. Set up three bowls. In the first, mix together flour with a pinch of salt and a few cracks of pepper. In the second, beat the eggs with the milk, a pinch of salt, and a few cracks of pepper. In the third, place the cheeto crumbs.
  4. Coat the stuffed peppers in flour, the egg mixture, and then the cheeto crumbs. Deep fry at 365º F for two minutes each or bake at 350º F for 30 minutes.
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  • Josh Eaton
    Josh Eaton
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    High-Heeled Nana
  • Heather Nguyen
    Heather Nguyen
  • nannydeb
    nannydeb
  • mrslarkin
    mrslarkin
molly yeh
molly yeh recently moved from brooklyn to a farm outside of grand forks, north dakota, where her husband is a fifth generation farmer. she writes the blog my name is yeh.

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16 Reviews

Erica
Erica February 6, 2018
Can these be made in the morning (or afternoon) and bought to a party a few hrs later? How long would you think they hold their crunch?
 
Josh E.
Josh E. September 4, 2015
Could you make these the night before and then bake off the next day?
 
Chris G.
Chris G. February 6, 2015
Not to lecture, but to stay out of trouble with FritoLay® when you use a product name like Cheetos® you really should use the "®" sign when you use their specific product. (such as Cheetos®) I copied the mark from their web site, because I could not remember how to do it from the keyboard.
Also, I have a question, you did not mention what kind of Cheetos® you used?
Baked, crunchy, regular or Jalapeno Flavored Cheetos®???? Thanks
Chris Glenn
 
Bob
Bob June 7, 2014
This were the first dish emptied at our wine tasting. Everybody loved them. A big success. Next time I am going to add some garlic and onion to the cheese.
 
Bob
Bob June 6, 2014
Gonna make this for a Texas wine tasting tonight. I know these will be a huge hit. Will report back tomorrow.
 
High-Heeled N.
High-Heeled N. April 13, 2014
CAN.NOT. wait to make these! (I gave up all dairy and grains for Lent).
 
Laura P.
Laura P. February 5, 2014
These were sinfully amazing! I don't have a food processor so I threw the cheetos in a large ziploc bag and used a rolling pin to crush them - successfully!
 
Heather N.
Heather N. February 3, 2014
I made these for the super bowl and I baked them. SOOOO tasty!!
 
Katy
Katy February 4, 2015
Hi Heather, how long/what temp did you bake them at?
 
tejanosmom
tejanosmom February 4, 2015
350 for 30 minutes, according to the recipe. Thinking of going the baking route myself. They sound sooo wonderfully naughty!
 
Rachel K.
Rachel K. January 30, 2014
These look so good! Would they be worth making baked? I love fried foods, just don't enjoy the smell it leaves behind in the kitchen, curtains, my clothes, etc. :)
 
Allison (.
Allison (. January 28, 2014
This is pretty genius. Maybe cheetos are the new panko!
 
nannydeb
nannydeb January 28, 2014
I'm in love.
 
mrslarkin
mrslarkin January 28, 2014
omg sick. but in a good way.
 
Scot Y.
Scot Y. January 25, 2014
Step 3 ...beat the eggs with the milk...
What milk? It's not listed in the ingredients.
 
molly Y.
molly Y. January 25, 2014
oh no, i'm so sorry about that! thanks for pointing that out. i just added it to the ingredients, it's 2 tablespoons of milk. and any kind of milk will do!