Air Fryer Jalapeño Poppers are a slightly spicy appetizer that is packed with a thick cream cheese filling, topped with crispy bacon and breadcrumbs, and cooked to a perfect golden brown. This easy recipe takes less than 10 minutes per batch! This classic finger food is a must-have at your next party or when hosting game day!
This is one of our favorite recipes that our whole family loves, including the kids! I have found that using the air fryer is by far the easiest way, and the least amount of cleanup (before this we made them in the oven). If you don’t use up all of your peppers, consider saving them for jalapeño popper grilled cheese or jalapeno popper chicken casserole for an easy weeknight meal.
Need more delicious appetizers? My two classics are buffalo chicken dip and spinach artichoke dip. You can never go wrong with those! We also love using the air fryer to make air fryer pigs in a blanket and to cook up the crispy air fryer bacon for today’s poppers!
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Why You’ll Love This Air Fryer Jalapeño Poppers Recipe
- The perfect appetizer that requires minimal prep.
- They can be made ahead of time, which is great for party planning.
- Using the air fryer is simple and requires less cleanup.
🌶️ Ingredients:
- Softened cream cheese – adds to the creamy cheesy filling
- Coarse black pepper and garlic salt – helps enhance the flavors and adds some spice
- Green onions – some prefer chives over green onions.
- Finely grated medium cheddar cheese – it’s nice to have finely grated cheese because once you start stuffing those relatively small peppers, everything fits inside a little easier if your cheese isn’t so chunky.
- Bacon – regular bacon will work since we are going to crumble it on top and in the filling. For a quick fix, use higher quality bacon bits from the grocery store.
- Jalapeño peppers – the spice level of every batch is a little different – certainly if your peppers are turning red, they’re going to be more spicy jalapenos
- Bread crumbs – these are optional, but they sure are tasty and make the cheesy stuffing even better!
For a full list of ingredients and their measurements, 📋 please view my printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Equipment Needed: Air Fryer
Substitutions and Variations
- Add protein: Stir in cooked shredded chicken, ground beef, pork, chorizo, or Italian sausage to the cream cheese mixture before filling.
- Wrap with bacon: Use regular or thick-cut bacon slices and wrap a piece of bacon around the peppers after adding the filling. Secure it with a toothpick so it doesn’t fall off while cooking. See the air frying time above for bacon wrapped poppers.
- Swap cheeses: Experiment with other cheese combos such as feta cheese, Monterey jack, and Colby, or mozzarella. Pepper jack cheese would be fantastic if you love spicy!
- Low-carb option: Use crushed pork rinds in place of the bread crumbs.
- You can substitute garlic powder or onion powder for the garlic salt.
🔪 Instructions:
Step 1: Combine the room temperature cream cheese, pepper, garlic salt, 2 tablespoons of green onions, cheese, and a ½ cup of crumbled bacon in a medium bowl.
Step 2: Rinse the fresh jalapeños and pat dry with a paper towel. Slice the jalapeño peppers in half lengthwise.
Pro Tip: Wear gloves or try to handle the peppers as little as possible. The oils can irritate your skin. A grapefruit spoon works great to scrape out the seeds from the white membrane inside the jalapeños. Be sure to always wash your hands after touching spicy peppers.
Step 3: Scrape the seeds and ribbing from the peppers to hollow them out. A grapefruit spoon works great for this!
Step 4: Scoop the mixture of cream cheese into each jalapeño half.
Step 5: Place the poppers in a single layer into the air fryer basket so there is room in between each one. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over the top of the filling in each jalapeño.
Step 6: Spray generously with non-stick cooking spray – I use Pam or coconut oil spray.
Step 7: Cook in the air fryer for 5-7 minutes at 380°F. When the tops turn golden brown and the cheese is melted, they are done.
Step 8: Top the pepper poppers with additional crisp bacon crumbs and freshly sliced green onion (or chives.) Serve warm!
SERVE: For the perfect poppers, serve warm with this homemade ranch dressing for dipping.
Recipe Tips for Jalapeno Poppers Air Fryer:
- The filling is thick; the recipe makes enough to stuff 12 jalapeños (24 halves). Use medium to large peppers; the smaller ones end up being too flat once prepped.
- Depending on the type of air fryer you have and the size of your peppers, you may need more or less cooking time. What I love about an air fryer is that you can pop open the drawer, take a peak, and then close it and continue cooking without interrupting the settings.
- Preheating is not required. After the first batch, the next ones may cook quicker since the appliance is already warmed up.
- If you are feeding a large crowd, turn your oven on the lowest setting to keep the batches of poppers warm until you are ready to serve.
Recipe FAQs
Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days. Reheat in the oven, microwave, or air fryer.
Place the poppers in the basket and reheat at 350 degrees until they are warmed through.
Frozen Poppers: You can prepare these homemade stuffed jalapeños and freeze them on parchment paper laid out on a sheet pan. Once frozen, transfer them to a Ziploc freezer bag for storage. Then you can cook a few at a time whenever you please!
Frozen Bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers: Air fry thawed poppers for 15 minutes at 325 degrees or until the bacon is nice and crispy.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the poppers on the sheet and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until they are golden brown. Here is a detailed recipe for oven-baked jalapeño poppers.
More Delicious Ideas for Jalapeño Popper Lovers
If you tried this Air Fryer Jalapeno Poppers Recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how you liked it in the 📝 comments below.
Air Fryer Jalapeño Poppers
Ingredients
- 8 oz. package cream cheese softened
- ½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic salt
- 2 sliced green onions green parts (about 3 tablespoons)
- 1 cup finely grated medium cheddar cheese
- ½ pound bacon cooked and crumbled
- 10-12 jalapeno peppers
- ¼ cup breadcrumbs optional
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, pepper, garlic salt, 2 tablespoons of the sliced green onions, cheese, and about ½ cup of the crumbled bacon.
- Rinse jalapenos and pat dry. Slice peppers in half lengthwise. Use a spoon or gloved fingers to scoop out the seeds and ribbing from the peppers.
- Use a small spoon to scoop the cheese mixture into each pepper half.
- Place stuffed jalapenos in a single layer into the basket of an air fryer. Allow some space between each pepper. You will probably need to cook the peppers in a few batches, depending on their size.
- Sprinkle a bit of the breadcrumbs over the tops of each pepper (this is easier to do once they’re in the air fryer basket so that the breadcrumbs don’t fall off when moving the peppers into the basket.
- Spray the tops of the peppers liberally with non-stick cooking spray.
- Bake at 380°F for 5-7 minutes, until the tops of the poppers are golden brown.
- Leave the peppers to sit in the air fryer basket for a minute or two before transferring to a platter. Garnish with additional green onions and crumbled bacon. Serve warm with ranch dressing.
- Storage: Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Jalapeno poppers can be reheated in the microwave, oven, or air fryer.
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Comments & Reviews
Wendy says
Delicious
Sheri says
Is that 18 oz. Or 8 oz.?
Stefanie says
Oh goodness, it’s 8 oz. THANK YOU for catching that typo – all fixed! 😘
Sam says
These were really good! We have a ton of jalapenos this year, easy way to use up a lot of them. Thank you!
Jeannette Shields says
What would happen if I used a regular oven? I don’t have an air fryer.
I’m making your pot roast today!
Stefanie says
Mmmmm, pot roast! lol. Jeannette, you can totally use your regular oven for jalapeño poppers. I have an oven based recipe here: https://thegirlinspired.com/jalapeno-poppers/ – the main difference is that I used bacon and breadcrumbs with the air fryer version. There would be no issue using this air fryer recipe, but following the cooking instructions in the other recipe. YUM! Let me know how everything turns out!