Fresh jalapeno peppers are blanched then stuffed with a bacon and cream cheese, cheddar cheese, Monterey Jack blend, dipped in buttermilk, rolled in flour & deep fried. Yum!
Fried Jalapeno Poppers
We just don't do a lot of Tex-Mex recipes here along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and I'd venture to guess that most folks who live in my area probably buy their poppers from the freezer section at the grocery store! They are not the same as homemade folks, so I decided to make my own homemade version that I have come to love.
They are a bit time-consuming to prep but heads above better than those ones you find in the freezer section of your store. There just is no comparison, so next time you want to make a platter of appetizers I hope you give these a try. And, you can prepare them and then flash freeze them, so that the next time you need some, they'll be right in your freezer, ready to fry. That, is exactly what I did! Just prepare them all the way up to get them ready to fry, spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray, set them on it, stick the whole thing in the freezer and then once they are frozen solid, pop 'em in a zipper freezer bag.
Now, first things first. If you try to take raw jalapeno peppers that you have bought from the grocery store and bread them, guess what? Your breading isn't gonna stick.
Store-bought jalapenos invariably have a waxy coating on them to keep them fresh and shiny and appealing to your eye. This will affect the ability of the coating to stick if you try to bread them raw. In my recipe, I boil the jalapenos first which both removes the coating and softens them, so you don't have to fry them so long.
I also use buttermilk, which is much thicker and gives the crumb something to cling to. Regular milk and especially a thinner lower fat milk won't work. If you don't have buttermilk, you'd be better off trying an egg wash and double coating with crumb. If you don't want to boil the peppers first, you can scrub them with a vegetable brush, but the fried pepper won't be as tender either.
So with my recipe, you 1) parboil the peppers, 2) stuff them 3) dip in buttermilk 4) dip in flour 5) dip in buttermilk again, 6) dip in breadcrumbs, then 7) fry!
These would be fantastic to prepare in advance and freeze, to have on hand to fry as an appetizer for any party, gathering, or cookout, so that you'll have a great appetizer to tame the wild beasts while the rest of the food cooks on the grill. I highly recommend that you break out the deep fryer for these too because they fry up real quick, stay nice and crunchy and are not at all greasy. Here's how to make them!
For more of my favorite appetizers, check out my collection on Pinterest!
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