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Your above average jalapeño snacky, but make her a baddie. Stuffed to the dang brim with creamy, herby, cheesy filling. Crispy AF on the outside, melty and indulgent on the inside. These easy vegan jalapeño poppers are about to level your game day spread the heck up.
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Remember those poppers you used to inhale by the dozen at Applebee's or Chili's back in the day, before you knew better? Yeah. These slap the wigs right off of those frozen, manufactured sucky boys' heads.
Stanky ol' Sysco, who makes most of the jalapeno poppers you see on restaurant menus all around the country fills theirs with factory farmed dairy, the dust that comes out of chalkboard erasers, and the tears of extremely bored unicorns. The poppers you are about to make point and laugh at those ones, while they wear a dunce cap and sit on a wobbly old stool in the corner.
OK, sorry. It's not usually in my nature to diss things this relentlessly, but these are just on a completely different level, and you are going to pull them off with great ease.
This is gonna be your new favorite dipping sauce. Rock these for your Super Bowl party with vegan enchiladas, vegan taco salad, and some creamy vegan queso on the side, and your whole gang will pick you up on a chair like you are at a Jewish wedding, or are the golden British robot man from Return of the Jedi.
Jump to:
🥰 Why you'll adore this vegan jalapeño popper recipe
✊ Vegan AF: All my vegan Super Bowl recipes are certified cruelty-free razzle-dazzle in a deep-fried trench coat doing an accurate impression of the Applebee's appetizer of your actual dreams.
🌾 Stupidly Easy to Make GF: Swap in your favorite gluten-free flour and GF breadcrumbs and this whole vegan recipe works great for those who hate gluten with all of their heart and soul.
💨 The Air Fryer Says Yes: These are fully air fryer approved and the results are ridiculously good: crispy outside, melty inside, way less oil. Single layer in the basket, don't crowd them, thank me later, Mommy.
✅ Tested and Approved Worldwide: Before any of my vegan recipes earn their spot on the blog, over 1,000 recipe testers across 6-ish continents give me a thumbs up that they worked great in their kitchens too.
💣 Learn the bomb vegan Mexican recipes
This guide to my most popular vegan Mexican recipes is 100% FREE, & you'll love the actual heck out of it 🥰
🌶️ Vegan Jalapeño Poppers Ingredients
Vegan Cream Cheese
The filling in these poppers is the best part: creamy, rich, and doing a LOT, and it all starts with good cream cheese. My homemade vegan cream cheese recipe is fermented, only 4 simple ingredients, and kind of embarrassingly easy. Otherwise, if you are a lazy bum, Tofutti and Kite Hill are the store-bought ones I'd say are worth messing with.
Vegan Cheddar Shreds
If you've taken my plant-based cheese school class, the vegan cheddar cheese you learned in there is absolutely perfect here. Otherwise Daiya shreds are my store-bought pick for this specific recipe, they melt well and don't do anything weird. Vegan mozzarella or pepper jack shreds also work if that's what you've got (and those will get you closer to the flavor of vegan chiles rellenos too).
Vegan Bacon
You absolutely do not have to use bacon in these, but if you're going for it, my seitan bacon, tofu bacon, carrot bacon, and tempeh bacon are all solid choices. If using Lightlife bacon, or pretty much any other store-bought one, just make sure to actually cook the bacon before mincing it into bits for the filling.
Mild Hot Sauce
My pick for this is Frank's RedHot, it adds just enough tang and heat to the breading mixture without going completely cray cray on the creamy filling. Vegan buffalo sauce also works great here if you have some on hand. Any vinegar-based hot sauce or even a splash of pickle brine will do the thing in a pinch, because the main thing you want is acid to curdle the milk for the breading.
Bread Crumbs
Regular bread crumbs are what I use and they give you that perfect crispy crust without making the coating quite as thick as panko breadcrumbs. Gluten-free crumbs are a totally solid swap- just make sure they are also vegan, because a lot of GF breadcrumbs contain eggs.
Frying Oil
I generally use canola oil for these. It's neutral, got a high smoke point, no drama. Avocado oil, sunflower oil, vegetable oil, and safflower oil all work great too. Air frying? All you need is a light spritz of cooking spray and you're completely set.
*See the recipe card at the bottom of the page for exact quantities, nutritional info, and detailed cooking directions.
📖 How to make vegan jalapeño poppers
Hungry enough to bite into a raw jalapeño, seeds and all like it's an apple from hell? Please don't. Skip straight to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this page if you're on the express train. Otherwise, stick around for the full step-by-step with photos, hot tips, and the occasional gentle warning.
Step One
Netflix and Chili:
Slice each jalapeño in half lengthwise, then use a paring knife or small spoon to remove the seeds and membranes. Set them aside.
Step Two
I Got This Filling, Tonight's Gonna Be a Good Night:
In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, cheddar shreds, cilantro, garlic, onion, and vegan bacon if using. Mix until fully blended.
Step Three
Sweet Dreams Are Made of Cheese:
Spoon the cream cheese mixture into each jalapeño half. Gently press the filling into place using slightly damp hands.
Step Four
Bread Pitt:
Place the flour in one shallow bowl. In a second shallow bowl, stir together the plant-based milk and hot sauce, and place the bread crumbs in a third bowl. Coat each filled jalapeño by dipping it into the flour, then the milk mixture, and finally the bread crumbs until fully covered.
Step Five
Harry Popper:
Pour the oil into a deep skillet or Dutch oven and heat it over medium heat. After about 2 minutes, test the oil with a small bread crumb; it should sizzle right away.
Fry the jalapeño poppers in batches for 3 to 4 minutes, turning as needed, until crisp and golden brown on all sides.
Step Six
Wire Rack Ack Ack Ack, You Oughta Know By Now:
Transfer the cooked jalapeño poppers to a wire rack placed over a baking pan. Let them cool slightly and drain excess oil.
Step Seven
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air Fryer:
To make air fryer jalapeno poppers, preheat the air fryer to 375°F (190°C). Lightly spray the breaded jalapeño poppers with cooking spray and place them in a single layer in the basket. Air-fry for 8 to 10 minutes until lightly browned and crisp.
👉Top tips
- Pick Fresh Jalapeños That Are Roughly the Same Size: Don't grab one giant trophy pepper and one tiny baby jalapeno pepper from the same bin. Different sizes cook at completely different rates and someone's getting sad and undercooked.
- Dutch Oven = No Mess: Frying in a wide open frying pan is a one-way ticket to oil on every surface of your stovetop. A dutch oven keeps splatter contained.
- The One-Hand Rule: Designate one hand for the wet ingredients and one for the dry and do not cross the streams. The second you use the same hand for both, your fingers turn into little Twinkies coated in gluey flour sludge and 100 goofy ponies enter your kitchen and play a sad trombone right at your useless breaded hands.
🤷♀️ Recipe FAQs
Make sure each popper gets coated fully in flour first before dipping into the milk mixture and bread crumbs. That first dry layer is basically the glue holding the crunchy coating together.
If the coating is really thin, before frying, give each pepper an additional dunk in the milk and 2nd coat of breadcrumbs.
🧊 Refrigerating
Let the vegan jalapeño poppers cool completely before transferring them to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 4 days.
❄️ Freezing
Arrange the cooled poppers in a single layer on a baking tray and freeze until solid, then transfer them to a freezer-safe container. They can be frozen for up to 2 months.
🌡️ Thawing
Move frozen jalapeño poppers to the refrigerator and let them thaw overnight before reheating. For faster reheating, you can also cook them straight from frozen and add a few extra minutes to the cooking time.
🌡️ Oven Reheating
Spread the poppers on a baking sheet and reheat at 375°F (190°C) for about 8-10 minutes until heated through and crispy again. Way better than the microwave and they come back to life like nothing ever happened.
🌬️ Air Fryer Reheating
Reheat the poppers in the air fryer at 350°F for 3 to 5 minutes until hot and crispy again. This method brings back the crunch the best.
✌️You'll also love these vegan Tex-Mex recipes:
Vegan Jalapeño Poppers Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 jalapeño peppers
- 1 cup vegan cream cheese room temperature
- ⅓ cup vegan cheddar shreds
- ¼ cup cilantro chopped
- 1 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon onion finely minced
- 3 tablespoons vegan bacon minced (optional)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsweetened plant-based milk
- 2 tablespoons mild hot sauce such as Frank's Red Hot
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- 2 cups frying oil or cooking spray if air-frying
Instructions
- Slice each jalapeño in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and membranes using the tip of a paring knife or a sharp teaspoon. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix together the cream cheese, cheddar shreds, cilantro, garlic, onion, and vegan bacon if using.
- Fill the jalapeño halves with the cream cheese mixture and press gently with slightly moistened palms to secure the filling.
- Place the flour in a shallow bowl, mix together the plant milk and hot sauce in another shallow bowl, and the bread crumbs in a third shallow bowl. Dip each filled jalapeño first into the flour, then into the curdled milk, and finally into the bread crumbs until evenly coated on all sides. *If the coating seems too thin, give each popper a quick dip back into the milk followed by another coating of breadcrumbs.
- For frying, pour the oil into a deep skillet or saucepan and heat over medium heat. After about 2 minutes, test the oil with a small piece of bread crumb; it should sizzle immediately. Fry the jalapeño poppers in batches for 3 to 4 minutes, turning as needed, until golden brown and crisp all around.
- Transfer to a wire rack suspended over a baking pan to drip dry and cool slightly.
- For air-frying: preheat the air fryer to 375°F (190°C). Lightly coat the breaded jalapeño poppers with cooking spray and arrange them in a single layer in the basket. Air-fry for 8 to 10 minutes until crisp and lightly browned.
Notes
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