In collaboration with Cabot Creamery Cooperative– Cabot is a co-operative owned by farm families throughout New England & New York and 100% of profits go back to the farmers.
Jalapeño poppers are always a hit at my house. Sometimes, though, I don’t have the time to prep enough of them to make all the dinner guests happy. As we thought about ways to serve one of our favorite dishes to a crowd, with limited prep effort, the idea of jalapeno popper dip came to mind!
This easy dip recipe solves that problem. This can be prepared ahead of time or right before you throw it on the grill. Watch out though this will become a new favorite at your house in no time! We especially like it because it is more cheesy than regular poppers– which we think really highlights the flavors of the Cabot Creamery Cooperative cheese that we blend in the mixture.
With this recipe, we served the piping hot dip with tortilla chips and toasted baguette slices. It would also be great with carrot sticks, celery sticks and cucumber slices. For an added twist, you could drizzle a bit of raspberry jam on top, which is our favorite accompaniment when we make whole poppers on the grill.
Delicious Poppers In a Dish
For making this jalapeno popper dip, we started with a half dozen whole jalapeño peppers, rinsed. They go on the Traeger grill at 225*. I put the peppers on the grill for about 25 minutes until they start to get blistered and soft. Meanwhile, I cooked 10 slices of bacon on an aluminum foil-lined cookie sheet in the same grill until rendered and crispy.
Once those two ingredients were cooked, I removed them from the grill and drained the bacon on some paper towels. I roughly chopped the jalapeños, removing most of the seeds, so they were in about 1/4 inch dice. I also roughly chopped the bacon so that every bite of the dip would taste like a popper.
In a baking dish, I combined mayo, sour cream, cream cheese and 3 cups of shredded Cabot Creamery cheese (a 50/50 blend of habanero and Vermont Sharp). I also added a dash of Spiceology’s Jalapeño Popper blend, which is an amazing seasoning blend that includes all the best flavors of poppers.
Once the cheeses are well-blended into the mixture, I stirred in all the chopped roasted jalapeños and all but a few tablespoons of the bacon. After everything was combined, I smoothed the surface of the mixture and topped it with the remaining shredded cheese and reserved bacon pieces.
Into the Traeger grill it goes at 350* for about 20 minutes until hot, bubbly and browned on top. Allow the jalapeno popper dip to cool for a few minutes and serve with chips, baguette toasts or veggies for dipping.
Another Riff on Poppers
If a dip isn’t what you’re looking for, try this recipe I made with similar ingredients, in the form of rellenos!
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Smoked Jalapeno Popper Dip
Equipment
- Traeger Grill preheated to 225°
- Grill-proof baking dish
- Alumninum foil-lined cookie sheet
Ingredients
- 6 whole fresh jalapenos, rinsed
- 10 slices uncooked bacon
- 1 block cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- ½ cup sour cream
- 2 tbsp Spiceology Jalapeno Popper seasoning
- 2 blocks Cabot Creamery Cooperative cheese, shredded we used one block of habanero and one Vermont Sharp cheddar
Instructions
- Preheat your Traeger grill to 225°.
- Rinse the whole jalapenos and place them on the grill, allowing to cook for about 25 minutes.
- Place bacon on cookie sheet and cook in the grill until rendered and slightly crisp.
- In a baking dish, combine mayo, sour cream, cream cheese and popper seasoning. Mix until well blended.
- Remove bacon and jalapenos from the grill, and drain bacon on paper towels.
- Roughly chop jalapenos (removing most of the seeds and chop the bacon.
- Stir in all the jalapenos and most of the bacon in the cream cheese mixture. Reserve about 2 tbsp bacon pieces.
- Stir in 3 cups of the shredded cheese (reserve about 1 cup) to the cream cheese mixture. Mix well.
- Smooth cheese mixture in baking dish, then top with remaining shredded cheese and bacon pieces.
- Place in Traeger grill with the heat turned up to 350° and bake for about 30 minutes until hot, bubbly and browned on top.
- Serve with tortilla chips, baguette toasts and veggies for dipping.
