Jalapeño Pepper Popper Bake
Happy National Cooking Day!
I shared this recipe in my most recent email to my subscriber list last week. In honor of National Cooking Day, I’m posting it here on my blog too. I named this dish as a fun play on words considering my practical shooting roots and it proved a great way to use up a lot of the peppers from my little victory garden. Jalapeño poppers/pepper poppers. Get it?
It’s very versatile. You can use beef, pork, chicken or my favorite, venison. Use spicy peppers or bell peppers. Change up the seasoning and cheese for a whole different take on this bake.
Julie G’s Jalapeño Pepper Popper Bake
1/2 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Bunch of cilantro, chopped
1T oil
1T of taco seasoning or 1T cumin
Pinch of salt
1.5 lbs of ground meat
Cooking spray
Jalapeño peppers, halved longways
1 brick of cream cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar or Mexican blend
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Dice onions, mince garlic, and chop cilantro. Heat the oil (I prefer avocado oil) in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook until their edges start to brown. Move the onions to the perimeter of the pan and add the ground meat to the center. Then press the meat to the bottom of the skillet. Sprinkle the meat with salt and seasoning. Let the protein completely brown before flipping/mixing.
Wash and prepare the peppers. I used jalapeño peppers and sliced them in half longways. Feel free to use any peppers you like — jalapeño, ancho, holy moly, big Jim, etc. You can remove seeds and pith with a spoon if you prefer less heat.
Spray the bottom of an oven-safe dish with cooking spray. I prefer the olive oil variety. You can use an 8×8 dish, cast iron, or even a bread pan. Layer the peppers skin-side down in the pan.
Check on the ground meat, flipping and mixing as necessary to ensure it browns evenly. Once the meat is mostly browned, add the garlic and chopped cilantro.
Next, open up your cream cheese package and cut it into 1/4 slices. Place the cream cheese slices on top of the pepper layer. I used about a half package of cream cheese for my bake. You can use more or less depending on the size of your dish and preferences.
Once the meat has browned evenly, make sure the onions are mixed in and pour half on top of the pepper layer. If you’re concerned about grease, you can drain before adding it. Next, add half of the shredded cheese. Follow it with the remaining ground meat and then top with the rest of the cheese. I had other peppers Iaying around from my garden and I thinly sliced them along with some red onion before adding them to the top of my bake.
Bake at 425 for 20 minutes or until the top layer of cheese is melted.
Serve the dish with slices of lime, tomatoes, avocado, and salsa in corn tortillas or on top of Mexican style rice. Enjoy!
