Irresistible Smoked Jalapeño Bacon Wrapped Poppers: A Flavor Explosion!
Ingredients:
- 10 fresh jalapeños
- ½ lb thin sliced bacon
Filling
- 1 can (10 oz.) diced tomatoes and green chiles, drained
- 1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- ½ lb ground sausage
- Salt to taste
- Ground black pepper to taste
Preparation:
- Halve each jalapeño lengthwise and remove the seeds. Set aside
- Drain the diced tomatoes and green chilies. Place them on paper towels and pat them dry to remove excess moisture; this keeps your filling firm.
In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, dried tomatoes, chilies, and salt and pepper to taste.
- Fill each jalapeño half generously with the cream cheese mixture.
- Divide the ground sausage into 20 small logs. Place one sausage log onto the cream cheese mixture in each jalapeño half.
- Lay the bacon strips on a cutting board and gently press/stretch them out with your hands.
Thinning the bacon helps ensure a crispy finish when cooked and stretches it further. Depending on the size of your jalapeños, you might only need half a strip per popper.
- Wrap each stuffed jalapeño with a bacon strip. Make sure the ends of the bacon strip are tucked underneath, on the jalapeño side, to secure it.
- Place your poppers on the cooler side of the grill, jalapeño side down.
- Close the lid and cook for 1 hour, or until the bacon is crispy and the sausage is cooked to an internal temperature of 160ºF
- Remove the poppers from the grill & plate them.
Enjoy them!