Jalapeño Popper Dip

This Jalapeño Popper Dip will become your go-to party appetizer! It's a classic, easy recipe that can be thrown together for any occasion, and it's so much easier to make than actual jalapeño poppers. This dip is made with rich cream cheese, sour cream, spicy jalapeño peppers, tomatoes and green chiles and topped with bread crumbs, all baked and served with crackers or chips for dipping.

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Easy appetizer recipe

Have you ever forgotten until the last minute that you offered to bring something to a friend's house? Yikes... me too!

That's where this easy appetizer recipe comes in. Everyone loves jalapeño poppers, but this cream cheese jalapeño dip tastes just like them and it's so much easier to make.

This dip can be thrown together quickly and every time I've shared it with people they go crazy over it.

In fact, you might think that someone licked the dish clean because it's usually completely cleaned out!

This cream cheese jalapeño dip is the best appetizer to share with friends whether it's around the couch watching football or as a starter to a dinner party. It's spicy, creamy and packed with flavor.

Jalapeño Popper Dip Recipe

Of course, this easy party dip wouldn't be what it is without the jalapeños.

I've used fresh jalapeños before for this recipe, but I really love the convenience of using jarred jalapeños.

I almost always have all of the ingredients for this recipe already, except fresh jalapeños. So I've tweaked this recipe to use jarred jalapeño peppers so that I can always whip this recipe together!

Ever since I was pregnant with my oldest son, I haven't been able to tolerate the heat of fresh jalapeños. Especially jalapeño poppers.

With jarred peppers, most brands have a milder, "tamed" version of jarred jalapeño peppers that are a perfect blend of jalapeños and bell peppers. This blend is flavorful without knocking you off your seat with spiciness.

But they also have other heat levels of jalapeños if spice is your thing!

Ingredients

To make jalapeño popper dip, you'll need:

• 16 ounces of softened cream cheese
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 10 ounce can of tomatoes and green chiles
• ½ cup jarred jalapeño peppers, chopped
• 1 cup bread crumbs (I prefer making these homemade so they are chunkier)

How to make jalapeño popper dip

To make your dip:

1. Chop jalapeños and add to a medium-sized mixing bowl.
2. Add in sour cream, cream cheese, and tomatoes with green chiles.
3. Mix together ingredients. If your cream cheese wasn't soft enough to really mix together, you can bake it for 10 minutes and stir before adding bread crumbs on top.
4. To make your own homemade bread crumbs, simply toast 2 slices of bread to just golden. Place in a food processor and chop until pieces are ½ inch or so. You can also chop into ½ pieces with a knife.
5. Pour bread crumbs over dip mixture, top with a few extra jalapeño slices and bake for 25 minutes, until bread crumbs are golden brown and dip is hot.
6. Serve with crackers or slices of bread for dipping.

Do you have to use homemade bread crumbs for this recipe?

No, you definitely don't! Personally, I love to because I love the texture of big chunks of bread crumbs on top!

If you don't want to make them homemade, I'd suggest checking your deli section at your grocery store for the package they sometimes sell with fresh/stale bread cubes. That will work perfectly.

Regular finely ground bread crumbs will work, but I recommend mixing in a tablespoon of melted butter, so they aren't just dry and sitting on top of the dip.

How do you make this dip spicier?

If you want this jalapeño popper dip to have more of a kick, consider using a jar of hot jalapeños or add in some spicy green chiles!

You could also use fresh jalapeños if they are available to you.

You could also mix in 1 teaspoon of red chile flakes into the cream cheese mixture to add a bit more spice.

Serve alongside a jar of hot sauce for guests to add more spice if they like. And for extra spicy fun, serve with other dishes that have some kick like buffalo shrimp.

How can you make this ahead of time?

Mix all of the ingredients ahead of time and place in the fridge until party time. You can also completely bake this early and then reheat it in the oven or under low broil for 5-10 minutes to reheat.

Are you ready to step up your snack game? This creamy jalapeño dip is the best appetizer for a party, football gathering or just because! It's become a staple in our house!

More easy appetizers

When we have friends over for dinner parties or book club, I like to have a couple of appetizer choices on hand. This jalapeño popper dip is a great one. Here's what I usually serve it with:

• Skillet Sausage Dip
• Five Ingredient Baked Caprese Dip
• Buffalo Chicken Dip