Jalapeño Popper Dip – Best Easy Appetizer Recipe

Jalapeño Popper Dip is a delightfully creamy, cheesy dip with a little bit of crunch from the crispy topping and heat from the jalapeños. It’s like a jalapeño popper in dip form. Serve it hot with tortilla chips for the ultimate party appetizer at your next party. 

Not normally someone who likes spicy foods, I was rather surprised when I made this dip and found it to be amazingly delicious!

I would never have made it at all if it wasn’t for the jalapeño pepper plant I have growing in the garden.

Cue the pepper plant saga. So, I planted four jalapeño pepper plants in the garden this spring, with the intent of growing my own peppers for salsa later on.  

They all died but one, unfortunately.

But that one pepper plant yielded abundantly. Not only did I have enough jalapeño peppers for my homemade salsa, I also made hot pepper jelly and still more peppers remained!

Well, what else could I do with jalapeño peppers?

That’s when I thought of it. Jalapeño Popper Dip! Ok, I’ll give it a try.

And my, I’m glad I did.

All that to say, here is our rendition of the popular jalapeño popper dip. Whether you’re needing a delicious appetizer for game day or simply looking for an easy appetizer for dinner tonight, we think you’re going to like this great dip recipe!

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Supplies

• 8×8 baking dish
• Gloves – don’t forget to wear gloves to protect your hands from the hot peppers!
• Non-stick cooking spray
• Frying pan – it’s important to sauté the veggies first or they’ll be too crunchy in the dip!
• Kitchen utensils
• Vegetable Chopper – makes dicing the jalapeños and onion super easy!
• Kitchen knife
• Cutting board
• Mixing bowl – you’ll need a place to mix up the wonderful dip
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Microwave safe dish – to melt the butter in for the crumb topping
• Electric handheld mixer

Ingredients 

Butter – regular salted butter goes in both the dip itself and the cracker crumb topping.

Jalapeño peppers – fresh jalapeños, diced into little pieces. Ours came from our garden, but fresh jalapenos are pretty readily available at grocery stores too, at least in our area.

Onion – some diced onion for flavor and a little texture along with the peppers.

Cream cheese – softened full fat cream cheese is the base of this dip, as you might have guessed. 

Sour cream 

Mayonnaise – the unexpected, unique ingredient in this dip; we don’t recommend substituting with anything like Miracle Whip.

Shredded cheese – grated cheddar or sharp cheddar cheese is definitely my favorite, but this time we used Colby jack and that was delicious as well!

For the crispy cracker crumb topping

More butter – salted butter

Ritz cracker crumbs – crushed Ritz crackers. Pro cracker crushing tip: place the contents from one “fresh stack” package of Ritz crackers (about half of a regular sleeve of Ritz crackers) into a Ziploc bag, remove as much air as possible, seal securely and crush the crackers with your hand or a rolling pin. (Or use a food processor!)

Parmesan cheese – we use the canned stuff most times and it works great!

Parsley – dried parsley flakes, or you can use fresh parsley if you have it of course.

For serving

Tortilla chips – for serving. You can also use regular Ritz crackers or any cracker for that matter.

Find the full recipe along with detailed instructions on a handy little printable recipe card below!

How to make Jalapeño Popper Dip

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

⚠️Warning: jalapeño peppers are hot; wear gloves for this step to keep from burning your hands! Deseed and dice the jalapeños along with the onion. (You won’t use a whole onion in this recipe, so save the rest for another use!)

Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan and sauté the diced peppers and onions until they are somewhat soft.

In a mixing bowl, place the softened cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise, and beat thoroughly with an electric handheld mixer. (It doesn’t really matter if it’s lump free or not, since it’ll be getting baked!

Add the sautéed peppers and onions, along with any excess butter, and the shredded cheese into the bowl with the cream cheese mixture and stir to combine.

Grease your baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or butter and spread the cream cheese jalapeño mixture in the bottom.

Now, make the crumb topping. In a microwave safe dish, melt the butter in the microwave. Then stir the melted butter, Ritz cracker crumbs, parmesan cheese, and parsley flakes together and spread evenly on top of the cream cheese mixture.

Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until the crumb topping is starting to turn slightly golden brown.

Serve immediately with tortilla chips or your favorite crackers for dipping.

Enjoy.💛

How to store Jalapeño Popper Dip

Cover the leftover jalapeño popper dip with plastic wrap or a lid or transfer to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for 3-5 days. (Leftover dip is delicious reheated the next day!)

Notes

Don’t forget to wear gloves when working with hot peppers!

Adjust the spice level to your liking by adding more or less jalapeños.

One “fresh stack” package of Ritz crackers makes the perfect amount of crushed cracker crumbs for this delicious dip recipe.

Make this perfect appetizer ahead of time! Just wait to mix up the topping and put it on just before you’re ready to bake it.

Customize this jalapeno popper dip recipe to your liking by adding bacon bits, green chiles, or even sliced green onions on top of the dip for a garnish.

Inspire your friends – share!

So, did you make our Jalapeño Popper Dip Recipe?

How did it go for you? Leave a comment below if you made it and give it a star rating.

Thanks a million!

For visiting our small town. Here’s a couple more crowd-pleasing dip recipes to check out before you go:

’til next time,

Julie