These vegan jalapeño poppers are made with spicy jalapeño peppers stuffed with cashew cream cheese filling and covered in a crispy panko breadcrumb coating! The best part: these poppers are baked (not fried!) and super easy to make!
It's almost Super Bowl time! I don’t watch the Super Bowl, or really any sporting event for that matter, unless you count my cats fighting over a piece of lint.
Nope, I'm not big on watching the game! I have been known to show up for the food though.
Whether you're planning on watching the big game or not, there's always a place for vegan jalapeño poppers in your Sunday. Fortunately, these poppers are simple to whip up, and since they're totally vegan, they can be enjoyed by all!
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What You'll Need
- Jalapeño peppers.
- Vegan cream cheese. I use my homemade cashew-based vegan cream cheese, but the store-bought stuff works too!
- Fresh chives.
- Nutritional yeast flakes. Look for these in the natural foods section of your supermarket.
- Hot sauce. I like Cholula for this recipe, but feel free to use your favorite.
- Panko breadcrumbs. Any type of vegan breadcrumbs will do. I use panko because they're the most readily available vegan variety.
- Paprika.
- Salt & pepper.
- Oil. I use olive, though any high-heat oil will work. Preferably you'll want to apply it using an oil-mister (or use cooking spray), but brushing works too.
- Rubber gloves. These are essential! Without them you'll probably burn your hands while prepping the peppers.
How to Make Vegan Jalapeño Poppers
The following is a detailed photo tutorial on how to make this dish. Scroll to the bottom of the page if you'd like to skip right to the recipe.
- First, put on a pair of gloves. This is super important. Hot peppers like jalapeños contain juices that will burn your skin (or eyes, or nose, or anything else they come in contact with), so don't risk it!
- Now that you're wearing gloves, cut your peppers in half, lengthwise, and use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and inner membranes.
- To make your filling, stir your vegan cream cheese, chives, nutritional yeast, and hot sauce together in a bowl.
- Arrange your pepper halves on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, then spoon your filling into each of your pepper halves.
- To make your breading, stir together panko breadcrumbs, paprika, salt and pepper in a small bowl.
- Now dip the filling side of each pepper into the breading to get it nice and coated.
- Lightly mist or brush the breading side of each popper with oil, then place your baking sheet into the oven.
- Bake the poppers until the tops are lightly browed and crispy.
- Let your poppers cool for a few minutes after they're done baking, then serve! I like to include a dipping sauce — go for something cooling like vegan yogurt, vegan ranch, or cashew cream.
Vegan Jalapeño Popper Tips & FAQ
- Can these poppers be made gluten-free? Sure! Just use vegan gluten-free breadcrumbs.
- Shelf-life & storage: These poppers are best served right away. If you do have leftovers, place them in a 400°F oven until heated throughout, then under the broiler for a couple of minutes to recrisp the breading.
- Are these poppers spicy? Yup! Because they're made with jalapeños, they'll be pretty hot no matter what. You can reduce the heat by skipping the hot sauce. Also keep in mind that some jalapeños are hotter than others. The best way to determine heat level is by tasting, though I've heard that older peppers (identifiable by some wrinkles and striations) tend to be the hottest.
- Variation idea: for a more nacho-y cheese filling, use my nacho sweet potato cheese in place of the filling called for in this recipe. You'll need about a heaping cup!
More Vegan Game-Day Snacks
- Ultimate Vegan Nachos
- Vegan French Onion Dip
- Vegan Mozzarella Sticks
- Vegan Sausage Rolls
- Firecracker Chickpea Meatballs
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Jalapeño Poppers
These vegan jalapeño poppers are made with spicy jalapeño peppers stuffed with cashew cream cheese filling and covered in a crispy panko breadcrumb coating! The best part: these poppers are baked (not fried!) and super easy to make!
Servings 8
Calories 189kcal
Ingredients
- 8 medium jalapeño peppers
- 1 cup vegan cream cheese (store-bought or homemade)
- ¼ cup fresh chopped chives
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce, such as Cholula
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Pinch black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or high-heat oil of choice
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Put on a pair of rubber gloves.
- Cut the peppers in half, lengthwise, then use a spoon to scoop out the seeds and membranes.
- Stir the cream cheese, chives, nutritional yeast and hot sauce together in a small bowl.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the breadcrumbs, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Fill each pepper half with the cream cheese mixture, then dip the top in the breadcrumb mixture to coat. Arrange the pepper halves on the baking sheet, coating sides up.
- Lightly mist or brush the breading side of each pepper with oil.
- Bake the poppers until the breading is lightly browned and crispy, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Let the poppers cool for a few minutes and serve.
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Nutrition
Serving: 2popper halves | Calories: 189kcal | Carbohydrates: 12.1g | Protein: 6.3g | Fat: 14g | Saturated Fat: 2.6g | Sodium: 303mg | Potassium: 252mg | Fiber: 2.2g | Sugar: 2g | Calcium: 15mg | Iron: 2mg
Why nutritional yeast? I'm new to vegan recipes and ingredients and taste of vegan foods.
It has a cheesy flavor to it! You can read a bit about it here: https://www.loveandlemons.com/nutritional-yeast/
Is the sweet potato cheese just a baked sweet potato or is something mixed with it?
It's actually a recipe for vegan nacho cheese made from sweet potatoes. The link in my recipe was temporarily broken (sorry!) but I've fixed it, and here it is: https://www.connoisseurusveg.com/thats-nacho-sweet-potato-cheese/
This sounds lovely and really tasty. Thank you for sharing this.
Simon
Thank you!
These look absolutely amazing! Thank you so much for sharing!
Love using veggie cheeses over the processed kind! Love this idea, thanks!
Alissa, you're a genius! Vegan jalapeño poppers, my word. Just stop now, cause this is craziness.
Haha! I'm with you, hate the Super Bowl but am into the food. These look swell! And, the cheeses sweet potato filling means you can eat twice as many... right?!