JalapeƱo Popper Sliders
I’ve never met anyone who didn’t love a good jalapeño popper! But not everybody wants to wants to stand at the counter making twenty of them one at a time. That’s why these Jalapeño Popper Sliders are going to be your new favorite recipe, no cleaning, no seeding, no standing, none of that stuff. Just all the flavor of a popper IN A MINI SANDWICH!?! Give me that, immediately.
These sliders combine ground beef browned and seasoned with Worcestershire and garlic. The beef is layered over slider buns and topped with diced jalapeños, crumbled bacon, and thinly sliced red onions. Over the top of that add the cream cheese layer and the tops of the slider buns and bake them until everything is warmed through. I mean that beats cleaning a pound of jalapeños ANY day.
Worried About The Jalapeño?
Don’t be!! You decide the heat these slider have.
Love them spicy?? Leave the seeds and pith in the jalapeños and they’ve got real bite. Take it up a notch with sriracha in the cream cheese OR add more jalapeños or even something spicier like habaneros.
Need them mild? Take the seeds and pith out and they’re fairly mild. occasionally you’ll find a really hot jalapeño in the bunch but they’re often not that hot with the seeds and pith taken out.
Whether or NOT you find jalapeños to be hot I think it’s a great idea to wear gloves when cleaning them. Even mild ones can make your hands tingle. And if you happen to rub your eye later on, you WILL know you cleaned a jalapeño.
What You Need To Make Jalapeño Popper Sliders
Two things worth knowing before you start. Your cream cheese has to be genuinely soft or you’ll be fighting lumps the whole time, so set it out an hour ahead of time (opening it and cutting up helps a lot too!) if you can remember. And remember the ranch packet gets split, most of it will go in the cheese spread and the rest whisked into the butter for the tops, so don’t dump the whole thing in at once.
- ground beef
- Worcestershire sauce
- garlic powder
- kosher salt
- black pepper
- cream cheese
- sharp cheddar cheese
- ranch seasoning mix-see notes below on what to use if you don’t have ranch powder
- jalapeños
- bacon
- red onion
- slider buns
- salted butter
- fresh parsley
You will also need:
- a 9×13 baking pan
- a frying pan
- a cutting board
- a sharp knife
Look to your spice cupboard if you don’t have a packet of ranch you can easily add dried dill and parsley, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper to the cream cheese until it tastes good. Do the same with the butter mixture. Ranch powder is just those ingredients in a packet mix with some dried buttermilk and other things to thicken and add flavor.
Making Changes To The Recipe
You can swap in ground turkey or chicken in place of the beef. It will taste a little different but both of those options are cheaper and will stretch your food dollars.
Any cheese will work here, use what you have. Pepper jack instead of cheddar pushes the heat up, and colby or plain mild cheddar pulls it down.
Don’t have fresh jalapeños? Sub in a small can of diced green chiles. It will give you the flavor with almost no heat.
Hawaiian rolls instead of plain slider buns make these sweeter and honestly pretty great. Or make them on full size burger buns if that’s what you have.
Run them under the broiler for a minute or two at the end for toasty tasty finish on the top of the buns. Don’t let them catch on fire though, that’s my BIG trick. Make it perfectly then burn it. If I’m making dinner and the fire alarm goes off someone always yells “mom’s making dinner!”
Got Leftovers?
Leftovers sliders will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days. They taste great cold or you can reheat them if you like. To reheat, wrap them in foil and warm them in a 325 oven for 10 to 15 minutes until they’re hot through. You can also use the air fryer for quick and easy reheating.
Jalapeño Popper Sliders
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 8 oz cream cheese softened
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 oz ranch seasoning mix divided
- 2 jalapeños seeded and finely diced
- 1/3 cup cooked and crumbled bacon use real bacon bits if you want
- 1/4 small red onion thinly sliced
- 12 slider buns
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with parchment paper, you can also use a baking sheet if you like
- Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat
- Add the ground beef and cook until browned, breaking it into crumbles as it cooks
- Drain any excess grease and return the pan to the heat
- Stir the Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, and black pepper into the beef until evenly combined
- Remove from the heat and set aside
- In a medium bowl, beat the softened cream cheese until smooth with a hand mixer
- Fold in the shredded cheddar cheese and about 2/3 of the ranch seasoning until well combined
- Slice the slider buns in half, keeping the rolls connected in one sheet if possible
- Place the bottom half in the prepared pan
- Evenly spread the seasoned ground beef over the buns. Sprinkle with the diced jalapeños, crumbled bacon, and sliced red onion
- Spread the cream cheese mixture evenly over the top buns and place the sheet of slider tops over the beef mixture
- In a small pan over low heat, melt the butter
- Add the remaining ranch seasoning and chopped parsley, then whisk together.
- Brush generously over the tops of the buns
- Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5-8 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown and the filling is hot and melty
- Let the sliders cool for 2-3 minutes before slicing and serving
Video
Notes
- For a crispier top, broil the sliders for 1-2 minutes after baking, watching carefully to prevent burning.
- Leave the seeds in the jalapeños for extra heat, or remove them for a milder flavor.
