Jalapeño Popper Dip
This Jalapeño Popper Dip is ridiculously creamy and cheesy, loaded with bacon and finished with a crispy Ritz topping coated in bacon fat.
Servings: 6 - 8
Equipment
- Sharp Knife & Chopping Board
- Frying Pan & Wooden Spoon
- Large Mixing Bowl
- Spatula
- Suitably Sized Baking Dish (the one I filmed with was 9"x9")
Ingredients
- 1/2lb / 250g Bacon
- 12.3oz / 350g full-fat Cream Cheese, at room temp
- 1 1/2 cups / 150g Cheddar Cheese, grated
- 3/4 cup / 75g low-moisture Mozzarella, shredded
- 1 cup / 100g Jarred Jalapeño Slices, finely diced (see notes)
- 1/2 cup / 120g full-fat Mayonnaise
- 1/2 cup / 120g full-fat Sour Cream
- 2 Spring Onions, finely diced
- 1/2 tsp EACH: Cumin, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper (optional)
- 3.5oz / 100g Ritz Crackers, or as needed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.
- Add the bacon to a large pan, then turn the heat to medium. Fry until the bacon is crisp and the fat has rendered out, then remove and leave the excess fat in the pan. Dice the bacon once it has cooled.
- In a large bowl, add the cream cheese, bacon, sour cream, mayo, spring onion, jalapeños, cheddar, mozzarella and seasoning. Give it a good stir until everything is evenly blended, then place it in a suitably sized baking dish.
- Crush the Ritz crackers into the pan of leftover bacon fat, then give them a good stir. Evenly spread over the dip.
- Bake in the oven for around 25-30mins, or until golden brown and gooey right through the middle.
- Serve with finger food and enjoy! Just be careful, it'll be scorching hot straight out the oven.
Video
Notes
a) Jarred Jalapeños - Canned/jarred jalapeños are great because they're already soft and also slightly less hot than fresh jalapeños. The 1 cup is measured as drained jalapeño slices, and then diced afterwards. Not 1 cup of finely diced jalapeños. This will give you a definite kick of spice. You can reduce to 3/4 cup if you wish.
b) Fresh Jalapeños - You can use fresh jalapeños; I recommend 4-6 (seeds removed for less heat). Best to roast them, peel off the char, then finely dice. You can throw them straight in without cooking; just make sure they're really finely diced (they will be spicier here).
c) Ritz - I usually crush them with my hands, just because I like the chunky bits. You can however pound with a rolling pin in a zip lock bag or pulse in a food processor for a finer crumb. You can also use Panko breadcrumbs, just mix them in the bacon fat or in a little butter.
d) Make Ahead - I don't recommend fully cooking then reheating; it doesn't come out quite the same. You can prep ahead of time though; just cover and store in the fridge. Just bring to room temp before baking. I recommend keeping the crumb separate (just tightly store at room temp) then add before baking. Also, bring the dip close to room temp before baking, just so it cooks through evenly.
e) Calories - whole dip shared between 6 people with no side.
Nutrition
Calories: 762kcal | Carbohydrates: 15.58g | Protein: 20.01g | Fat: 69.41g | Saturated Fat: 23.813g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11.9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13.485g | Trans Fat: 0.545g | Cholesterol: 121mg | Sodium: 907mg | Potassium: 408mg | Fiber: 0.9g | Sugar: 5.15g | Vitamin A: 1492IU | Vitamin C: 18.9mg | Calcium: 369mg | Iron: 1.46mg