Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

Overhead view of sandwich ingredients including jalapeños, bacon, bread, cheese, green onions, garlic, and cream cheese labeled with quantities.

5 from 4 votes

This jalapeño popper grilled cheese recipe brings spicy peppers, crispy bacon, and gooey cheese together in one bold sandwich. Make it fast for lunch, dinner, or game day cravings!

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Total Time50

Course: Lunch

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Calories: 806kcal

Author: Shauna

Ingredients

Jalapeño Poppers

8 ounces cream cheese softened
½ teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 to 2 sliced green onions green parts about 3 tablespoons
1 teaspoon garlic or garlic paste minced
½ cup medium cheddar cheese grated
½ cup Monterey jack cheese grated
10 to 12 medium jalapeño peppers

Sandwich

20 slices bread we used cracked wheat sourdough
8 to 10 tablespoons salted butter softened to room temperature
10 slices Monterey Jack cheese
10 slices medium cheddar cheese
20 slices cooked bacon 2 per sandwich

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Use a spatula or wooden spoon to mix together cream cheese, black pepper, sliced green onions, garlic, and grated cheese.
Slice each jalapeño in half lengthwise and remove seeds and ribbing (if you want more heat from the poppers, leave some of the ribbing and/or seeds).
Place jalapeños on a baking sheet, open side up.
Use a small spoon or a piping bag to fill each pepper half with the cheese filling mixture.
Bake for about 20 minutes until the cheese is melted and browned on top.
Meanwhile, butter one side of each slice of bread. Place face down on a plate or sheet of parchment paper.
For each sandwich, cover one slice of bread (the non-buttered side) with jack cheese and the other slice of bread with cheddar cheese.
Top the cheese on one slice of bread with two slices of cooked bacon and the other slice of bread with two cooked jalapeño poppers.
Flip the two sides of the sandwich together and cook over medium heat in a skillet. Cook until the cheese is melted and the bread is golden brown and then carefully flip the sandwich over to cook the other side. Turn the heat down if you notice that the bread is browning too quickly before the cheese has a chance to melt.
Repeat for the remaining sandwiches. Serve hot with a side of extra jalapeño poppers.

Notes

The cream cheese filling is enough to make about 20 medium/large jalapeño poppers (which could make up to 10 sandwiches). You can easily halve the filling recipe and make fewer poppers, although you’ll probably want to pop a few in your mouth while assembling the sandwiches or serve extras on the side, so consider making the full batch of poppers even if you’re making fewer sandwiches.
This is not spicy at all if you use green, fresh jalapeños. If you want some spice, leave some of the ribbing and/or seeds in the jalapeños or and/or use more mature jalapeños that are turning red.
Use gloves to slice jalapeños and remove the seeds/ribbing. Otherwise, heat from the oils will be left on your skin and can irritate your skin, not to mention if you touch your face or eyes.
Some people like to cut the jalapeño poppers into pieces, but leaving them whole made it easier to keep the sandwich intact both while cooking and eating it.

Nutrition