Jalapeno Popper Dip (or Spread)

This jalapeno popper dip is an easy appetizer recipe. You can make it a day in advance and serve it with crackers or chips. Or, use it as a spread to make pinwheels, sandwiches, or wraps. It has all of the flavors of bacon-wrapped jalapeno wrappers but served up cold and creamy as a dip instead.

Despite not yet watching one football game this year, I’ve been all about the game-day recipes like homemade mozzarella sticks and dips of all sorts like this jalapeno popper dip I’m sharing today.

It was, in fact, the bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers I shared last June and the pimento cheese I share just a week or so ago that led to this easy dip. I took the best from the poppers and mixed it up like I mixed the pimento cheese dip so, in the end, you have a dippable/spreadable appetizer that’s perfect for game-day snacking.

This jalapeno popper dis is a make-ahead, cold and creamy dip that’s great for crackers but also as a spread. More on that in a minute, but first…

Jalapeno Popper Dip Ingredients

• Cream cheese
• Sour cream
• Diced jalapeno
• Cilantro
• Lime zest
• Monterey jack cheese
• Bacon

How to Make the Dip

• If your cream cheese is softened, just add all of the ingredients to a bowl and mix until combined.
• If you forget to soften your cream cheese (like I do pretty much do all the time), just cut it into cubes and mix it with the sour cream in the food processor. It’s a lot easier than trying to mix cold cream cheese by hand. Stir in the rest of the ingredients, and ta-da, the jalapeno popper dip is done.
• Cover the bowl and chill at least for a few hours to allow the flavors to develop. Better yet, make the dip a day before you want to serve it.
• I like to let the dip stand at room temperature for 10 or 15 minutes before serving so the cream cheese softens a bit.

It’s Not Just a Dip! Other Ways to Serve Jalapeno Popper Dip

Yes, you can serve this jalapeno popper dip with sturdy chips or crackers, but there are other ways to use it, too! I love multi-functional recipes that serve a few different purposes…

• Use it as a sandwich spread: toast your bread and top it with some of the spread and pile on the turkey, cheese, and sliced avocado.
• Spread the dip on tortillas, roll them up, chill them, slice and call them jalapeno popper pinwheels – another great game-day snack.
• Toast a bagel (or slices of bread) top it with the spread, add an egg and enjoy a jalapeno popper breakfast sandwich.
• Grab some celery sticks, fill them with the spread and enjoy them as a healthy-ish snack.
• Make a sandwich wrap: spread the jalapeno popper dip on a tortilla, add your favorite lunch meat, some lettuce and other veggies, wrap and enjoy.

Happy game-day snacking 🏈

More Appetizers and Snack Ideas

I love a great game-day snack – here are a few more appetizer recipes in case you’re looking for more ideas…

• Sweet and Smokey Cashews
• Salsa Verde
• How to Make a Cheeseboard
• Deviled Eggs with Bacon & Chives

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