Sausage and Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers
These Sausage and Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers take classic jalapeño poppers to the next level. Fresh jalapeños are halved and filled with a rich, creamy mixture of savory Italian sausage and smooth cream cheese, then wrapped in crispy bacon for the perfect balance of spicy, smoky, and indulgent flavor in every bite.
We know everyone is looking for a great appetizer for all your game day celebrations. And we are betting you would like to serve something a little different but not too out there. We all love cream cheese stuffed jalapeños wrapped in bacon but what about trying something new like sausage and cream cheese stuffed peppers? Turn up the heat this game day.
Our Sausage and Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers, wrapped in thick-cut bacon, are waiting to make your celebration sizzle. Not just your average poppers, these goodies are stuffed with creamy, sausage-infused cheese for an extra punch of flavor. This recipe for these sausage stuffed jalapeño poppers is one of our best.
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We’re taking the classic tailgating favorite and elevating it with a hearty addition of savory sausage mixed into the creamy filling. These aren’t your average sausage and cream cheese stuffed peppers — they’re an extraordinary bite of flavor. We finish them by wrapping each jalapeño in thick-sliced bacon for that irresistible smoky crunch.
Spice up your next gathering with our Sausage and Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapeño Peppers. Packed with spice, creaminess, savory sausage, and smoky bacon in every bite, these bacon-wrapped poppers are always a crowd favorite at game days, tailgates, and family celebrations.
Sausage and Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers Recipe:
Ingredients:
- ½ pound mild or hot ground Italian Sausage
- 8 ounce package of cream cheese
- 8 ounces thick sliced bacon, slices cut into half
- 15-18 fresh jalapeño peppers depending on size
Equipment Needed:
- Skillet
- Meat Chopper, optional
- Cooking Spoon
- nitrile disposable gloves, optional
- toothpicks
- 9 x 13 Baking Dish
🥣 Recipe Tips
- Wear gloves when handling the jalapeños
Fresh jalapeños can leave spicy oils on your hands that burn for hours. Use nitrile disposable gloves (or food-safe gloves) while slicing, seeding, and stuffing the peppers. Remove and discard the gloves immediately after to avoid transferring capsaicin to door handles, faucets, or your face. - Partially precook the bacon
For the best results, cook the thick-sliced bacon in the microwave or skillet until it’s just starting to crisp but is still flexible enough to wrap snugly around the stuffed peppers. If it’s too crisp, it won’t wrap properly; if it’s too raw, it may not finish crisping in the oven without the filling melting out. - Chill the stuffed peppers before baking (optional but effective)
After stuffing and wrapping the peppers, place the baking dish in the freezer for 10–15 minutes or the refrigerator for 30 minutes. This helps firm up the cream cheese filling so it’s less likely to ooze out during baking, giving you neater, prettier poppers.
These tips will help your poppers turn out perfectly every time—spicy, creamy, and full of smoky bacon flavor!
How to make these cream cheese stuffed jalapeños:
- Preheat your oven to 375°F.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage, breaking it up into small crumbles with a meat chopper or spatula as it browns.
- Continue cooking and breaking up the sausage until it is fully browned and no longer pink.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and drain off the excess fat.
- Cut the cream cheese into small squares and add it to the hot cooked sausage in the skillet.
- Stir until the cream cheese is fully melted and well combined.
- Stir until the cream cheese is fully melted and completely combined with the sausage.
- Slice the stem off each jalapeño, then cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Using a small spoon, remove the seeds and membranes, leaving the pepper halves shaped like little boats.
Note: Wear nitrile disposable gloves when handling the jalapeños to protect your hands from the spicy oils.
- Fill each jalapeño pepper half generously with the sausage and cream cheese mixture.
- Precook the bacon until it’s almost crisp (in the microwave or in a skillet), then drain on paper towels. (The bacon should be partially cooked but still flexible enough to wrap easily around each stuffed jalapeño.)
Tip for the best bacon-wrapped poppers: Precook the bacon just until it starts to crisp but is still flexible enough to wrap easily around the stuffed peppers. We like using the microwave for this step and stopping it at the perfect moment. This prevents the bacon from needing too much time in the oven, which helps keep the cream cheese from melting out.
- Wrap each stuffed jalapeño with a slice of the partially cooked bacon and secure with toothpicks.
- Place the bacon-wrapped peppers in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy and the filling is hot.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
These Sausage and Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapeño Peppers are the ultimate crowd-pleaser — spicy, creamy, savory, and wrapped in smoky bacon. Whether you’re cheering on your favorite team or hosting a casual get-together, these bacon-wrapped poppers are guaranteed to disappear fast.
Give this easy recipe a try at your next game day or celebration. We’re confident it will become a new favorite at your house too!
Other Jalapeño Pepper Appetizers:
🥣 Recipe
Equipment
- Meat Chopper optional
- Cooking Spoon
Ingredients
- 8 ounces mild or hot ground Italian sausage
- 1 8 oz package cream cheese
- ½ pound thick sliced bacon slices cut in half
- 15-18 fresh jalapeños depending on the size
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the sausage, breaking it up into small crumbles with a meat chopper or spatula as it browns.
- Continue cooking and breaking up the sausage until it is fully browned and no longer pink. Remove the skillet from the heat and drain off the excess fat.
- Cut the cream cheese into small squares and add it to the hot cooked sausage in the skillet.
- Stir until the cream cheese is fully melted and completely combined with the sausage.
- Slice the stem off each jalapeño, then cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Using a small spoon, remove the seeds and membranes, leaving the pepper halves shaped like little boats.Note: Wear nitrile disposable gloves when handling the jalapeños to protect your hands from the spicy oils.
- Fill each jalapeño pepper half generously with the sausage and cream cheese mixture.
- Precook the bacon until it’s almost crisp (in the microwave or in a skillet), then drain on paper towels. (The bacon should be partially cooked but still flexible enough to wrap easily around each stuffed jalapeño.)
- Wrap each stuffed jalapeño with a slice of the partially cooked bacon and secure with toothpicks.
- Place the bacon-wrapped peppers in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes, or until the bacon is crispy and the filling is hot.
- Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi Evelyn, great recipe you have here – definitely pinning for the fall! I think these would be beautiful in the mini sweet peppers that are all over the place now. (And even though I'm a native Texan, I'm a wuss! No spicy for me!) Also, would love them with reg. breakfast sausage too. Again, thanks for this awesome app!
I could totally eat a few of these right now!