Bacon Wrapped Jalapeños (Air Fryer)

If you like jalapeño poppers you will love these keto bacon wrapped jalapeños that you can easily make in the Air Fryer! Only 3 ingredients and about 15 minutes to make this tasty low carb appetizer or keto snack.

You might also like these low carb chicken nuggets in the Air Fryer.

This is a quick recipe post for you today. My husband’s jalapeno plants are about to go crazy soon and I was in the mood for some cheese stuffed jalapeños. We used to make them on the outdoor grill but I got to thinking that I could make them in the Air Fryer which has become one of my favorite kitchen appliances.

So I made this keto bacon wrapped jalapeños in the Air Fryer and they only took 10 minutes. They were so full of flavor and I will be making them all summer! They are different than poppers that use cheddar and cream cheese. Instead they use cheese sticks which works great because they melt well and it’s not as messy.

Recipe ingredients and substitutions.

The simple ingredients I used were fresh jalapeño peppers, mozzarella string cheese and bacon strips

• fresh jalapeño peppers – If you are using these peppers from your garden, you want ones that would nicely fit a piece of string cheese. Though you can cut them to be smaller you want a similar size in diameter.
• string cheese – Mozzarella cheese is usually are what is available when buying string cheese, you can however use cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese or other kinds if you can find them in cheese sticks form. And of course you can use shredded cheese but the string cheese is easier and is the better cheese filling in my opinion. Note that pepper jack cheese will add even more heat and spiciness if that is appealing to you or not.
• bacon strips – I use a thinner type of bacon so that they will cook quicker and get crispy faster. I would not use thick cut bacon.

How to make bacon wrapped jalapenos in the air fryer.

Step 1: First of all you want to cut and clean out the jalapeños. Cut off the stem and then clean out the seeds and ribs with a small paring knife. If you use your hands, you might want to use gloves so you don’t get the burning effects of the seeds and ribs. That’s where all the heat comes from. If you love that spicy flavor you can keep the ribs in.

Step 2: Next cut the cheese sticks in half and stuff into your peppers. If the cheese sticks out a bit, cut it so it’s flush with the top of the pepper. If you have excess room in the pepper add more cheese like above. This will all depend on how big your peppers are. 

Step 3: Now you want to wrap the peppers. Start with the end of the bacon and then wrapping it over the top of the pepper. Then wrap it around the pepper overlapping a bit as you go. You can then try to form the bacon to the pepper. It will stick a bit more when you squeeze it together. You want the bacon cover the cheese filling so it won’t ooze out.

You can always use toothpicks to keep them together but I never really had to with the air fryer.

Step 4: Set the peppers into the Air Fryer basket with the seam side of the bacon down. Note you can use parchment paper, air fryer liners or even a piece of aluminum foil for easy clean up.

Then cook at 400°F for about 10 minutes. You can flip them over at the 7-8 minute mark to get the browned on both sides.

If you would like your bacon more crispy cook it for a few more minutes. The pepper should be cooked well and the cheese will be melted. 

Eat them immediately as you want the cheese to be melted and the bacon crispy. I only made 6 of these because I was just trying them out but you could fit a few more in the basket.

And since it doesn’t take much time you can do them in a few batches.

For leftover jalapeño poppers you can reheat them in the microwave but you can also broil them for a few minutes until the bacon has become crispy again.

If you don’t have an Air Fryer.

If you don’t have an Air Fryer you can always make these by baking in the oven. Check out my husband’s jalapeno recipe here for how to do it.

But essentially you want preheat the oven to 400°F and then blanch the peppers. Next stuff them with cheese and wrap with bacon. You can use toothpicks if you want to keep the bacon together.

Place on a baking sheet with the seam side down. You might want to cover with aluminum foil first to capture the bacon grease. Bake them for 15-20 minutes in the oven. Check to see if the bacon is to your liking and if it’s not crispy enough place back in the oven and cook longer or place them under the broiler for a few minutes.

More low carb stuffed pepper appetizers.

In the summer we love to stuff different types of peppers from the garden. Below you can see my easy keto 4 ingredients chicken stuffed poblanos that would be great for a Super Bowl party or any game day get together. Sometimes we eat them for lunch or dinner. They too are made in the air fryer.

And here are all of my stuffed pepper recipes.

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do. I see me and my husband eating many of these with his fresh jalapeños from the garden. While these make q great party appetizer for game day, they also make a great keto snack any time of day.

The nutritional information for of the bacon wrapped cheesy stuffed jalapeños is: 79 calories / 6.1g fat / 0.8g carbs / 0.4g fiber / 6.7g protein = 0.4g net carbs