These oven baked Jalapeno Popper Nachos are perfect for parties, dinners, snacks or Super Bowl appetizers. Crispy (and gluten free!) tortilla chips, smoky bacon, spicy jalapenos and a garlicky cream sauce make them a delicious and fun recipe to serve up anytime!
Hi. My name is Myra, and I’m a little obsessed with nachos.
It all started the year we had our first baby. We had big bags of frozen cheese in our freezer, pretty much no sleep every night and not much motivation to cook. It was winter. It was dark. We were tired.
Every night (not literally, but it seems like that in my memory), we would finally get the baby settled, bake up a huge sheet pan of nachos, and collapse in front of our computer for some Netflix. We were watching Suits, and the theme song will forever remind me of that winter.
We ate a lot of nachos.
Eventually, we needed to branch out from the regular old nachos and started trying different varieties. There are some awesome nacho recipes out there people! We have a whole collection of amazing nacho recipes here!
In the meantime here’s one that I’m currently in love with. If you love jalapeno poppers, you’ll love this awesome new twist on your favorite jalapeno popper recipe – jalapeno popper nachos. And that sauce? I could eat it with a spoon.
Jalapeno Popper Nachos – Step-by-Step Instructions
Ingredients for Jalapeno Popper Nachos with Garlic Cream Sauce
If you plan to bake these right away, preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Peel and mince 5 cloves of garlic.
In a sauce pan, gently heat 1 block (8 oz) cream cheese, 1 and 1/4 cups of milk, minced garlic, 1 teaspoon of dried parsley, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.
Cook over medium-low heat until cream cheese is melted and sauce is nicely mixed. Set aside to cool.
While sauce is cooking, prep topping ingredients.
Cook bacon however you like, then chop into small pieces. I used half a package of bacon.
Tip: I like to cook my bacon in the microwave -it’s fast, hands-off, and contains the mess.
I used two jalapenos but you can use more or less to taste. If you like spicy food you might not need to seed them, but if you’re not sure you should probably take the seeds and ribs out.
Tip: You can test their heat by tasting a seed. Also, when you’re dealing with jalapenos you should protect your hands – I usually just put a baggie over the hand that’s holding the pepper 🙂
I also used 1/2 a chopped orange pepper, 1/4 of a red onion and around 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese (you could also use Monterey jack, cheddar, or whatever you like).
Start with the bottom layer – lay tortilla chips along on the pan to cover the bottom. Cover with jalapenos, orange peppers, red onions, bacon, and sprinkle with cheese. I like to make sure that every bite has a bit of everything in it.
Keep on layering until you run out of ingredients (or have made as much as you want). I made 3.5 layers.
To avoid nachos getting soggy you need to keep wet ingredients off them until the last minute, and then cook them fast and hot.
Bake for 5 minutes in the preheated 400 degree oven.
Serve hot, with garlic sauce on the side (or drizzled on top if you prefer – but it will eventually make the chips soften).
Enjoy! 🙂
Jalapeno Popper Nachos with Creamy Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
For Garlic Sauce
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 block cream cheese (8oz)
- 1 and 1/4 cups milk
- 1 teaspoon parsley
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
For Nachos
- 1/2 pkg bacon (around 1/2 pound, but whatever size your package is should work)
- 1/2 orange pepper (or whatever colour you like)
- 1/4 red onion
- 2 jalapenos (or more or less to taste)
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (around half of a 400g block) (or whatever kind you like)
- 1 bag tortilla chips
Instructions
For Garlic Sauce
- If you plan to eat these right away, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Peel and mince garlic.
- In a saucepan, heat all sauce ingredients over medium-low heat until melted and well combined. Set aside to cool.
For Nachos
- Cook bacon however you like (I like to cook it in the microwave). Chop into small pieces.
- Chop orange pepper into small pieces. Mince red onion. Shred cheese.
- Put a baggie over your hand and use that hand to hold the jalapenos while you chop (and seed, if you don't like much spice) them into small pieces or circles. If you're not sure how much seed to leave in you can taste a seed - jalapeno peppers vary in how spicy they are, so this will give you some idea.
- Create a layer of tortilla chips on the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the chips with jalapenos, orange pepper, red onion, bacon and shredded cheese. Make another layer on top and continue layering until you run out of toppings or have made as much as you want.
- Bake in preheated 400 degree F oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.*
- Serve hot, with creamy garlic sauce on the side (or drizzled on top, but it will soften the chips).
- Enjoy! 🙂
Notes
The way to avoid soggy nachos is to not use wet ingredients on the chips and to cook them fast and hot.
Nutrition
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Laura Snow says
Oh my gosh this looks delicious!! I’m definitely bookmarking this recipe!
Myra says
Thanks Laura! I hope you try it some day! It is delicious 🙂