Jalapeno Popper Hot Dog
It’s hard to beat eating a hot dog while standing outside by the grill with some friends, but these jalapeno popper hot dogs just might be the upgrade we needed. Biting into a roasted jalapeno with a cheesy hot dog in the middle is pure bliss on a bun! Spicy, cheesy, and so good!
How I came up with this recipe
Jalapenos seem to be monstrous at the grocery store lately compared to their size from a few years back. I used this large size to my advantage, and was able to case a whole hot dog and some cheese inside a couple of cut jalapenos. The fun thing about this recipe is that you could make a whole dozen of them easily, pop em into a zip lock, and head out to your nearest B.Y.O.M. party (Bring Your Own Meat), camp fire, or other communal grilling situation. I have actually done this a few times now and people loved them!
Picking the jalapenos
This is by far the most important part of this recipe. In fact, the entire ability to make these hinges on how big the jalapenos are. Some days they are bigger than others! I try not to have my heart set on making these jalapeno popper hot dogs until after I go to the store and confirm that they have the right size of jalapenos.
Go through the jalapeno bin and pick out the biggest ones you can grab. You probably will need 3 per hot dog.
Grab a few extra just in case.
Assemble the jalapeno popper hot dogs
Cut the hot dogs in half and add a few slices of cheddar to the center. Another thing to note- choosing the hot dogs is almost as important as picking out the jalapenos! Grab thin hot dogs so it’s easier to stuff them inside the peppers. At the store, hold the jalapenos up to the hot dogs in their packaging and try and eye it to make sure it will fit. Hot dogs plump up when you cook them, so don’t worry if it’s a loose fit, they will be secure as they cook.
Cut the jalapenos into tubes and scrape out some of the ribs. Here you can see the scraped out centers.
Now it’s time to stuff the dog into the jalapenos!
It wasn’t too hard to squeeze the dog in there, and as you can see, it will take about 3 jalapenos for each hot dog.
Cooking the jalapeno popper hot dogs
I like to cook these on a medium low heat so that the center gets hot at the same time as the outside gets browned. If you see the cheese starting to melt but the outside isnt brown yet, crank the heat for the last minute or two to get some char.
I lost some of the cheese while I was grilling the jalapeno popper hot dogs, but if I was paying attention and flipping it better, I wouldn’t have lost as much.
Serving the jalapeno popper hot dogs
Grill the buns with some butter. This is an essential step for any hot dog. Grill or griddle the buns and make sure there is plenty of butter!
Then top it with your favorite hot dog toppings. I like mustard and some raw onions, but you can use your favorite toppings! just don’t tell me if you use ketchup because I will judge you.
The jalapeno gets nice and tender and the hot dog stays super juicy inside the pepper!
So good! Jalapenos can be hit or miss when it comes to hot spicy they are, but the big ones are usually less spicy. I find these to be flavorful and not overly hot, especially with the seeds removed.
Twists on this recipe
Poppers often have cream cheese in them, and I think they would go great in here too! And of course, you could always wrap them in bacon!
I made these on the Delish Website, so if you want to see the video, check it out here.
If you are looking for more fun hot dogs, check out my elote dogs, carbonara dogs, and potato dogs!
Jalapeno Popper Dog
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 thin hot dogs
- 12 large jalapenos
- 2 slices cheddar cheese
- 4 hot dog buns
- hot dog toppings
Instructions
- Cut the hot dogs in half the long way
- Cut the top and bottom off the jalapenos and hollow them out, removing any insides.
- Press some cheese slices in between the two halves of the hot dog, and stuff the hot dog through the hollow jalapeno. You should be able to put 3 jalapenos on each hot dog.
- Grill the jalapenos low and slow until the hot dogs are warmed through and the jalapeno is soft and the cheese is starting to melt.
- Serve in a griddled hot dog bun and top with whatever you like on your hot dog.
Wow; seriously wow. I marvel at your inventiveness.
Oh my sweet Lord, that must be one of the most irresistible foods I’ve ever seen!
You, sir, are a genius!
My mom serves something like this at the bar she owns, but they wrap it in Bacon and batter, then deep fry it. It’s on the menu as “the heart attack”. I’ve never had it (because I value the ability for blood to flow freely through my veins), but it looks awesome.
What? Grilled not fried??
This is totally Reddit worthy. Amazing. My brother would absolutely drool over the idea of cheese + jalapeno + hotdogs.
this just blew my mind
wow – this is awesome. Such a unique take on a jalapeno popper!! LOVE IT!
Now this is cool. I’ve got my nieces coming up for vacation in a couple weeks and promised them a weenie roast. Now I can make it interesting for us adults!
I will be trying these this weekend. I will tweet u my pics.
Much to my roommates delight, I tried this recipe yesterday so I could bring it to a bbq. I say to their delight because they thought it was the most amusing thing in the world seeing me try to stuff those hot dogs in the peppers.
BUT
after some effort and patience, voila!
AMAZING. such a hit, everyone loved them.
They tasted great but I am going change it up for our famiglia-
The cheese melted all over and the jalapenos wouldn’t go around . Unless you pick some big jalapenos, it doesn’t work. No comments as to me picking the wrong size. I know the size of my hot dogs ! They were looking good for the fit.
We are going to make split hot dogs. Then,roast the peppers first, then hot dogs on grill next, then some cream cheese and cheeses . Then on the bun with the roasted peppers. You have given us a good idea ! Thanks .
Made them for a bbq later today. (4th of July) did one to try for myself in the broiler for 15 min at 400. OMG this is great, and even better if you put some sweet slaw on top of the mustard.
Such a great idea! I made it as is for the kids and without the bun for me (keto). My only issue was that the hot dog would slide out the jalapeño. I’ll use tooth picks next time but any other tips ? I’d prefer not to use toothpicks for my kids at least
I just made sure to use tight fitting jalapenos! but I could see this being an issue