If you’re missing jalapeño poppers due to food allergies, we’ve got you covered! Our version is dairy-free and can be made with either jalapeños or sweet peppers, and they come out crisp in the air fryer. We include oven instructions as well!
Jalapeño poppers are a party staple around here, and they are so good when wrapped in crispy bacon. But we usually miss out on them because they are often made with real cream cheese filling.
Since I got an air fryer, I have been tinkering with some dairy free air fryer recipes and decided to remake one of our older recipes for dairy free pepper poppers.
Our old recipe used hummus as a filling since I couldn’t find a good dairy-free cream cheese that held up to baking, but I recently found the Laughing Cow plant-based spreadable cheese that works amazingly in this recipe.
Let’s dive in!
This post was originally published in April 2012 and recently rewritten with a new recipe and updated post.
Why we love this recipe
Our dairy free pepper poppers are a delicious and allergy friendly appetizer that even people without food allergies will love! You can make these with either jalapeños and hot peppers or with sweet peppers for a kid-friendly or less spicy popper (most of the peppers in our photos are actually sweet peppers).
This recipe will work with just about any small to medium-sized pepper that you like that has room inside for adding filling.
The air fryer makes this recipe come together quickly (faster than cooking them in the oven), but we included oven instructions as well if you don’t have an air fryer.
How to make dairy free poppers with jalapeños and sweet peppers
Here are the steps to make our jalapeño and sweet pepper poppers in the air fryer and the oven (this is just an overview of steps, the full recipe is at the end of the post).
- In a medium bowl, use a spatula or hand mixer to mix together the Laughing Cow plant cheese, the dairy free mozzarella, the dairy free parmesan, and the seasonings until mixed well.
- Wash your peppers and cut them in half lengthwise. I left the stems on mine since it keeps the filling from coming out the top and the stem can be a “handle” for your snack!
- Remove the seeds and membrane inside the peppers.
- Add the dairy free filling to the peppers, making sure not to overfill them.
- Wrap slices of bacon around the peppers, covering the entire pepper. Don’t wrap the bacon too tightly or stretch the bacon before wrapping or the bacon will shrink a lot as it cooks and will squish the filling out of the peppers. Speaking from experience, unfortunately!
- For the air fryer, preheat the air fryer at 360° F for about 3-4 minutes, then cook the poppers in the air fryer at 360° F for 11 minutes, until the bacon on the outside gets crisp. Don’t worry about turning these over since you want the cut side facing up while they cook. This may take a couple of batches depending on the size of your air fryer.
- For the oven, preheat the oven to 425° F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper and arrange the peppers cut side up. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the bacon gets crisp.
- Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before serving.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
What kind of dairy free cheese can I use in the popper filling?
We used the Laughing Cow plant-based garlic and herb spreadable cheese in this recipe since it works really well when cooked (we love it in our baked feta pasta recipe).
The reason we don’t use dairy free cream cheese in these is that most dairy free cream cheeses I have come across don’t cook very well and get pretty runny and liquidy (particularly the Daiya and Violife ones).
If you know of a great dairy free cream cheese that holds up well to baking, you can use it in this recipe in place of the Laughing Cow cheese if you like, especially if you have tree nut allergies, since the Laughing Cow plant cheese has almonds in it.
If you use a plain dairy free cream cheese or plain spreadable cheese in this recipe in place of the Laughing Cow garlic and herb cheese, you can add some garlic powder to the cheese filling.
Check out our other allergy friendly appetizer recipes!
This post was originally published in April 2012 and recently rewritten with a new recipe and updated post. Our original recipe had 2 options: a hummus-stuffed pepper and a goat cheese-stuffed pepper recipe (our old photos are below).
Dairy Free Air Fryer Sweet Pepper and Jalapeño Poppers
Ingredients
- 1 container (4.5 ounces) Laughing Cow plant based garlic herb spreadable cheese
- ½ cup dairy free shredded cheddar OR mozzarella cheese we used Violife
- ¼ cup shredded dairy free parmesan
- ¼ teaspoon smoked salt
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 6-7 mini bell peppers OR medium sized jalapeños
- 12 ounces uncured thin sliced bacon
Equipment
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, use a spatula or hand mixer to mix together the Laughing Cow plant cheese, the dairy free mozzarella, the dairy free parmesan, and the seasonings until mixed well.
- Wash your peppers and cut them in half lengthwise. I left the stems on mine since it keeps the filling from coming out the top and the stem can be a "handle" for your snack!
- Remove the seeds and membrane inside the peppers.
- Add the dairy free filling to the peppers, making sure not to overfill them.
- Wrap slices of bacon around the peppers, covering the entire pepper. Don't wrap the bacon too tightly or stretch the bacon before wrapping or the bacon will shrink a lot as it cooks and will squish the filling out of the peppers. Speaking from experience, unfortunately!
Air fryer cooking instructions
- For the air fryer, preheat the air fryer at 360° F for about 3-4 minutes, then cook the poppers in the air fryer at 360° F for 11 minutes, until the bacon on the outside gets crisp. Don't worry about turning these over since you want the cut side facing up while they cook. This may take a couple batches depending on the size of your air fryer.
- Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
Oven cooking instructions
- For the oven, preheat the oven to 425° F and line a sheet pan with parchment paper and arrange the peppers cut side up. Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the bacon gets crisp.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes. The filling started to spill out of the pepper halves at 25 minutes, so I wouldn’t cook them longer than that.
- Allow to cool for about 5 minutes before serving. Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3-4 days.
Notes
Nutrition
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Sarah Jane Parker is the founder, recipe creator, and photographer behind The Fit Cookie which she founded in 2011. Sarah is based in Wyoming and has been managing food allergies for herself and her 2 children for over 20 years. Sarah was also a certified personal trainer for 12 years, as well as a group fitness instructor, health coach, running coach, and fitness nutrition specialist.
stuffed mini-peppers of various colors and small tomatoes with minced onion, garlic, tomato, peppers, left over spiced rice., topped with seasoned panko crumbs. Baked them. Arranged them on platter for serving. Lovely, delightful. My Sicilian mother stuffed all sorts of small vegetables for an antipasto.
Made these last night and they were delicious! Sprinkled panko on top then Roasted in 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.
Such a great idea, Leasa! Thanks for sharing 🙂