Taco Pepper Poppers |Cooking With Amanda

I love appetizers. Really I love them more than dinner.

I always fill up on appetizers at a party and then only have a small plate of dinner. Even though whatever the dinner is I usually like that just as much. But apps always seem more fun, especially when it's Tex-Mex style food.

Take for instance these Mexican Street Corn Nachos or these Grilled Chicken Quesadillas. It's just fun looking food, let alone how it tastes.

Tex-Mex or Mexican style food has definitely become one of my favorite food categories… you can tell that to be true since I seem to have a lot of recipes like that on my web site, like this Cowboy Caviar Chicken or these Spicy Mexican Pizzas.

Who knew that style of food would become one of my favorites? Not me, I can tell you that for sure.

And these Taco Pepper Poppers are right up there on the list.

They're kind of like a jalapeño popper, but with a sweet pepper instead of the spicy jalapeño. And I added a few extra twists to my filling just to make things more interesting.

First, I thought that the cheesy filling needed a kick. Not blow your head off spice but just a kick. So I added the brine from a jar of pickled jalapeños. Pickled jalapeños are something that is always in our refrigerator, but if you don't have a jar you can use regular pickle brine or leave it out. Don't run out and buy them just for the juice.

But they are good on almost everything so I think you should have them anyway.

The other twist to the filling is that I added some of the tortilla chips right inside the filling. The crunch is the best part right? So let's have more of it. Not just on top but mixed all the way through.

When you cut these peppers for stuffing, only cut off the top third of the pepper so that you have more of a base.

Mix the cheese filling together and start stuffing.

Once the peppers are filled, add the crushed tortilla chips to the top and bake them in the oven for 10 minutes.

The cheese will be oozing - the tortilla chip topping will be crispy. It's perfect.

You can make these and stuff them ahead of time and then when you're ready to eat just get the tortilla on top and bake.

Either for an easy appetizer or a fun dinner... these Taco Pepper Poppers work for both!

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Taco Pepper Poppers Recipe

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Ingredients

2 cups whipped cream cheese
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons taco seasoning
2 tablespoons pickled jalapeño juice, from the jar, optional
3/4 cup crushed tortilla chips, divided
12 mini sweet peppers, any color, split lengthwise in half

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Mix the cream cheese, cheddar cheese, taco seasoning, jalapeño juice, and 1/2 of tortilla chips together in a bowl.
Stuff each half of a pepper with the filling and top with the extra 1/4 cup of crushed tortilla chips.
Bake for 10 minutes until the filling is bubbling.