Low-Carb Bacon & Gruyere Jalapeño Poppers

4.8 stars, average of 42 ratings

By Martina Slajerova, updated March 26 202021

All dads deserve a real treat on Father's Day! What is better than spicy jalapeños filled with aromatic cheese and herbs - all wrapped in bacon? Bacon is the real "meat candy" for all keto-dieters. However, not all bacon is good for you and you have to be selective. Beware of sugar, sulphites and other unnecessary additives.

When choosing your meat source, go for outdoor reared pork and avoid conventionally raised factory farmed meat. Unfortunately, the vast majority of pork produced in the US comes from factory farms. Outdoor reared pork may not be easy to find and will cost you extra money but it's totally worth it. Here is why factory farmed sources should be avoided:

Cruelty. Animal suffering is given no meaningful consideration. Food, Inc. is a must watch documentary - absence of clean air, sunshine, space and proper food results in chronic pain and diseases - profit always comes first!
Antibiotics entering the food chain, polluting our environment and damaging our health. Producing cheap meat in such conditions requires feeding the animals with additives to help them grow quickly and disease-free. They are often given antibiotics to prevent diseases resulting from the poor conditions pigs are raised in.
Ecological damage from faecal waste. Large amounts of faecal waste is released into the environment. Factory farms often prefer to pay fines rather than changing their damaging methods.
Systematic human rights violations in meat and poultry industry employment (Human Rights Watch, 2004).
You should always opt for bacon from outdoor reared animals and avoid conventionally raised factory farmed pork at any cost.

Note: The actual fat content will be lower, as some of the bacon fat will be lost during the cooking process. Therefore, the recipe will contain less fat and fewer calories.

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0 hours, 25 minutes

Hands-on 10 minutes Overall 30-35 minutes

Nutritional values (per serving, 3 poppers)

Net carbs1.7 grams

Protein12.1 grams

Fat17.8 grams

Calories217 kcal

Calories from carbs 3%, protein 22%, fat 75%

Total carbs2.4 gramsFiber0.6 gramsSugars1 gramsSaturated fat7.7 gramsSodium421 mg(18% RDA)Magnesium16 mg(4% RDA)Potassium188 mg(9% EMR)

Ingredients (makes 8 servings, 24 poppers)

12 Jalapeño peppers, deseeded (170 g/ 5.9 oz)
1 cup ricotta cheese (250 g/ 8.7 oz)
¹/₂ cup Gruyère cheese, grated or any hard cheese of choice (60 g/ 2.1 oz)
12 slices bacon, cut lenghtwise or 24 slices Pancetta, thin cut (360 g/ 12.7 oz)
2 tbsp freshly chopped cilantro or parsley

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 200 °C/ 400 °F (fan assisted), or 220 °C/ 425 °F (conventional). Wash the jalapeños and pat-dry with a towel.
Halve and deseed the jalapeños.
Mix the grated Gruyère cheese, ricotta and finely chopped cilantro (or parsley).
Fill each jalapeño halve with the cheese mixture.
If too wide, halve each bacon slice lengthwise. Wrap each jalapeño halve in the bacon slice and place on a baking rack or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden and crispy.
Serve hot or cold - Enjoy!

Ingredient nutritional breakdown (per serving, 3 poppers)

Net carbs	Protein	Fat	Calories
Peppers, Jalapeno, fresh
0.8 g	0.2 g	0.1 g	6 kcal
Ricotta cheese
0.9 g	3.5 g	4 g	54 kcal
Cheese, Swiss , Gruyère
0 g	2.3 g	2.4 g	31 kcal
Bacon, streaky (high fat content), organic
0 g	6.2 g	11.3 g	126 kcal
Coriander (cilantro), fresh
0 g	0 g	0 g	0 kcal
Total per serving, 3 poppers
1.7 g	12.1 g	17.8 g	217 kcal

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Pip 2 years ago #

I'm vegetarian and making these today with ricotta and haloumi. I know the fat content will be less, but I know the flavour will still be great

Martina @ KetoDiet 2 years ago #

I've never tried Halloumi and jalapeños together and I bet it was delicious 😊

Brittany 4 years ago #

Do you have any links to get pork like you've mentioned in the us? I didn't realize and I'd love to find a resource.
Thanks

Martina @ KetoDiet 4 years ago #

Hi Brittany, I think I have a few tips in this post: How to Stay Low-Carb and Keto on a Budget

Karen 5 years ago #

This is my third time making this delicious recipe but I have made the alterations I feel necessary in order to get more crunch in the jalapeno. First two times I did use thin sliced bacon but wrapped it raw around the stuffed jalapenos (used bacon that is natural, no nitrates, nitrites and no sugar - labeled Paleo friendly). This time I precooked the bacon in the oven (@400F for 8-10 min). This allowed much of the bacon grease to come out and the bacon was still pliable to wrap around. I poured off the bacon grease from the pan to reserve for other cooking then I baked poppers as per recipe - 25min at 400F. They came out amazing - still some snap to the jalapeno and the bacon nice and crispy, cheese nicely melted. I cooked on pan liner paper (one side parchment other side foil - very little grease so any bits of cheese that oozed out got a yummy crust. Only other thing I did was add a few more spices to the cheese mixer; garlic, onion, paprika, salt and pepper. These are now a regular at our house as they are perfect for lunch or as snacks...hot or cold. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!!

Martina @ KetoDiet 5 years ago #

Thank you Karen! What a great way to make them crispy! Thanks for sharing your tips 😊

Alvaro Eytchison (http://blah.net/) 5 years ago #

Great website! It looks extremely expert! Keep up the good work!|

Jason Snedeker 5 years ago #

Making these with cream cheese and cheddar for the football game today. will let you know how they turn out.

Thanks Jason, please do! 😊

Brian 5 years ago #

Is that fat count correct? 335 grams? Seems extremely high. Very good recipe!

Thanks Brian, you just found a typo! 😊 It is supposed to be 35.5 grams, I'll correct it now.

mihaela 5 years ago #

Thank you Martina for suggesting this recipe. I've eaten every day this week trying diff cheese. I also add cold sour cream . Was super-delish.

Thank you! I'm glad you liked my recipe, sour cream sounds delicious! 😊

a.lee.hagen (http://ketogenicchef.blogspot.com/) 5 years ago #

Hi, a few tips, if you roast and peel the peppers first, then split them and wrap them around the cheese with the bacon, they have a more roasted depth of flavor and you don't have to worry about them getting cooked through by time the bacon is cooked and the cheese is melted.
An additional note, I love to use Juusto Baked Cheese instead of the popular cream cheese or as you used gruyere and ricotta, the Juusto gets warm and soft, but it doesn't melt like normal cheese and provides an awesome bite and texture contrast other than just melty mushy cheese! Give it a shot! It's like bacon and jalapeno wrapped mozzarella sticks!

Thanks for the tips! I have to admit the pepper is always a bit crispy but I don't mind that. It's definitely a great way to cook it thoroughly without worrying that the bacon will burn. If I can find Juusto cheese in the UK, I will give it a try too! 😊

Gail T. 5 years ago #

Made it with Pancetta today and my whole family loved it. Did I mention that we make at least two recipes from your blog every week? 😊 I really like the feature that I can add an recipe from your blog directly in the ketodiet app! Thanks so much for all your hard work!!

Thank you Gail, I really appreciate that! We do plan to submit a big update soon 😊

Katie 5 years ago #

Made it with mature cheddar today and my husband loved it! Thanks for sharing 😊

Glad you liked it! Thanks for trying my recipe 😊

Ingrid 5 years ago #

Delicious! Reminds me of when vegans say we (low-carbers) always support animal cruelty and damaging our environment. Apparently all of us eat factory-farmed pork... so not true! And when they say that LCHF is bad for our environment, they should actually learn how much more pollution and desertification is caused by extensive agriculture.

I get my meat from a local farm I trust. Going to restaurants could be a challenge - you can never tell where their meat comes from and, unfortunately, it's very difficult to know whether they are telling the truth. I usually have beef steak or fish (here is a good guide: http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/mercury/guide.asp).