chorizo

Vegan Chorizo and Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapeños

Vegan Chorizo and Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos

My oldest daughter recently asked me to make jalapeño poppers.

I have eaten plenty in my life, but never once made a stuffed jalapeño.

My next question was if she wanted them stuffed with cheddar or cream cheese. I have had both and personally prefer cream cheese, but would not turn down a pepper stuffed with cheddar. All cheese is created delicious in my mind, and I do not discriminate.

She has personally NEVER had a stuffed jalapeño, vegan or otherwise. Because we are vegan, they are not something she has ever been able to order out, and again I never thought to make them. I am not sure how long in her 17 years she has been dreaming of eating a stuffed jalapeño popper, but this was the first mention of it, so obviously I would need to try and make her pepper craving dreams a reality.

But here is the thing, I didn’t really want to go to all that work , trying to get them hallowed out and stuffed and battered and fried, knowing she was the only one in the house other than me that was going to eat them. It was going to be a lot of work. I love fried food, but if I can be honest here, I HATE the act of deep frying food. I makes a mess that I do not enjoy cleaning up, especially if its not a food my whole family is going to want to eat. So I kept putting it off.

Vegan Chorizo Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

Then one day, my friend Aunterial texted to let me know she had a LOAD of veggies for me. I had not idea just the amount she was talking about until she dropped the crate on my porch. SO MANY JALEPENOS!! So I had no more excuse. Later that week I saw on Facebook that Aunterial had made peppers too, but stuffed them with cream cheese and baked them! She is a fricking genius y’all!!! BAKED THEM!!! What?!?!?

So to solve the cheddar vs cream cheese debate, I decide to mix both. I actually used our homemade kimcheese shredded and mixed with the cream cheese because thats what I had on hand. But the kimcheese works because it has a kick to it, too. I also decided I wanted extra spice and bite, so cooked up some soy chorizo and mixed that in. To add some crunch, I sprinkled the tops with some panko and popped them into the oven!!

Y’ALL!! These might be my new favorite easy appetizer! I shared them with my non vegan neighbors to get a unbiased review and they all loved them! But most importantly, my daughter loved them. Spicy, creamy, crunchy, and I didn’t have to fry anything thanks to Aunterial’s brilliant idea! Don’t worry I probably turned around the next day and fried a thing. But these vegan chorizo and cream cheese jalapeños are officially a bake only, no frying required snack!!

So if you have been craving an jalapeño poppers but don’t want to go to the trouble of stuffing, battering, and fying them, maybe this is the solution you have been looking for! Quick, easy, and soooo good!

Vegan Chorizo and Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos

INGREDIENTS:

  • 6-8 large jalapeño peppers

  • 1/2 container, or 4 oz of vegan cream cheese, or homemade cream cheese

  • 1/2 package or 6 oz vegan soy chorizo ( we used Trader Joe’s)

  • 1/3 cup shredded vegan cheddar or any shredded vegan cheese you may like

  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic

  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder

  • 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

  1. Wash peppers. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds, and ribs. Place peppers on a parchment lined cookies sheet. Give them a spray or light brushing with some cooking oil.

  2. In a medium sized skillet, cook the soy chorizo until it has cooked through. Allow it too cool.

  3. In a medium sized bowl mix the cream cheese, shredded cheese, cooled chorizo, garlic, and chili powder.

  4. Fill the peppers evenly with the cream cheese chorizo mixture, and sprinkle the tops with panko. I like to sprinkle some chili powder on top of the bread crumbs as well, but it’s optional.

  5. Give the peppers one more spray with some cooking oil and place them on the middle rack of your preheated oven. Let them cook for about 20-25 minutes. You want the pepper to soften some but not become really mushy. If the tops seem to be browning too quickly you can move the tray to the bottom oven rack and bump the heat down to 350.

  6. Serve with a side of vegan ranch or sour cream if you like.

Vegan Chorizo and Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapenos

If you like this recipe, then try these:

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Vegan "Meaty" Cheddar Queso

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Vegan “Meaty” Cheddar Queso

In college I waited tables at popular casual dinning restaurant. Not naming names, but one of our jingles involved baby baby ribs, and customers thought it was hilarious to ask us to sing it.

But hey, the job got me through college!

One of our most popular appetizers was a chili queso dip in a skillet, and I probably ate my weight in this dip before I was vegan. I have not eaten that dip in forever, but I think of it often and knew I needed to try and create a vegan version.

This one did not disappoint, and I can still eat my weight in it! You can use any store bought meatless crumble, vegan sausage, or you could even use your own vegan crumble recipe.

I love to roll up warm flour tortillas and dip them into this cheesy, spicy, magic! It also makes a delicious enchilada or quesadilla filling!

INGREDIENTS:

Cashew Queso:

  • 1 bag of frozen spicy meatless crumbles or vegan sausage (we like Beyond Meat brand, but use your favorite) or one package of vegan chorizo ( I like Trader Joe’s soy chorizo)

  • 1 cup cashews soaked in hot water for one hour or microwaved for 3 minutes

  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

  • 2 teaspoons of miso paste or 2 tablespoons sauerkraut with out the juice

  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt

  • 1 teaspoon of turmeric

  • 1 - 2 teaspoons smoked paprika

  • 1/4 cup of tapioca/corn starch or arrow root powder

  • 2 cups of water

  • 1 small can of chili peppers

  • a few shakes of favorite hot sauce

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Add all ingredients except the, crumbles, chilis and hot sauce to a high speed blender or food processor.

  2. Process and blend on high until the mixture is completely smooth (no lumps at all).

  3. Transfer the mixture to a medium size pot and cook on medium heat, stirring with a whisk continually until the mixture thickens.

  4. Once the queso gets to a pudding like texture remove it from the heat and mix in the chilis and hot sauce.

  5. Heat the crumbles in a pan until cooked.

  6. In a baking dish or smalls cast iron skillet, combine the queso and cooked crumbles. Bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Serve with chips, rolled tortillas, or veggies. Add to burritos or enchiladas. 

My favorite vegan cookbook is “Veganize It!” by Robin Robertson. I adapted her recipe for cashew “cheese” sauce and created this queso. If you omit the hot sauce and chiles, and meat you will be left with a very versatile cheddar “cheese” sauce.