If you love unique burgers and spicy food, you're going to love these Jalapeño Popper Burgers: ground beef burgers infused with fresh jalapeños and stuffed with jalapeño popper cream cheese filling. They're so easy to make with just a few ingredients. They're juicy and full of flavor. A step up for your next burger night!!
These burgers on their own are gluten-free and low carb, if served with a lettuce wrap. Or serve them in a soft bun with melted sharp cheddar cheese and your favorite burger toppings!
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Jalapeño burgers
These juicy ground beef burgers are infused with delicious spiciness from fresh jalapeño peppers. I dice the jalapeños really small and add that to the ground beef mixture along with a few seasonings. The simple addition of diced jalapeños makes for more juicy, tasty burgers.
But I don't stop there!
I add a jalapeño popper filling to each burger, making them extra flavorful, extra juicy, extra tasty, and extra thick.
More juicy spicy burger recipes: Salsa Burgers
Cream cheese stuffed burgers
If you've never had a cream cheese stuffed burger, you're in for a treat. A layer of warm, gooey cream cheese is INCREDIBLE inside a homemade burger patty. But this cream cheese stuffing has an extra special addition: jalapeños!
I mix finely diced jalapeños with softened cream cheese, a bit of garlic powder, and onion powder. The result is a fun twist on jalapeño poppers: creamy, spicy, flavorful. This jalapeño cream cheese stuffing makes the best burgers! The cream cheese helps bellow out the spice of the jalapeño peppers, so it's the perfect combination.
More recipes inspired by jalapeño poppers: Tuna Jalapeño Poppers
Ingredients
For the burger patties (this recipe makes 3 buns, see recipe tips below for scaling up this recipe)
- 1 lb ground beef (90% or 93% lean)
- 1-2 jalapeño peppers, to taste (fresh or roasted jalapeños see recipe tips below)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¾ teaspoon onion powder, divided
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder, divided
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature (⅜ of a block, or use about ⅓ cup of whipped cream cheese)
- ½ tablespoon olive oil, for cooking the burgers
For serving:
Grab your favorite burger toppings! Here's what I used:
- 3 burger buns (I used potato bread buns!)
- Sliced tomato
- Washed and dried lettuce leaves
- Ketchup
- Sliced cheese (I used sharp cheddar)
Here are some other great burger topping ideas:
- Sliced pickles
- Pickled jalapeños
- Sliced red onion
- Mayo
More amazing jalapeño recipes: Texas Twinkies (Brisket Stuffed Jalapeño Poppers)
Equipment
- Disposable kitchen gloves (these are a must when handling jalapeños! Otherwise the spice can burn under your nails or your eyes if you rub your eyes with your hands after handling jalapeños, even if you washed your hands with soap)
- Medium-large non-stick pan or cast iron pan with a lid (9-12 inches)
- 1 large bowl
- 1 small or medium bowl
More ground beef recipes: Baked Beans with Ground Beef
Instructions
Step 1: Decide whether you're using 1 or 2 jalapeño, peppers (1 for mild spice, 2 for medium-high spice). Slice the jalapeños in half, and remove all the seeds and pith. Dice the jalapeños really finely, as fine as you can dice them.
Step 2: In a small or medium bowl, combine the cream cheese with half of the diced jalapeños, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, and ¼ teaspoon onion powder. Use a fork to mix well.
Step 3: In a large bowl, combine 1 lb ground beef with half of the diced jalapeños, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder, and ground black pepper. Use your hands to mix it the seasonings and jalapeños into the ground beef, but to not overwork the mixture.
Step 4: Divide the ground beef mixture into 6 parts (split it in half, then divide each half into 3 equal parts). Form 3 large thin patties (as thin as you can get them, try to make them a little larger than your buns) and place them on a large plate or cutting board. Spoon about 1.5-2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture onto each patty and spread it out evenly, making sure to leave at least ½ inch around the edges. Form 3 more patties and place them on top. Use your fingers to gently pinch and seal the edges of the patties so the cream cheese is completely sealed in.
Step 5: Preheat a medium-large skillet. Once the skillet is hot, add the olive oil. Carefully place the burgers in the pan, cover with a lid, and cook for 3-4 minutes per side over medium, or until they're cooked to your liking.
Step 6: Optional: place a slice of cheese on top of the burger patties and let the cheese melt.
Step 7: Put together your burger: place lettuce, tomato, and a burger patty with cheese on a bun. Add ketchup, any other burger toppings you like, and serve immediately.
More recipes using jalapeños: Jalapeño Peanut Brittle
Recipe tips and notes
→ Jalapeños: Jalapeño peppers can vary in spice a bit. Use 1-2 peppers, depending on your preference. 1 jalapeño pepper yields a mildly spicy burger (use half for the ground beef mixture and half for the cream cheese stuffing). 2 jalapeño peppers would make for a medium spicy burger. I often use 2 peppers.
I used fresh jalapeños for the pictures for this recipe, but this recipe works really well with roasted jalapeños too! They are a little more mild in flavor, so I usually use 2-3 roasted jalapeño peppers for this recipe.
→ Other add-in ideas: You can use your favorite burger add-ins here. You can add additional seasonings by adding dried oregano. Sometimes I add freshly diced chives or scallions, sometimes I add an egg and ¼ cup oats to bulk up the meat (like I do in my ground pork burgers). You can also use your favorite burger seasoning instead of the salt/onion/garlic powder I suggest. Play around with it!
→ Not into cream cheese? Skip the cream cheese filling! The burgers are great with diced jalapeños simply mixed into the ground beef.
→ Make sure to seal the burger patties really really well on the edges. It's OK if some of the cream cheese comes out on the side as the burgers shrink in size due to cooking, but you don't want the burgers to open up completely. To do this, you'll want to make really thin patties and leave at least ½ inch border around each cream cheese center. Do not overstuff the burgers with cream cheese!
→ Scaling up the recipe: This recipe makes 3 juice third-pounder burgers. Don't try to make 4 burgers from just 1 lb of ground beef because there won't be enough beef to completely cover the cream cheese. If you want to make 4 patties, increase the ground beef to 1.5 lbs, and increase the salt to 1.5 teaspoons, the garlic and onion powder to ¾ teaspoons each.
Storing leftover jalapeño popper burgers
This is a small batch burger recipe that only makes 3 burgers, but if you have any leftover, they keep well in the fridge for up to 2-3 days (I haven't tried keeping them for longer). Just reheat in the microwave until they're hot and juicy, and put together your burger!
What to serve with jalapeño popper burgers
If you want to really spice things up, serve these fried jalapeños as a side dish. Air fryer garlic parmesan fries (or any other fries) would be delicious.
But if you want to keep things light, just a side salad or some baked chips (try these Jerusalem artichoke chips) or baked parsnip fries would be great with these jalapeño burgers!
More recipes using fresh jalapeños
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Jalapeño Popper Burgers
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef - (90% or 93% lean)
- 1-2 jalapeño peppers - to taste
- 1 teaspoon salt - or to taste
- ¾ teaspoon onion powder - divided
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder - divided
- freshly ground black pepper - to taste
- 3 oz cream cheese - softened to room temperature (⅜ of a block, or use about ⅓ cup of whipped cream cheese)
- ½ tablespoon olive oil - for cooking the burgers
- 3 burger buns - (I used potato bread buns!)
- sliced tomato
- lettuce - (washed and patted dry)
- ketchup
- sliced cheese - (I used sharp cheddar)
Special equipment
- Disposable kitchen gloves (these are a must when handling jalapeños!)
- Medium-large non-stick pan with a lid or cast iron pan (9-12 inches)
- Small or medium bowl
Instructions
- Decide whether you're using 1 or 2 jalapeño, peppers (1 for mild spice, 2 for medium-high spice). Wearing disposable kitchen gloves, slice the jalapeños in half, and remove all the seeds and pith. Dice the jalapeños really finely, as fine as you can dice them.
- In a small or medium bowl, combine the cream cheese with half of the diced jalapeños, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, and ¼ teaspoon onion powder. Use a fork to mix well.
- In a large bowl, combine 1 lb ground beef with half of the diced jalapeños, 1 teaspoon salt, ½ teaspoon each garlic powder and onion powder, and ground black pepper. Use your hands to mix it the seasonings and jalapeños into the ground beef, but do not overwork the mixture.
- Divide the ground beef mixture into 6 parts (split it in half, then divide each half into 3 equal parts). Form 3 large thin patties (as thin as you can get them, try to make them a little larger than your buns) and place them on a large plate or cutting board. Spoon about 1.5-2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture onto each patty and spread it out evenly, making sure to leave at least ½ inch around the edges. Form 3 more patties and place them on top. Use your fingers to gently pinch and seal the edges of the patties so the cream cheese is completely sealed in.
- Preheat a medium-large skillet. Once the skillet is hot, add the olive oil. Carefully place the burgers in the pan, cover with a lid, and cook for 3-4 minutes per side over medium heat, or until they're cooked to your liking.
- Place a slice of cheese on top of the burger patties and let the cheese melt.
- Put together your burger: place lettuce, tomato, and a burger patty with cheese on a bun. Add ketchup, any other burger toppings you like, and serve immediately.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.