Craving a quick and easy appetizer that’s bursting with flavor? Look no further than Baked Banana Pepper Poppers! Fresh banana peppers are hollowed out and stuffed with a creamy, cheesy spread, then rolled in a crispy, crunchy breadcrumb coating.

Baked to perfection, these poppers are the perfect balance of creamy, cheesy goodness and a satisfying crunch. They’re guaranteed to be a quick and easy favorite at your next gathering!

Baked Banana Pepper Poppers

We love spicy here at our house, or rather the majority of us do.

From Cajun Food to Thai food, the spicier the better for me.

When it was announced that we’d doing a “Spice It Up Theme”, it took only a few minutes for me to decide what I wanted to make.

At the beginning of the summer, we planted 10 Banana Pepper Plants, 6 Jalapeno Pepper Plants (including 2 mammoth varieties), 2 Chili Pepper Plants and then countless regular pepper plants (red, green, purple and yellow).

In fact, the “pepper” part of my garden probably takes up about half the garden to be honest.

Baked Banana Pepper Poppers

I didn’t know how well everything would do. We had such a terribly hot and dry summer last year, that I didn’t have high hopes for this year, but we went with it anyway.

What did happen, was that all 10 banana pepper plants are thriving this year. To date, I am pretty sure we have pulled more than 100 banana peppers from our plants and they just keep growing.

All 10 of the plants have at least 3-5 more growing in various stages now. That will be between 30-50 more.

All the other pepper plants are doing really well too, but those banana peppers are just insane.

So far this summer we’ve pickled banana peppers, eaten them on sandwiches, eaten them in salads, put them in dips, cooked them into pasta dishes and so on.

A couple of nights after pulling another 40 of them and adding them to our already growing collection in the fridge, I decided I was either going to have to pickle another batch.

Or I needed to figure out some new ways to use them because there were just too many to eat them in salads and sandwiches and not risk some going bad.

Baked Banana Pepper Poppers

We had a big conversation about how they are pretty interchangeable with jalapenos. Couldn’t we just make jalapeno poppers with them?

Oh yes. And we did. And I am SO glad we did. I have a feeling these will become a big treat around here. We managed to devour the first batch in a matter of minutes (we made 14).

The second batch we doubled the recipe and made 28. It took a little longer to consume them and there was much water drinking and dragon breathing abounding but they were just so freakin’ good! It was one of those things were you could not eat just one. So, so good. A new favorite around here.

Special note: Since we made them the first time, we have made them 4 more times and each time we think we need to make more.

If you are making this for a party or gathering of more than 5 people, I strongly urge you to account for 3-4 halves per person in attendance. They go fast!

Let’s get started.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Clean Your Banana Peppers with cold water. 

Set them aside to dry. Mix up your cheesy mixture.

Banana Pepper Poppers
Slice the tops of each pepper. (just the top end) 

If you’re lucky like me, you’ll enlist a kids help. This is my son Ryan. Well, his hand.

And we make so many of them that I needed both of his hands plus one extra kid so we weren’t in the kitchen for 2 hours making these.

Banana Pepper Poppers
Next, slice the banana peppers in half lengthwise. 

Try to make as straight a cut as you can to end at the tip.

Banana Pepper Poppers
Next scrape out all the little seeds.

Do this part gently, because the banana peppers are fragile, you can easily split them or tear them.

If you do, they are still usable, you just have to be super careful the rest of the steps.

Once you’ve removed the seeds, it helps to rinse them off in cold water one last time to make sure you’ve got them all gone.

Banana Pepper Poppers
Fill each banana pepper halve with cheese mixture.

I usually use a lot and just sort of mold the cheese mixture into a long ovalish shape to go in there, but you can do whatever works best for you.

Cover them and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Banana Pepper Poppers
Once chilled, dip the banana peppers into milk, then flour and set aside to dry about  5 minutes.

Make sure they are covered pretty well with milk and flour. Allow about 5 minutes or so for them to dry.

Banana Pepper Poppers
After 5 minutes, dip them carefully into your beaten eggs.

Try not to squeeze them as hard as my son did. haha Cover them completely in egg.

Banana Pepper Poppers
Transfer them immediately to the bread crumbs and gently coat them.
Banana Pepper Poppers

I roll the banana peppers around in the bread crumbs. I sprinkle them over the banana peppers.

Whatever. Just get them coated up real well.

Put them into a 350 degree preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.
Banana Pepper Poppers

Banana Pepper Poppers

Check out the other fantastic Spice It Up Lineup!

Snappy Starters & Snacks

Hatch Chile, Grape & Grilled Onion Salsa from Shockingly Delicious
Sriracha Popcorn from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
Cheese, Smoked Paprika and Fennel Crackers from What Smells So Good?
Baked Banana Pepper Poppers from Daily Dish Recipes
Smoky Salmon Chowder from Cindy’s Recipes and Writings

Fiery Main Dishes

Spicy Stuffed Mexican Peppers from Peanut Butter and Peppers
Baked Tilapia en Escabeche from La Cocina de Leslie
Thai Cashew Chicken from Doggie at the Dinner Table
Skillet Jambalaya from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
Firecracker Chicken from Juanita’s Cocina
Za’atar Chicken with Fattoush from Food Lust People Love
Crispy Oven Fried Buffalo Chicken Tenders from In The Kitchen With KP
Skinny Buffalo Chicken Strips from Webicurean
BBQ Chicken Pizza with Poblano Peppers and Pepitas from The Wimpy Vegetarian
Spicy Thai Beef Salad from Magnolia Days

Searing Sauces & Seasonings

Homemade Buffalo Sauce from Growing Up Gabel
Homemade Sriracha Sauce from kimchi MOM

Zesty Sweets & Sips

Cinnamon Streusel Scones from Killer Bunnies, Inc

Recipe for Baked Banana Pepper Poppers

Baked Banana Pepper Poppers

Baked Banana Pepper Poppers

Nicole Cook
Fresh Banana Peppers filled with a creamy cheesy spread and rolled into crispy crunchy breadcrumbs. These Baked Banana Pepper Poppers are a quick and easy favorite.
4.59 from 17 votes
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes
Course Appetizers, Snacks and Small Bite Recipes
Cuisine American
Servings 14
Calories 199 kcal

Ingredients
  

For the Cheese Filling:

  • 4 ounces cream cheese
  • 8 ounces shredded mild Cheddar cheese
  • 1 Tablespoons finely minced garlic
  • 3 strips bacon cooked and crumbled
  • ¼ teaspoon paprika paprika for more smokey flavor or use cayenne pepper for some more spice

For the Poppers:

  • 7 banana peppers
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 eggs whisked
  • 1 cup bread crumbs I used garlic and herb for some added flavor

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, mix the first 5 ingredients together to get your cream cheese filling. Set aside.
  • Clean Your Banana Peppers with cold water. Set them aside to dry.
  • Once dry, slice the tops of each pepper. (just the top end) Next, slice the banana peppers in half lengthwise. Try to make as straight a cut as you can to end at the tip.Next scrape out all the little seeds. Do this part gently, because the banana peppers are fragile, you can easily split them or tear them.
  • Fill each banana pepper halve with cheese mixture.
  • Cover them and refrigerate at least 1 hour.
  • Once chilled, dip the banana peppers into milk, then flour and set aside to dry about 5 minutes.
  • After 5 minutes, dip them carefully into your beaten eggs, coating them entirely.
  • Transfer them immediately to the bread crumbs and gently coat them.
  • Transfer the bread crumb coated banana peppers to your baking sheet.
  • Put them into a 350 degree preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 199kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 8gFat: 12gSaturated Fat: 6gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 0.01gCholesterol: 53mgSodium: 236mgPotassium: 108mgFiber: 1gSugar: 2gVitamin A: 370IUVitamin C: 4mgCalcium: 165mgIron: 1mg
Keyword easy appetizers, easy snack recipes
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25 Comments

  1. This does look like the kind of recipe that would have many repeat performances, Nicole. Yummy looking and sounding, indeed =)

    P.s. I’ve never heard of banana peppers but your photos make me believe it is similar to a Japanese shiso pepper.

  2. banana peppers, never heard. Wish we could get seeds here, I really would love to be able to grow different peppers, and not just the Indian green chile. you are lucky! =D
    Great one Nicole!

  3. I made the mistake of planting a variety of peppers one summer… the habaneros cross pollinated with the others and I ended up with bushels full! Never again.

    These look delicious though, and your photos are beautiful!

  4. I’m definitely making these for our next gathering…totally irresistible!!!

    PS…when I first read the title, I missed the word “Prpper” and wondered how the heck you were going to make banana poppers…LOL

  5. These look amazing!! We did the same thing in our garden this year. We have a few beds and 2 of them are full of pepper varieties. It seems to be about the only thing that can stand the summer heat here in Texas! We will have to make some of these after our next harvest!

  6. Oh I think I can handle these! I’m not a huge spice person, but I do like banana peppers. My jalapeno plants aren’t doing well this year when they flourished last year.

  7. I inherited some pepper plants from a friend who had planted too many seeds this year. But he couldn’t remember which ones he gave me. They look a lot like banana peppers so I was going to try and stuff them to see how they taste. To be honest I have never met a pepper I didn’t love, hot or not. This looks like a great recipe to use with them.

  8. Oh those banana pepper plants. My parents used to plant them every year in their garden and they are so bountiful. I wish I would have had this recipe to use them with (sadly there is no more garden of theirs).
    What I like about this recipe, well I like a lot of things about this recipe, but the top 2 are that you use Cheddar cheese and they are baked. Now I just need to find a local source for some of those garden fresh banana peppers to make this oh so good appetizer.

  9. Showed these to DH and he is over the moon! Thanks so much for the wonderful idea.

  10. I’ve never had a pepper popper! Jalapeno or banana or otherwise! Need to make these and really need to start a garden….

  11. Oh my gosh, this looks so good! I’m a heat wimp but banana peppers I can handle! I’ll have to try these.

  12. banana peppers, never heard. Wish we could get seeds here, I really would love to be able to grow different peppers, and not just the Indian green chile. you are lucky! =D
    Great one Nicole!

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