Jalapeno Popper Taco Cups
Turning a party appetizer favorite into lovely little bite-sized jalapeno popper taco cups is a fab, fun twist on regular jalapeno popper dip. Easy to assemble (and you can prep them ahead of time) and even easier to eat, they're a serious crowd-pleaser, perfect for entertaining.
Servings: 30 cups
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 flour tortillas
- 3 slices streaky bacon
- 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature (225g)
- ½ cup thick Greek yogurt
- 1 cup jarred pickled jalapenos chopped
- 4 garlic cloves crushed (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup grated cheddar cheese
- ¼ cup grated mozzarella cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Oil for greasing
Instructions
- Prepare your mini muffin pan.Heat oven to 400℉ (180℃ fan bake), then grease a mini muffin tin with olive oil.
- Make your mini tortillas.Use a cookie cutter (or the rim of a small glass) to cut out little circles from your tortillas. Chop the leftovers from one of the tortillas into little pieces - you'll use these as a little crunchy crumb topping on your cups.
- Prepare the jalapeno popper filling.Cook the bacon until super crispy (about 5 minutes), then transfer it to a large mixing bowl. Add the cream cheese, Greek yogurt, chopped jalapenos (set aside 1 tablespoon to scatter on top of the cups), crushed garlic, paprika, mozzarella, cheddar, and salt. Give everything a really good mix to combine well. Taste, then season with a little more salt if you like.
- Prepare the tortilla cups.Press the little tortilla circles into your greased mini muffin pan to create little cups.If your tortilla circles tear when you do this, cover them with a kitchen towel and pop them into the microwave for 20 seconds - this will help them to soften up and make it easier to get them into the moulds.
- Fill the tortilla cups.Spoon a heaped teaspoon of the jalapeno popper dip mixture into each tortilla cup - you don't want to pile them up too high as the dip may overflow while in the oven.Scatter the set-aside chopped jalapenos on top of each cup, then scatter over the chopped tortilla crumbs. Drizzle with a little olive oil.
- Bake the cups.Transfer the muffin tin to the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tortillas are crispy, and the filling is nice and golden. Remove from the oven, then carefully remove the taco cups from the tin. Arrange on a serving platter, then serve while hot, crispy, and gooey.Serving the cups with garlic aioli, spicy gochujang aioli, Kewpie mayo, or sweet chili jam on the side for dipping is also an excellent idea.
Don't throw out the remaining bits of tortillas - they make wonderful homemade tortilla chips. Just toss them with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt, and bake at 400℉ (200℃) for 10 minutes or until crispy and golden.
Notes
MAKE AHEAD: There are a couple of ways you can get ahead while making this recipe. You can mix the jalapeno popper dip up to 3 days before you want to serve the cups, then just store it in the fridge. You can also cut out your mini tortilla circles days ahead of time (just keep them in a container at room temperature). Or, assemble the cups in the muffin tin, then cover with clingfilm and pop into the fridge overnight. Then the next day you can bake them whenever you're ready to serve.
STORAGE INSTRUCTIONS: Any leftover cups will keep well for 3 to 4 days in the fridge - the tortilla cups will get soft after the first day, but they'll still taste great.
INGREDIENT NOTES: These cups are pretty spicy, so reduce the amount of jalapenos to 1/2 cup if you're worried. You can always add more if you'd like the dip mixture to be spicier, but it's a lot harder to take the jalapenos out! Skip the bacon to keep them vegetarian. Regular or light cream cheese is absolutely fine. You could swap the Greek yogurt for sour cream or mayo if you like.
Nutrition
Serving: 3cups