Best Sausage Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

Looking for a perfect scrumptious appetizer? Well, recipe for stuffed jalapeno peppers with sausage can be a perfect option for it. The spiciness of the jalapeno peppers and the rich salty-taste of the sausages can really satisfy your taste buds fully. You can prepare these stuffed jalapeno peppers with sausage and cheese of your preferences.

This can be an ultimate combination of spicy, cheesy and savory appetizer for you. If your guests are coming over and you are thinking about a tasty snack, then this can be an easy and simple recipe to try at home.

This is something that almost everyone loves because of the perfect balance of the flavors. Who doesn’t like to munch on some appetizers along with the beverages? The healthy stuffed jalapeno peppers can go well with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

As mentioned, it is quite simple to prepare. Want to know more about the recipe and how to make stuffed jalapeno peppers with sausage? Read on.

Tools Needed For Sausage Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

While making this recipe, there are certain tools that you will for making this dish. Some of the important tools are:

1. Chef Knife

A well-built good quality 8 inch chef knife with a sharp-edged blade is very important. This will be essential for cutting the jalapeno peppers seamlessly and smoothly into two halves. The sharp 8 inch blade made up of high carbon stainless steel can offer great precision. It also comes with an ergonomic handle.

Pros

• Quite easy to work with
• Chops, cuts and slices smoothly
• High quality with durable built
• Sharp blade with an ergonomic handle

Cons

• Needs expertise to handle

2. Nonstick Cast Iron Frying pan

The non-stick frying pans can minimize the use of oil, and the kitchen is clean and less oily. The cast iron pan set can also help reduce fat intake, conforming to modern people's tendency to pursue low-fat and low-calorie consumption.

3. Cutting board

Next tool that you will need for making this recipe is a double-sided cutting board. This is a good quality cutting board that can help you to cut and chop veggies and meats perfectly. You can cut the meats on one side and veggies on the other side of this cutting board.

Pros

• Makes cutting and slicing easier
• Two sides for chopping meat and veggies
• Provides a proper surface for cutting
• Highly versatile and multi-functional

Cons

• Needs to be cleaned regularly

How To Make Sausage Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers?

The best part of this appetizer is that you don’t need too many ingredients. But you can satisfy your taste buds with a blast of amazing flavors. Also, it doesn’t take much time for you to prepare and cook. The main ingredients that you will need for making stuffed jalapeno peppers and the direction to cook are mentioned below.

Ingredients:

1. Sausage

As this recipe is all about stuffing jalapeno peppers with sausage, one of the key ingredients has to be the sausage itself. When it comes to sausage, there are a lot of options to choose from, such as:

• Pork Sausage
• Beef Sausage
• Chicken Sausage

While it depends entirely on your preferences, the pork sausage will go best with the jalapeno peppers. Make sure to choose the regular or classic pork sausage with no extra flavor or herbs added. You will not like to mess up with the flavors of cheese and jalapeno peppers.

2. Jalapeno Peppers

The next key ingredient for preparing this recipe has to be – jalapeno peppers. Make sure to buy the fresh ones from the market for the best taste and flavor. A pro tip for choosing the fresh jalapeno pepper is to look for the wrinkles or the stretch marks on the peppers. When the peppers get older, it tends to have stretch marks or wrinkle on them. When the pepper is smooth, it means these peppers are fresh and young.

3. Cheese

The next thing that you will need to enhance the taste of the stuffed jalapeno peppers is the cheese. It gives a cheesy texture to the stuffing as well as it can enhance the flavors of the sausage and jalapeno too. For preparing this recipe, it is better to choose these three cheeses:

• Cheddar cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• Cream cheese

While cream cheese and parmesan cheese are important, the cheddar cheese can be an optional choice for you. If you prefer to add cheddar cheese, you can. But if you don’t want it to be too cheesy, you can avoid the cheddar cheese.

Preparation:

1. Deseeding the jalapeno peppers

One of the main steps of this stuffed jalapeno pepper recipe is deseeding those peppers. Though it is quite easy, the total time that you will take depends on the number of peppers and your speed. If you are new to deseeding the jalapenos, then do not worry. Follow these steps for deseeding the peppers easily:

• First, you have to cut the jalapeno peppers into two equal halves
• Now, take a spoon for scraping the seeds out from these halves
• Make sure to scrape the ribs out too from the jalapeno peppers

The heat of the jalapeno peppers is mainly in the seeds and the ribs. Taking them out can lower the risk of heartburn. Also, make sure to wear a pair of rubber gloves while you are scraping the seeds and ribs out. The juice coming out of these peppers can remain on your fingers for hours.

2. Shred the cheese

The next thing that you have to do is to shred the cheese. You can buy shredded cheese from the market. But it is better to buy cheese blocks and shred them whenever needed. You have to place the cheese grater on a plate of a board. Then put some pressure carefully on the grater and take the cheese block. Push the cheese block to and fro on the cheese grater to shred the cheese evenly and perfectly.

Pro Tip: Keep the cheese in the freeze and let it sit for around 15 minutes before you can take it out for grating. This is applicable mainly for the cream cheese. This will ensure proper grating.

3. Prepare the sausage

The next thing that you have to do is to prepare the sausage for the dish. You can use ground sausage for this recipe or you can chop the sausages into small cubes too. It completely depends on your preferences. To ground the sausage, you have to follow these steps:

• Take a knife and cut the sausage through the middle and slit it into two halves
• Now, you can take the casing off from the sausage completely to expose the meat
• Crumble the meat and your ground sausage is ready to be used for the recipe

If you want to use the cubed sausage, then you can simply take the knife and cut the sausages into small cubes. Make sure to cut the sausages into small cubes as it will get easier to stuff it into the jalapeno peppers.

Direction:

Once you have all the ingredients ready and prepped completely, you can move to the next step. It is time for cooking now. You have the deseeded jalapeno peppers cut into halves, shredded cheese and grounded sausage or sausage cubes ready. Now, you have to follow these instructions below to make these scrumptious stuffed jalapeno peppers with sausage and cheese:

Step #1: Preparing the Oven

Firstly, you have to make sure that your oven is ready. You have to preheat the oven to about 425 degree Fahrenheit or 220 degree Celsius. Also, keep a parchment paper along with the baking sheet ready for baking the stuffed jalapeno peppers. Preheating is very important and you should not miss this step at all. While the over is heating up, you can move on to the next step.

Step #2: Cook the Sausage

Whether you choose to use ground sausage or cubed sausages for your stuffed jalapeno recipe, you have to cook them. Take a non-stick frying pan or skillet first and then set the heat to medium. Now, take the ground sausage or the cubed sausage into the skillet. Break the grounded sausage properly and cook them. You have to cook the sausages until it is browned properly. After that, you have to drain out the fat from the grounded sausage.

Step #3: Mixing the ingredients

Take a medium sized bowl for mixing the sausage and cheeses together. First, put the shredded cream cheese, shredded parmesan cheese and shredded cheddar cheese on the top of the grounded or cubed sausage. Now, mix all these 4 ingredients together properly until it is completely mixed. This is going to be the stuffing for the jalapeno peppers.

Step #4: Start the stuffing

Once the mixture is ready, you have to start stuffing them. Take a spoon for scooping the stuffing and placing them in the peppers. Start with one half of the jalapeno pepper. Take a tablespoon of the sausage and cheese stuffing and put it into the pepper properly. Follow this for all the jalapeno pepper halves that you have.

Step #5: Baking the stuffed jalapeno peppers

Now, it is time for the last and final stage of this recipe. You have to take a baking sheet and grease it very lightly. Place the jalapeno peppers with the sausage and cheese stuffing on it. Put the baking sheet into the preheated oven. Let it bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. Keep on checking on the jalapeno peppers to ensure that they are absolutely crispy and tender. You will notice that the filling or stuffing has turned slightly brownish with the cheese properly melted.

Tips For Sausage Stuffed Jalapeno Peppers

As you can see the recipe is quite easy to prepare and cook. The total time required for the preparation and cooking can range from 40 minutes to 60 minutes approximately. While the recipe is quite easy, there are certain important things that you need to keep in mind. Some of these are:

• Make sure to arrange the stuffed jalapeno peppers properly on the baking sheet
• Keep at least a gap of an inch between the two jalapeno peppers to allow them to bake properly
• Jalapeno peppers taste best when they are slightly crispy yet tender
• If you are using sausage cubes, make sure to keep the cubes very small
• Seeds of the jalapeno peppers can cause heartburns (hence, remove it properly)

Nutritional Value

All the details about the nutritional value mentioned here are an approximate total. It depends from one recipe to another depending on how much cheese you are using or how much sausage you are using. The approximate nutritional value of these stuffed jalapeno peppers with sausage and cheese is:

• Calorie count: 265 Kcal
• Carbohydrates: 3 grams
• Fat: 23 grams
• Protein: 12 grams
• Sodium: 521 milligram
• Fiber: 1 gram
• Potassium: 221 milligram
• Iron: 1 milligram
• Calcium: 148 milligram

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How to store the stuffed peppers?

If you want you can prepare this stuffed jalapeno recipe ahead of time. All you have to do is stuff the jalapeno peppers with sausage and cheese and store it properly. When needed, you can simply bake the stuffed jalapeno peppers and serve it. To store the stuffed peppers, you can simply cover them and put them in your refrigerator.

2. What dips go well with the sausage stuffed jalapeno peppers?

The dips that can go best with the sausage stuffed jalapeno peppers are:

• Blue Cheese Sauce
• Sweet chili sauce
• Sour cream
• Lime cilantro dip

3. What drink goes best with this recipe?

The jalapeno peppers can go perfectly well with a glass of red wine, especially Pinot Noir. The medium high acidity along with medium dryness of the Pinot Noir red wine can be a perfect drink to pair with the jalapeno peppers stuffed with cheese and sausage. The slight flavors of clove, cherry, mushroom and raspberry can perfectly compliment the cheesy and savory taste the jalapeno peppers. Try it and you will love it!

4. Which one will be the best – ground or cubed sausage?

The answer to this question depends entirely on your preferences. While some prefers to add grounded sausage, some likes cubed sausage. Both can go perfectly well with this stuffed jalapeno peppers with sausage and cheese recipe.