Keto Jalapeño Poppers

Just because you’re following a keto or low carb diet doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy fried jalapeño poppers! Just swap out the breadcrumbs for crushed up pork rinds and you’re all set!

Thanks to Utah Pork for sponsoring this post!

There are so many keto jalapeño popper recipes that just skip the breadcrumbs altogether, but to me the crunch of the breading is part of what makes jalapeño poppers such a great appetizer.

I also know that there are a lot of people out there who don’t like the taste of pork rinds, but usually when someone tells me that and I ask where they’ve tried them their response is usually that they’ve only tasted the bagged kind that you find at grocery stores or gas stations.

First off, fresh pork rinds taste absolutely amazing, so if you’re ever at a restaurant that serves them — you’d most likely find them listed on the menu as chicharrones — I highly recommend you order them and second, even if you don’t like pork rinds on their own I’m willing to bet that if you ate anything that’s been breaded in them you wouldn’t even notice a taste difference at all vs. regular breadcrumbs.

I actually almost prefer using crushed up pork rinds as breading because as long as you blend them up fine enough they end up a little lighter than breadcrumbs. You don’t even need to crush them up yourself, you can literally go to the store and buy jars of crushed pork rinds that are meant to be used as breading. They even have different flavors available!

Personally I like the peppers in my jalapeño poppers to have a bit of a crunch to them so I didn’t didn’t pre-cook them at all, but if you prefer softer peppers you’ll probably wanna drop them in boiling water for a few minutes after scooping out all the seeds but prior to filling them.

Rather than just slicing my peppers in half I also prefer to make a T-shaped cut down the middle which allows you to spread the pepper open, pack it with your filling and then seal it right back up before breading it.

I filled my jalapeño poppers with the standard cream cheese and shredded Cheddar mixture, but I also added some diced bacon because as we all know, bacon makes everything better!

After that it was a quick dunk in a mixture of egg and milk followed by a coating of crushed up pork rinds and a four minute bath in the deep fryer and my keto jalapeño poppers were ready to eat!

Now I know that with the cheese and the bacon and the pork rinds this might not be the most healthy snack in the world, but did you know that pork is absolutely packed with protein? Every three ounces of pork provides 22 – 24 grams of protein depending on the cut, which is perfect because eating 20 – 30 grams of protein per meal helps fuel your body and can make you feel fuller. Plus, when you buy pork at any grocery store across the United States you’re supporting family farms in Utah and all over the country.

If you are looking for something a little more healthy — or I guess as healthy as you can get on a website called DudeFoods — you might wanna check out my recipes for Pulled Pork Taquitos, Caribbean-Inspired Pork Sliders, Pork Teriyaki in Edible Noodle Bowls, Jalapeño Popper Pork Tenderloin Sliders or Pulled Pork Flatbreads.