Jalapeno Popper Bagel Sliders are mini burgers that pack a big flavor punch with popper flavors in the burger mixture and sandwiched on a soft bagel bun. Put these on your next weekend grill menu and fall in love like I did.
If there’s anything I’m known for, it’s my love of jalapeño peppers.
I do believe jalapeno poppers had something to do with it when I first had one as a teenager – I could NOT believe how delicious and addictive these little things were.
Where had I been?
Now you have the backstory to my love affair with those cute little green, amazing peppers. If you go back through my blog history, you’ll see many documentation of said addiction.
Now, let’s jump right into these little sliders with huge flavor.
This, my www friends, is my Jalapeno Popper Bagel Slider.
When I’m developing recipes, and I’m in the first stages where I’m playing with flavors and ingredients I know when I’m getting close because the taste I’m wanting is just right there.
When I finally take that bite, THAT bite that tells me I’ve nailed what I’m aiming for, I do this thing where I take a sigh, and say ‘OMG – that’s it’.
Then, I smile.
And, if you know me, you know that smile.
Y’all have no idea how much those moments make me happy.
I’m not the only one that loves jalapeños, even though I’ve been told that I’m the queen of peppers and go overboard with my absurd use of them. That makes me roll my eyes.
The jalapeño popper flavor is so popular, it’s seemingly served at every single game party, birthdays, teas, holiday gatherings, baby showers, etc.
The jalapeno popper has been a source of inspiration for foodies, home cooks, restaurant chefs, and yours truly, to make spin-offs.
There are different jalapeno recipes, jalapeno popper recipes, burger recipes, etc.
Why the hell not? The elements of this beautiful, yet simple, little appetizer can be destructed and reconstructed to make so many things.
What Goes Into Jalapeno Popper Bagel Sliders?
Jalapeno poppers are made with only three ingredients, jalapeños, cream cheese and bacon.
That’s it.
The combination of the three are delicious, especially if they’re cooked correctly. You gotta get that bacon done, or it will ruin the burger; biting into raw bacon isn’t a good experience.
Unless you’re a neanderthal, maybe.
My pretty little slider is actually pretty simple.
I chopped fresh jalapeños and added them to my ground beef mixture along with a little cream cheese to give the burger some moistness and a bit of popper flavor, but I didn’t want to go overboard. After all, it’s a burger and I wanted to make sure the tastes were balanced.
I combined cream cheese and crispy bacon for slathering on the toasted bagel buns.
A little arugula rounded it all out.
About the bacon…
A few years ago, I fell in love with this bacon called Bill E.’s Bacon in south Alabama. It is seriously the best quality, not to mention the most delicious bacon I seriously have ever had.
As a matter of fact, I qualified for World Food Championships about three years ago with a phenomenal burger using his bacon.
Now go make these sliders.
Here’s your printable –
Jalapeno Popper Bagel Sliders

Miniature burgers with all the taste of jalapeno poppers sandwiched on soft bagel buns.
Ingredients
- 1 lb. ground round
- 6 oz. cream cheese, at room temp, divided
- 1/2 yellow onion, diced
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- 1 tsp coarse pepper
- 1 fresh jalapeno, diced small
- 1/2 lb. bacon, cooked and crushed
- 1/4 cup mayo
- 6 small bagels, split
- Baby Arugula
Instructions
- Combine ground round, 2 oz cream cheese, diced jalapeno, Worcestershire and salt and pepper, make into burgers a little bit bigger than the bagel size. (They will shrink a little)
- Melt butter slightly in a grill pan and add burgers over medium heat, turning each burger once on each side when it's seared. Remove when they are at desired temp, turn heat off, and leave the burger juices in the pan.
- Add split bagel buns to the pan and cover for 1-2 min, until soft and a little brown on the inside part of bun.
- Combine the remaining cream cheese, mayo and arugula.
- Assemble by spreading each bun side with cream cheese/bacon mixture, arugula, burger and top of bagel bun. If you have extra bacon, sprinkle on top before adding top bun!
Notes
I found the little bagels in the bakery section of Publix, and I have also bought them at Target.
Feel free to adjust the jalapeno pepper amount; use 1/2 if your family or guests are a fan of heat at all. Use 2 if they love heat!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 758Total Fat: 46gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 24gCholesterol: 147mgSodium: 2362mgCarbohydrates: 41gFiber: 1gSugar: 8gProtein: 43g
The provided nutrition calculated may not always be accurate.
Did you make this recipe?
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Author
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Shea Goldstein is the voice behind Dixie Chik Cooks. She's a recipe developer, brand ambassador and food writer. She has been published in Redbook, Parade, Food Blogger Magazine and more. Shea is a Southern Belle Who's Thinking About What's For Dinner While Eating Lunch.
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This Post Has 10 Comments
I love that you put jalapenos and cream cheese IN the burger … they look so good! But I don’t see the recipe? All i see is “” … ???
Sorry Ann!! It’s all fixed now.
Made me look twice, Shea! Thought I left a comment earlier but then I remembered I got side tracked printing off SO many of your other delicious recipes. 🙂 You have a knack for flavor combos and recreations!
Jalapenos. Check, Sliders. Double check. (The bagel buns were pure inspiration.) Loved that you added a lil’ cream cheese & the aforementioned jalapenos to your burgers… subtle, but sexy. 🙂 Killer sauce, too!
No that’s what I call a burger and love that they’re slider size since I don’t think I could eat the full-sized one!
Thank you Julie!!
These are some STELLAR sliders!! They went directly on my tailgate menu!!
Awesome Michaela! Thank you, they are so good.
What an amazing idea! It looks so tasty!
Thank you so much 🙂