Jalapeño Popper Quiche Cups, Easy Party Appetizer Or Snack

Jalapeño popper quiche cups are perfect little creamy savories for parties, potlucks, holiday spreads, game day treats, snacks, or lunch.

Jalapeño popper quiche cups are delicious little snack treats or appetizers. They are a tasty addition on a cheese board and perfect for game day and holiday parties, anytime potlucks, summer BBQs, and picnics. Creamy, cheesy, and spicy, enveloped in a flaky pie pastry, there is nothing not to love about jalapeño popper mini quiches. 

Wholesome, high in protein and healthy fats, these are much better for you than a bag of chips and dip. And they taste fantastic! Make this easy treat today, or prep, freeze, and cook them later. Grab your mixer and a bowl and let’s get started! 

If you love peppers, don’t miss my fermented pepper recipes, Fermented Jalapeños, Fermented Chili Paste, and Cantaloupe Hot Sauce. Here are a few favorite savory party dishes: A classic German dish that you really must try is Zwiebelkuchen, or onion pie. It’s fantastic! And zesty jalapeño cheese pie, made with a delicious buttery Flaky Pie Crust.
Also, visit my page on How To Grow Peppers From Seed for some great gardening tips, and you’ll learn about the medicinal benefits of peppers on my Benefits Of Peppers page.  

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Jalapeño Popper Quiche Cups, Easy Party Appetizers Or Snacks

Do you have a jalapeño affinity like I do? I looove jalapeños and grow jalapeños every year in the garden. I always plant way more bushes than I would need, just to be sure that I will be getting some jalapeños even if it’s not a good year for them.

And since jalapeños were normally fairly prolific, no matter if I gardened in NH, WA or here in Missouri, I usually end up with an abundance. And that’s a good thing, because it allows me to make fermented jalapeño slices, spicy fermented chili paste, frozen jalapeño slices and dried jalapeños. They all help to keep me from running out of jalapeños until they grow again next year.

I use the fresh jalapeños to make jalapeño poppers or really, most often, I just stuff them with a chunk of homemade Cheddar cheese and grill them till the cheese melts and runs onto the baking sheet to caramelize. Ooohh so simple and delicious!

But I love them in all sorts of dishes too, like fermented salsa. And most other summer dishes get a dose of fresh picked jalapeños added as well.

And dried jalapeños are great to grind into a powder for seasoning or to add a handful of slices to soups and stews. 

And then I make all my favorite jalapeño dishes all year round with preserved jalapeños. Like jalapeño pie and this little appetizer, which are my favorite savories that can be made with frozen, fermented, pickled, or canned jalapeños.

These little mini quiches have evolved because I love jalapeño poppers, but you kind of need fresh jalapeños for those and in my opinion, they are a bit tedious to make.

Why You’ll Love Jalapeño Popper Quiche Cups

• They taste awesome! Like Jalapeño poppers but with a wonderful flaky crust instead of breading. 

• They are a filling high-protein and healthy fat snack, especially if you make your own cheeses and pie crust. See my notes on the ingredients and how to make this recipe most healthy and most nutritious.

• Add to your holiday appetizer spread or a party cheese board. These jalapeño popper quiche cups are great for parties, potlucks, picnics, as appetizers for any meal, snacks, lunch boxes, or road trip snacks. And they are great for lunch with a salad, like my refreshing cucumber salad, an awesome cooked zucchini salad, or some fermented tomato salsa.

• Use homemade or store bought crust. If you’re in a hurry, you can use a premade pie crust, either your own from the freezer or purchased. If you’re making the crust from scratch, which I highly recommend, this recipe is delicious with my flaky pie crust recipe, using half lard and half butter or all butter. 

• All natural, wholesome ingredients. I’ll provide tips for making this most healthy in the ingredients list below.

• Adaptable: Make it spicy or mild with hot or mild jalapeños, or use bell peppers instead of the hot jalapeños. 

• Quick And Make-Ahead Options: These jalapeño popper quiche cups take very little time, especially if you use premade pie crusts from the freezer or grocery store. They can also be fully assembled and frozen to bake up later when you need an appetizer in a pinch. Or to avoid having too much last minute cooking to do for your holiday feasts.

• Don’t underestimate the Health Benefits of Jalapenos. Like all peppers, they pack a healthy dose of beneficial punch, and you’ll do you a favor to include peppers in your cooking as often as possible. Find out more on my benefits of peppers page!

Tips For Your Best Jalapeño Popper Quiche Cups

• Choose Your Cheese: I like to use my homemade cheeses for this dish but they taste fantastic with purchased cream cheese or cottage cheese too. If you like it really rich and creamy, go for the cream cheese! For a bit lighter version, use cottage cheese, homemade queso fresco, Greek yogurt, ricotta, or homemade quark cheese, chevre cheese, or clabber cheese. 

• Choose Your Heat: Make these hot or not with your selection of peppers. I like it spicy and use regular jalapeños, but you can use mild jalapeños or bell peppers instead of hot jalapeños.

• Add greens: I like to include some greens in these tarts. My favorites for jalpeno popper quiches are green onions or chives, they are a perfect partner! But some finely chopped parsley or celery greens are great too. 

• Make-Ahead: You can freeze the assembled raw quiches or the fully baked ones.

• Use Fresh Milled Flour, Organic Cheese, and Butter or Lard from pastured animals to make this a health-supporting treat. It is important to me to eat clean foods that count and support my health and I like to offer helpful information on how I choose ingredients that support this goal, in case you feel the same. See more info in the ingredients list below.

• Substitute leftover Smoked Ham for the Bacon, or bits of smoked sausage.

How To Make Jalapeño Popper Quiche Cups

Equipment

Muffin Pans – I cannot find my cast iron muffin pan, it is still packed away in a box somewhere. So I had to buy some of those horrible coated ones at Walmart. I’m keeping an eye on them and will discard them if they get scratched. They will have to do for now, but I’ve got these cast iron muffin pans on my wishlist, since I need another one anyway. I highly recommend cast iron, they make wonderful muffins and are the best non-toxic option.

Bowls – You’ll need one medium bowl for making the filling

Measuring Cups and Spoons

Hand mixer, Blender, Vitamix, or Food Processor – A hand mixer will work great for most cheeses, however, if you’re using cottage cheese or queso fresco, I recommend using a high speed blender or food processor to break up the curds. Just blend it up with the cream into a smooth paste before adding the other ingredients.

Rolling pin – Use any rolling pin to roll out your dough. I have a handled one, but I have this one on my wishlist :). If you don’t have one, try a smooth round bottle.

Parchment Paper – use this for rolling out the pie pastry.

Knife + Cutting Board – for chopping the jalapeños and herbs

Grater – for grating the cheese

Frying Pan – optional, only needed if you’re adding bacon.

Ingredients

I like to mention how important it is to choose organically grown produce and ingredients whenever possible. Conventionally grown food is most often treated with toxic pesticides and other chemicals meant to prolong shelf life.

An organic label ensures that it will be non-GMO, and free from most harmful chemicals (the humidity sprayer in the vegetable section of the grocery stores also contains chemicals, so do watch for that).

And Peppers just missed the dirty dozen list that is published by the EWG each year, by one spot! Besides that, in most cases, organically grown food has much better nutritional value, it’s food that will nourish and support our bodies, not do the opposite.

Cream Cheese or Substitutes

I like to make these jalapeno popper quiches with homemade quark cheese, chevre, or queso fresco. But cream cheese is really delicious in this recipe and it makes the most authentic creamy popper texture.

So if you’re serving it at a party, you might want to go all out with using cream cheese*. Choose organic and pasture raised cream cheese, if you want to make this healthy. (See also my notes about choosing cheese).

*Blended homemade queso fresco is very similar cream cheese, if you blend it well in a blender or food processor. Add enough cream to make it smooth and creamy, you might need a little more than the half cup of cream I specified in the recipe, because it is so dry to start with. Or add some whey back in. It’s so quick and easy to make with just whole milk and vinegar.

Heavy cream

This will add to the creaminess of the filling. You can adjust the amount of cream if your filling is very thick in case you used queso fresco to make this filling. Or use a little less if you’ve decided on making this with cottage cheese. (You could also rinse and drain the cottage cheese first). I like to use organic valley heavy cream, which is the only one I can get in my area and it is made from pasture raised cows milk.

Eggs

I raise my own laying chickens, but if I had to buy eggs, I’d buy pasture raised eggs or at least organic ones. Really, it’s best to know where your eggs are coming from and to actually see the facilities and learn how they are fed. This is to avoid antibiotics and other routinely added medication, caged bird horribleness, and synthetic feed additives. “Free range” eggs are often little better than caged bird eggs.

Shredded Cheese

Sharp or extra sharp cheddar cheese – Use a good quality sharp cheddar cheese for best flavor. I now make my own cheese and I’ve been working on an over 5 pound wheel of 3-year old aged homemade cheddar cheese, which has become quite piquant. It gives all my cheese recipes a fantastic flavor. I am planning to post the recipe for it soon, so you can make it too. It’s delicious. Sign up for notifications!

If you’re looking to make this the most healthy pie, try to find organic cheese from pasture raised cows. Azure Standard has some really great cheeses available for a healthy options. They deliver to drops all over the country by truck.

Jalapenos

Whether you like it mild or hot, adjust the heat level to your preference. When my jalapenos lack heat, I just add twice as many. Or you can use ‘tame’ jalapenos. You can use any peppers you have or prefer. If you don’t want any heat, just use a bell pepper or two. Organic peppers are also available at Azure Standard.

Seasonings

Garlic powder, garlic paste or fresh garlic – I love to use my homemade fermented garlic paste in cooking and baking, it’s ready to use convenient and adds a great ‘roasted’ garlic flavor to the dish. But fresh garlic, finely chopped or pressed is great too, or just use garlic powder.

1 tsp onion flakes or powder – You could use fresh onions, but I would saute them first.

¼ tsp nutmeg – I’m German and in Germany, we use nutmeg as a general rule in all egg dishes. It adds a subtle warm nutmeg flavor that just pairs so well with eggs. Think eggnogg.

Chives or green onions – If you can get chives or green onions, I highly recommend adding these. My green onions didn’t work out this year and I didn’t get to plant chives. Bummer, but it is what it is.

I used bulb onion greens earlier this summer, and the quiches turned out fantastic with that onion flavor, but my bulb onion greens have all dried up by now, and so I used extra parsley in my last couple of batches. It was still delicious, but I did miss the green onion flavor.

Parsley – Parsley gives a great herbal flavor to these tarts. If you’re lacking green onions, just double up on the parsley.

Optional

Bacon – I didn’t use bacon in this batch, but it tastes great with these jalapeno popper quiches if you love bacon! A light sprinkling on top and a few bits mixed into the batter is all it takes. Don’t overdo it or these tarts will become too salty.

Fry the bacon till crispy in a pan and let it cool a little, then crumble and use in the recipe. Be sure to save the bacon grease. You can make your pie crust with it next time in place of lard, just omit the salt.

I normally use my own home cured and smoked bacon from my pastured pigs, so I know it’s healthy. I could not find any today, there is some in the depths of the freezer, but I don’t want to dig too deep during this hot spell we’re having, so I didn’t use it.

If you’re buying it and you want it healthy, look for pastured organic pork bacon or make your own. I don’t have instructions posted yet, and it will be a while before I butcher another pig, but here is a great article with instructions on how to make your own bacon with all natural ingredients. A bit different from my way, but it sounds great and no nitrate!

Flaky pie crust

Be sure to try my buttery, tender and flaky pie pastry recipe! It works perfectly for these tarts. And I love using sifted fresh milled einkorn flour to make these quiche mini pastries. It adds a wonderful nutty flavor and a bit of crunch.

Flour – just a small amount for dusting the pie pastry while rolling it out, to prevent sticking. I like fresh milled flour for this, it is a slight bit grainier than the fine stuff from the store and that works great for rolling out dough without adding too much.

Instructions For Making Jalapeño Popper Quiche Cups

If you’re making the pie crust from scratch, allow for a couple of hours to chill it before you use is. This is necessary to get a beautiful flaky crust.

Preheat the oven to 375 

Prepare the pie crusts

If you’re making them from scratch, prepare them 2 hours before you’re making the rest of this recipe. Then form a disk with the pastry and refrigerate it for 2 hours or up to 3 days.

Roll out your pie crust between 2 sheets of parchment paper. Dust with flour several times while rolling out and keep adjusting the parchment if necessary. 

With a 4″ round cutter or other object (maybe a tin can or jar lid), cut out circles for mini pie crusts. I used an english muffin ring that’s just under 4 inches and then I stretched the dough a little bit to fit. 

Place the cutouts into the muffin cups and pierce the bottoms with a fork to eliminate trapped air for easier forming. You’ll want to push the pastry all the way into the bottom edges. Piercing the dough will also prevent trapped moisture when baking, which will yield a flakier crust. 

Place the muffin tin with the pie crust into the freezer while you prepare the filling. This will ensure the best flakiness. 

Prepare the Filling

If you’re using bacon, fry it in a pan till crispy and set aside to cool.

Add the cream cheese or quark to a medium sized bowl along with the heavy cream. (You will need a blender or food processor for this if you’re using cottage cheese or queso fresco to break up the curds).

Beat the cheese with the cream till creamy and smooth.

Add the eggs and spices and blend till smooth.

Add the grated cheddar cheese and give it another whirl.

Stir in the jalapeños, chives or green onions, and/or parsley. 

If you’re adding bacon, crumble the bacon and use half of it in the batter, and reserve the other half for a topping.

Your batter should be fairly thick unless you used ricotta or unrinsed cottage cheese

Grab the muffin tins with the mini pie shells from the freezer and use a tablespoon or ladle to fill the pastry cups just to the edge. Sprinkle with the remaining bacon if using. Otherwise you can decorate the tops with leftover pie crust or a jalapeno slice and maybe a sprinkle of red hot pepper flakes.

Put the muffin tins into the hot oven and bake until the filling is turning golden and is firm in the middle when you press on it, about 25-30 minutes.

Take the pan out of the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes on a rack. Invert onto a baking sheet or plate, and serve warm or serve at room temperature. 

Storage 

Refrigerate leftovers for up to 4 days, or freeze for longer storage. 

I prefer freezing them uncooked in the muffin dish, then, once frozen, just invert and remove the quiches from the muffin pan and put them into a freezer container or freezer bag with as much air squeezed out as possible. When needed, pop them back into a muffin tin and bake.

When freezing fully baked quiches, you can wrap them individually in parchment or plastic film and keep them them in a freezer container or bag for easy snacks, just defrost them in the fridge and eat cold or heat, defrosted or still frozen, in a toaster oven.

Reheat at 350 degrees until heated through and the crust is sizzling. It will take longer for frozen pies. 

Your Questions Answered

Enjoy Your Jalapeño Popper Quiche Cups!

I hope you will love these little spicy treats as much as I do. They are so easy to make and great for making ahead and baking later, which I find very helpful for the holidays when there are so many other things that need attention. And it’s great to have a bunch of these in the freezer for a quick dinner appetizer, lunch or snack any time, when you’re too busy to cook or prepare a sandwich. Best of all, they are so very delicious!

Have you made this recipe? I’d be glad to get your feedback and your ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating! And I’d love to hear your favorite ways to use jalapeños. And please don’t hesitate to ask in the comments if you have any questions!

Join the Food For Life Garden Community for more great recipes and homestead tips and ideas. I’m always adding new content. Don’t miss any new posts and learn more about my off-grid farm life.

Other Recipes You Might Like

Best Flaky Pie Crust – Check out my best flaky pie crust recipe. Perfect for all your harvest and holiday pies! Lost of options for customizing.

Jalapeño Cheese Pie – A long-time favorite dish of mine that I make each year when my jalapenos put out fruit in the garden. It’s an old recipe that makes an awesome appetizer, potluck dish, or game-day treat.

Zwiebelkuchen a German onion pie – Delicious German fall tradition. Make some today, you won’t regret it!

Grow Peppers From Seeds – Your complete guide to growing peppers. From selecting seeds to planting, growing, companion planting, and harvesting. Find out the benefits of growing your own peppers and how to preserve them.

Mushroom Risotto – delicious gourmet flavored rice dish that’s easy to make and it’s a perfect way to highlight the rich flavor of mushrooms.

Hearty Mushroom Chowder – A delicious, rich and flavorful chowder that can easily be adapted to any ingredients you have in your pantry!

Pepper Uses And Benefits – Learn about all the awesome benefits and uses for sweet and hot peppers and how to use peppers to improve your health.

Fermented Chili Paste – Here is a great way to preserve your end-of-the season harvest of green peppers. This paste will last all year in your refrigerator to use as a condiment, seasoning, or topping.

Fermented Jalapenos – Spicy, Easy, Tasty, Convenient. Keep a jar of sliced probiotic pickled jalapenos on hand for every day use.

Fermented Hot Sauce With Cantaloupe – How to make a delicious fermented hot sauce that is great with meat, fish, eggs and on sandwiches. What a great way to use some cantaloupe and spicy peppers. 

Foraged Wild Weeds Pesto Recipe – Make a delicious Pesto with dead nettles and other wild weeds with this guide to foraging wild greens.

Salt-cured herbs – Preserving delicate herbs for the cold season, using either fermentation or salt-curing. Keep a jar of your favorite herbs in the refrigerator. It preserves the fresh flavor and nutrients for a year or more.

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Cast iron muffin pans
Hand mixer
Vitamix
Blender
Food Processor
Rolling pin
Rolling pin without handle
Parchment Paper
Knife
Cutting board
Grater
Frying pan
Azure Standard for organic ingredients such as jalapeños and organic cheeses.

Grow Your Own Peppers

Jalapeño seeds
Mild Jalapeño seeds