We do love our Egg Salad here in the South. You will love this “Cranked Up” version we have incorporated into Jalapeño Poppers with Southern Egg Salad and Hot Pepper Relish.
Jalapeño Poppers with Southern Egg Salad and Hot Pepper Relish
Egg salad is a Southern Tradition. It is made with two of our favorite foods, hard boiled eggs and mayonnaise. And it can be as simple as that. That 2 ingredient combination is the one I grew up eating, hard boiled eggs smashed into mayonnaise. And it is still perfectly delicious.
But more often now days, much like deviled eggs, I, and most of my fellow Southerners, like to doctor the recipe up a bit. Pickles or pickle relish are a frequent and delicious addition as are minced onions or onion powder. Mustard is seen often. And naturally chopped bacon has started appearing more and more in the past dozen years or so.
For this recipe, I used a “cranked up” egg salad recipe I developed a while back for a friend to make party crackers. The bolder taste holds its own with the jalapeño pepper and the hot pepper relish takes everything over the top.
These make a terrific light lunch.
This is an Experimental, Jalapeño Poppers-Lover Recipe. I develop these recipes to have fun, taste new tastes and push the boundaries of what a Jalapeño Popper can be. I welcome comments, innovations and improvements on ALL recipes – but especially these.
About the Recipes
One thing you will notice immediately is that most of our recipes do not have quantities listed for the ingredients. This is by design.
Jalapeños come in many different sizes and shapes (often depending upon the time of year). Their size, the cut you choose (see below) and your own personal tastes will determine how much cream cheese, bacon or other ingredients you put into each pepper. Use your tastes and be sure to experiment a bit.
You will also notice that most directions call for cooking the poppers in an oven. This is because that is the easiest and quickest way for most of us to cook and enjoy jalapeño poppers year round. But if you want to grill, smoke or cook your poppers any other way – Almost every recipe we have will work. We will let you know if it won’t.
How to Cut and Clean Jalapeños for Poppers (With Pictures)
Click the links below to how to make any style Jalapeño Popper cut.
Jalapeño Poppers with Southern Egg Salad and Hot Pepper Relish Recipe
We do love our Egg Salad here in the South. You will love this "Cranked Up" version we have incorporated into Jalapeño Poppers with Southern Egg Salad and Hot Pepper Relish.
Ingredients (See Box Above, "IMPORTANT - About Our Recipes" for Information about Quantities)
- Jalapeño Peppers
- Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
- Cream Cheese
- Southern Egg Salad store bought, your favorite recipe or try the recipe we used - Included below
- Pepper Relish store bought or homemade (See below for links to some good recipes to make at home - COMING SOON)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Cut the jalapeños into a boat cut. (Click link above to see how to do a Boat Cut.)
- Sprinkle insides of cut jalapeños lightly with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Place the jalapeños on a cookie sheet. Place sheet in preheated oven. Cook for about 10 minutes. (Skip this step if you prefer your finished jalapeños to be more raw and crunchy.)
- Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly so you can handle them.
- Add just a small amount of cream cheese to each jalapeño to cover the bottom. (Click link above to see pictures of this step, if the instructions are unclear to you.) Note - You can totally skip the cream cheese and these will taste just as good.
- Place jalapeños back in oven and back until they are done to your liking. (This is ALL the baking the we will do, so make sure they are cooked the way you like to eat them.)
- Remove jalapeños from oven and cool to room temperature.
- Mix up egg salad using your favorite recipe or our recipe below.
- Fill each jalapeño with a very generous helping of egg salad.
- Top each jalapeño with a dollop of pepper relish. (Get fancy like I did in the picture, or just add about a teaspoonful to each jalapeño.)
- Chill until ready to serve. But make sure to bring close to room temperature before serving.
Southern Egg Salad Recipe
The measurements below are for 1 boiled egg. One boiled egg made into egg salad will fill 1 large jalapeño (2 halves cut in the boat cut) or 2 small jalapeños (4 halves cut in the boat cut). Simply adjust your measurements for the number of jalapeños you plan to make.
Ingredients (See Box Above, "IMPORTANT - About Our Recipes" for Information about Quantities)
- 1 Egg hard boiled and peeled
- 2 tablespoons Fire and Ice Pickle Chips Click HERE for recipe - Coming Soon or Sweet Pickle Chips of your choice (See Note 1 Below), chopped finely (alternately, use homemade or store bourght Sweet Pickle Relish)
- 2 tablespoons minced Onion
- 1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 2 slices Bacon fired crisp and crumbled
- Mayonnaise
- Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Mash hard boiled egg on a plate.
- Place mashed egg in a small bowl.
- Add chopped pickles (or relish), minced onion, garlic powder and bacon crumbles.
- Add in enough mayonnaise to bind the ingredients together. Start with 2 tablespoons. Mix well. If needed, add more mayonnaise.
- Salt and pepper, to taste.
- Set aside.
Note 1 - A pickle "chip" is one slice of pickle. Like you would find on a fast-food hamburger. But make sure you use Sweet Pickles and not Dill.
Related Recipes:
Click on any Name below for the Recipe
- Old Fashioned Salmon Pasta Salad Recipe – This salad is perfectly at home anywhere – at an afternoon tea with the ladies, at a Superbowl party with the dudes or beside the pool with the kids.
- …More Delicious Recipes Coming Soon
Here are a Few More Recipes You Will Love:
Click on any Name below for the Recipe
- Candied Pecans Recipe – Candied Pecans are a Southern Favorite candy treat that everyone loves..
- …More Delicious Recipes Coming Soon
Both recipes are original. The Southern Egg Salad is based on Traditional recipes I have enjoyed all my life. Additional Information Courtesy of Wikipedia and is used by permission.
