Jalapeño poppers and sliders are both popular party appetizers. But what if you could combine the flavors of both delicious dishes into one amazing snack? This recipe for jalapeño popper burgers is a flavorful party treat that everyone is sure to love. And the best part is that you can whip up these amazing appetizers in a matter of minutes with the help of your air fryer!
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What Do I Need to Make Jalapeño Popper Burgers?
These sliders are packed with flavor thanks to the delicious combination of hamburger and jalapeño popper filling. But just because these yummy burgers combine two popular appetizers doesn’t mean you need a ton of ingredients to prepare them! In fact, you only need a handful of simple supplies to whip up this delicious air fryer recipe, including:
- Ground beef
- Salt and pepper
- Slider Rolls
- Cream cheese
- Jalapeño peppers
- Shredded cheddar cheese
- Milk
- Bacon
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How Do I Make Jalapeño Popper Burgers?
With the help of your air fryer, you can prepare delicious sliders in a matter of minutes! Just follow these four simple steps to make your own jalapeño popper burgers at home:
Step 1: Prepare the Sliders
Get your sliders ready to cook in the air fryer by separating your ground beef into six equal servings. Roll each serving into a ball and flatten the ball between your hands. After that, season both sides of the burger patties with salt and pepper.
Step 2: Air Fry the Burgers
Arrange the slider patties in the basket of the air fryer, making sure not to overcrowd the basket. Set the air fryer to cook at 370 degrees for five minutes. After the cook time is up, flip the burgers and cook an additional 5 minutes. Continue air frying the sliders in batches until all the burgers have been cooked.
Step 3: Make the Jalapeño Popper Topping
While the burgers are cooking in the air fryer, prepare the jalapeño popper topping by stirring together the cream cheese, jalapeño peppers, shredded cheese, milk, and bacon.
Step 4: Build the Burgers
After the slider burgers are finished cooking, place one burger on each roll. Spread the jalapeño mixture over the top of each burger and top each slider with the top bun. Place a slice of jalapeño and a piece of bacon on a toothpick and stick each pick into the top of the sliders before serving.
How Do You Chop Jalapeños?
In order to add the spice of jalapeño peppers to your sliders, you’ll need to chop fresh jalapenos to add to your burger topping. But what’s the best way to chop up your peppers? Just follow these tips for prepping your peppers for this burger recipe:
- Wear gloves to protect your hands: Pepper seeds and juices can often burn your hands if you aren’t careful. To keep the peppers from getting on your skin, try wearing plastic gloves while you chop.
- Slice the peppers in half: The easiest way to remove the seeds from the peppers is to start by slicing the jalapenos in half lengthwise.
- Scoop out the seeds. Use a spoon or the side of the knife to scoop out all the seeds from the peppers. If you like your burgers to be spicy, you can leave a few seeds in the peppers. Or remove all the seeds from the jalapenos for a milder flavor.
- Dice the peppers: Once the seeds are removed, the only thing left to do is chop the jalapeños. Start by cutting each pepper into thin strips, then turn the strips and chop in the opposite direction to finely chop the jalapenos.
How Long Does It Take to Cook Sliders in an Air Fryer?
Making sliders in the air fryer is a quick and easy way to cook your burgers. That’s because you can prepare a batch of sliders in your air fryer in around 10 minutes. The size of your slider batches will depend on how big your sliders are and how big your air fryer is. Small air fryer baskets may hold up to four patties, while larger models could cook up to eight mini burgers at a time.
Since the size of your sliders and air fryer will determine how many sliders you can cook at once, you’ll need to take into account the number of batches you’ll need to cook to complete your meal to figure out the total time it will take to cook all your sliders in the air fryer.
Do You Need to Flip Burgers in the Air Fryer?
While cooking your sliders in the air fryer is a quick and less messy way of preparing burgers, there is one step you need to take whether you’re cooking your burgers on the grill or in your air fryer. Either cooking method requires that you flip the burgers in the middle of the cook time.
Halfway through the cook time, remove the basket from the air fryer and flip your burgers. After that, continue cooking until the sliders are fully cooked. Flipping the burgers will ensure your sliders are evenly cooked on both sides and prevent one side from burning as the sliders cook.
Jalapeño Popper Burgers in the Air Fryer
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef or any meat of your choosing such as turkey
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
- 6 slider rolls sliced in half
- 4 ounces cream cheese softened
- 2 jalapeño peppers seeded and diced
- 1/4 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 tablespoons milk
- 6 slices bacon cooked and chopped
- jalapeño slice and piece of bacon optional, for garnish
Instructions
For the burgers:
- Separate the ground beef into six equal servings.
- Roll each serving into a ball and flatten the ball between your hands. Then, season both sides of the burger patties with salt and pepper.
- Arrange the slider patties in the basket of the air fryer, making sure not to overcrowd the basket. You may need to cook in batches. Set the air fryer to cook at 370 degrees for five minutes. After the cook time is up, flip the burgers and cook an additional 5 minutes. Continue air frying the sliders in batches until all the burgers have been cooked.
For the Jalapeño Popper Topping:
- While the burgers are cooking in the air fryer, prepare the jalapeño popper topping by stirring together the cream cheese, jalapeño peppers, shredded cheese, milk and bacon until combined.
Build the Burgers:
- After the slider burgers are finished cooking, place one burger on each roll. Spread the jalapeno mixture over the top of each burger and top each slider with the top bun. Place a slice of jalapeno and a piece of bacon on a toothpick and stick each pick into the top of the sliders before serving.