the best vegan jalapeño poppers

Preheat oven to 375°F.

If you’re using a vegan sausage, finely chop it or crumble it with your hands and brown in a pan over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes.

Combine the vegan cream cheese with chives, cilantro, and minced garlic. Once the cooked sausage has cooled a bit, you can add it to the cream cheese mixture. Or add coconut fakin’ bacon or tofu bacon bits to the mixture. You could also brown up seasoned veggie ground round/meat crumbles. Whatever you want! Refrigerate this while you prepare the jalapeños.

Cut the jalapeños in half and scoop out the flesh and seeds inside gently with a small spoon. You might want to wear rubber gloves, because I didn’t and had burning hands for a couple hours afterward! If that happens, just wash your hands in rubbing alcohol or vodka. It seemed to relieve the sensation.

Drain the sun dried tomatoes from the soaking water and add to high powered blender with the remaining aioli ingredients. Blend until very smooth. You can make the aioli before assembling and baking the jalapeño poppers to allow it to chill in the fridge or make it while they’re baking. 

Stuff the halves of jalapeños with the cream cheese mixture, then add a little bit of vegan cheese shreds (if using) and press the top into the bread crumb mixture, coating it well. Add a little more shredded vegan cheese to the top (if using) and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

To help brown the tops, spray them with some oil. Bake them for 18 to 20 minutes until golden brown on top, jalapeños look wrinkled and cooked through and the cheese is melted.

Serve immediately while they’re hot and drizzle the sun dried tomato aioli on top. I found this easier than dipping them in the aioli, as the jalapeño poppers are pretty stuffed!