Desert Fire Jalapeños Copycat

What you need

For the whole recipe · 12 poppers

At the Weber griddle

Suggested flat-top method · Allow 45–55 minutes, plus preheating.

1. Chill the sauce.Stir together the Greek yogurt or sour cream, mayonnaise, lime juice, lime zest, cilantro, grated garlic, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Add the optional honey if using. Cover and refrigerate while you prepare and cook the poppers.
2. Prepare the peppers.Wash and dry the jalapeños. Wearing food-prep gloves, slice them in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and pale ribs to make 12 halves. Pat the insides dry.
3. Mix and fill.Combine all four cheeses with the garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, pinch of salt, and optional cayenne. Fold in the finely diced red bell pepper. Divide the filling among the 12 halves, keeping it close to the rim so it stays in place.
4. Wrap with bacon.Wrap one half-slice of bacon around each filled pepper, with the ends tucked underneath. Secure with a toothpick if needed. Thin-sliced bacon works best for this flat-top method. Wash your hands and clean any surfaces or utensils that touched raw bacon.
5. Set up the Weber griddle.Preheat a clean, seasoned griddle according to your model’s instructions, then use medium-low heat for the poppers and keep a cooler area available. Have a heat-safe basting dome ready. Keep a hard storage cover open during cooking; use the basting dome over the food.
6. Cook gently under the dome.Place the poppers pepper-side down with the bacon ends against the griddle. Cover with the basting dome. Every 4–5 minutes, check underneath and gently tip the poppers onto their bacon-covered sides to brown the wrapping. Keep the exposed filling facing upward. Move them to the cooler area if the bottoms darken too quickly, and cover again between checks. Allow roughly 20–30 minutes; large peppers or thicker bacon may take longer.
7. Check, rest, and serve.Continue cooking until the peppers are tender and the bacon is fully cooked all around, with crisp edges. As a conservative check for the filled poppers, use a thin-tip thermometer to confirm the center of several reaches 165°F; keep the probe off the griddle. A hot filling alone does not confirm that every part of the bacon is cooked. Transfer to a clean plate, rest for 5 minutes, remove all toothpicks, and serve with the chilled sauce.