Vegan Jalapeño Poppers

Vegan Jalapeño Poppers by Pasta-based. Beautiful, bursting, crispy, jalapeño poppers stuffed with vegan ricotta and sausage crumbles sprawled out on a dark grey baking sheet and laying on top of a bright orange and yellow dish towel. Small bowl of vegan ranch with fresh dill nestled between the poppers and some more sausage crumbles scattered on the table pleasing the eyeballs.

We recently went to a vegan restaurant that has MANY mouth watering options but, as much as we wanted to, we couldn’t order everything on the menu (or could we… ?). So, one of the many things we ordered was the vegan jalapeño poppers. Neither of us really had jalapeño poppers many times before, but it sounded damn delicious at first glance that day.

No surprise, we freakin’ loved them! They were stuffed with vegan mozzarella, vegan sausage and fire roasted in a brick oven. They were to DIE for, so we naturally wanted to make our own version of these.

Vegan Jalapeño Poppers by Pasta-based. Bright green, fresh jalapeños sliced in half on a cutting board.

It’s a pretty simple concept, and we are obsessed with food, so we jumped right into making our own vegan jalapeño poppers recipe. We already had the perfect vegan ricotta recipe, so all we needed to figure out was the vegan sausage crumbles.

Here’s where sh** gets crazy – we never cooked with TVP (textured vegetable protein) before, but for some reason we decided now was the time! Steph did some research and we came up with the PERFECT vegan sausage crumbles recipe literally the first try (rarely happens).

Vegan Jalapeno Poppers by Pasta-based. Fresh basil, garlic, raw cashews, and nutritional yeast, ingredients to make Vegan Ricotta, in a food processor on top of a dark grey towel. Vegan Jalapeno Poppers by Pasta-based. Blended and creamy Vegan Ricotta in a food processor with a spoon.

I’m pretty notorious for being lazy, but I would DEFINITELY make this recipe for a football party or family gathering. All it requires is making the vegan sausage, the vegan ricotta, dicing red onion and cutting the jalapeños in half / removing the seeds. OK, that actually sounds like a lot, but it’s not!! Do it with a date or alone, either way it’s worth it. This recipe is too cheesy, spicy and fun to ignore!

Vegan Jalapeno Poppers by Pasta-based. Beautiful, bursting, crispy, jalapeno poppers stuffed with vegan ricotta and sausage crumbles sprawled out on a dark grey baking sheet. Small bowl of vegan ranch with fresh dill and a jalapeno drenched in ranch with a bite taken out.

What better to bring to a party, than vegan jalapeño poppers? Seriously, guys, this snack is so damn tasty and easy to serve that I plan on bringing these to many future get togethers.

Pro tip: Make sure you use JUMBO jalapeños. The bigger the better!
Pro tip 2: Make double because you will eat half of them before anyone notices 🙂

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Vegan Jalapeño Poppers
Prep Time
40 mins
Cook Time
25 mins
Total Time
1 hr 5 mins
 

An easy, cheesy, spicy appetizer. Fresh jumbo jalapeños stuffed with vegan ricotta cheese, freshly chopped red onion, and scratch-made vegan sausage crumbles. 

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish, Snack
Cuisine: American, Italian, Vegan, Vegetarian
Keyword: appetizer, jalapeno, jalapeno poppers, snack
Servings: 6 servings
Calories per Serving: 223 kcal
Ingredients
  • 15 jumbo jalapenos
  • 1/4 cup red onion diced
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
to make the vegan sausage crumbles
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup
  • 1 cup textured vegetable protein (TVP)
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried sage
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
to make the vegan ricotta cheese
  • 14 ounces firm tofu pressed
  • 2/3 cup raw cashews
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 10 basil leaves
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
Instructions
to make the vegan sausage crumbles
  1. Preheat your oven to 450°F/230°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

  2. In a medium pot, stir together water, liquid smoke, soy sauce and maple syrup. Heat on medium until the mixture comes to a light boil. 

  3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl mix TVP, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, sage, fennel, thyme and black pepper. Stir into pot and lower the heat.

  4. Cover the pot and heat on low for 5 minutes or until all the liquid has been absorbed. Then, transfer to the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes or until crispy. 

to make the vegan ricotta
  1. Meanwhile, press the tofu. When the tofu is drained, add it to a food processor with the cashews, nutritional yeast, basil, garlic, and lemon juice. Process until smooth and creamy. 

to make the vegan jalapeño poppers
  1. Cut each jalapeño in half, lengthwise. Using a spoon, carefully scrape the seeds without breaking the pepper. Discard the seeds. Be careful not to touch your eyes and to shield your eyes from any splashes.

  2. In a bowl, mix together the vegan sausage crumbles, vegan ricotta, and diced red onion.

  3. Using a spoon, stuff each jalapeño half with the filling and place on a baking sheet (no parchment paper). Drizzle jalapeños with olive oil and bake at 450°F/230°C for 20 minutes. 

  4. For crispier poppers, set your oven to broil for the last 5 minutes of baking.

Recipe Notes

Nutrition Facts
Vegan Jalapeño Poppers
Amount Per Serving (5 poppers)
Calories 223 Calories from Fat 99
% Daily Value*
Fat 11g17%
Saturated Fat 1g6%
Sodium 345mg15%
Potassium 325mg9%
Carbohydrates 19g6%
Fiber 5g21%
Sugar 6g7%
Protein 13g26%
Vitamin A 415IU8%
Vitamin C 47mg57%
Calcium 78mg8%
Iron 3.5mg19%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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2 Comments

  1. Reply

    Gina

    September 12, 2018

    Thanks for the sausage recipe I have been looking for one. Keeping the juice off your hands is easy we always keep food service gloves on hand. Sometimes they will even let you buy them at the deli counter if you need a pair or two. Ours sometimes will just give us a pair. Great job guys.

    • Reply

      pasta-based

      September 12, 2018

      Thank you Gina! Such a great idea to keep gloves on hand. Those peppers are so spicy! We found that one out the hard way after Matt rubbed his eyes with his contact lenses in. All I heard was, “AHHH IT BURNS!” hahaha – lesson learned! Gotta get some gloves or be extra careful. Thanks for the comment!

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