Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese

Add a kick to your morning with this homemade Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese. Packed with roasted jalapeños and sharp cheddar cheese, this cream cheese is absolutely delicious!

This Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese post is sponsored by Cabot Creamery, but the recipe and opinions are entirely my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support Spiced!

This post may contain paid links. For more information, please see our disclosure policy.

I love a good bagel + cream cheese. It’s an easy meal, and it works well for breakfast or lunch. (And if we’re telling the truth, I’ve totally eaten bagels and cream cheese for dinner.)

Back when we lived in upstate New York, we were spoiled by the plentiful options for good bagels. It felt like there was a pizza shop and a bagel bakery on nearly every street corner. There aren’t as many bagel shops down here in the mountains of North Carolina, but we’ve found one good spot that makes New York style bagels. And as long as you’ve got one good bagel spot, you’re all set!

Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese

While I really enjoy bagels with plain cream cheese, it’s fun to add a twist using flavored cream cheese. And guess what? It’s easy to make homemade flavored cream cheese! Just start with a really good cream cheese spread and add in a few ingredients to transform it into your favorite flavor.

This Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese made a recent appearance in our kitchen. Let me tell ya – this cream cheese will be making many appearances in the future! It’s so easy to whip up, and the flavor is out of sight. Take a good everything bagel and schmear this Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese on top. You’ll see what I mean! Bagels for breakfast, lunch and dinner, please!

To make this Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese, just start with a container of Cabot’s Cream Cheese Spread. We love Cabot’s cheeses, yogurts and butter, so it’s no surprise that their cream cheese spread is absolutely fantastic! It’s rich and creamy, but it still spreads easily on a toasted bagel. And the flavor? Delicious! In fact, this cream cheese would be a great base for dips and spreads. We’ll have to keep that in mind for the future.

How to Make Flavored Cream Cheese

Today’s recipe is all about this Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese. If you’re not a fan of spicy foods, you might be hesitant to try this one. Don’t worry! We remove the seeds and ribs from the jalapeños before roasting ’em, and that removes most of the spicy heat. We’re left with the wonderful jalapeño flavor without the ‘burn your mouth’ spice. (And if you like spicy food? Just leave the seeds and ribs in!)

Raw jalapeño peppers would be a bit too intense in cream cheese. Instead, we roast those jalapeños by broiling them in a hot oven for a few minutes. This step not only softens the peppers (no one wants a crunchy cream cheese!), but it also softens the spice from the peppers.

Sharp cheddar cheese pairs well with jalapeños – think about jalapeño poppers! In fact, we could’ve called this easy recipe Jalapeno Popper Cream Cheese as it features the same ingredients. Roasted jalapeño peppers, sharp cheddar cheese and a good cream cheese. That’s all you need to create this amazing homemade flavored cream cheese! A bit of salt, pepper and garlic powder is also recommended as it amps up the overall flavor.

If you haven’t tried Cabot’s Cream Cheese Spread yet, then definitely put it on the shopping list! (Click here to find Cabot products in your local stores.) We always keep several varieties of Cabot cheese in our fridge, and now we’ll be keeping a couple containers of this cream cheese spread, too. You never know when the craving for a good bagel + cream cheese will hit!

How to Store Leftovers

Once combined, this cream cheese should be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. (I recommend refrigerating it for at least one hour before serving.)

Did you make this Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese recipe at home? Leave a comment or snap a photo and tag me (@Spicedblog) and Cabot (@CabotCreamery) on Instagram – we’d love to see your version!

Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese

Add a kick to your morning with this homemade Jalapeño Cheddar Cream Cheese. Packed with roasted jalapeños and sharp cheddar cheese, this cream cheese is absolutely delicious!

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Refrigeration Time: 1 hour hour

Total Time: 1 hour hour 25 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 139kcal

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Ingredients

For the Roasted Jalapenos

• 3 jalapeño peppers
• ½ Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

For the Cream Cheese

• ½ cup shredded Cabot Seriously Sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 8-oz. container Cabot Cream Cheese Spread
• ¼ tsp garlic powder
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• pinch kosher salt

Instructions

For the Roasted Jalapenos

• Slice the jalapeño peppers in half lengthwise. Cut off the stem and discard. Using a sharp paring knife, remove the interior ribs and seeds from the jalapenos.
• Place the jalapeños in a small bowl. Add olive oil and toss until well coated.
• Place jalapeños cut-side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Broil the jalapeños on HIGH for 4-5 minutes, or until the skins begin to blister and turn black.
• Remove the jalapeños from the oven and place in a small bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. (Note: This steams the peppers so that their skins can be easily removed.)
• Remove skins from jalapeños and discard.

For the Cream Cheese

• Finely dice the roasted jalapeños and place in a medium bowl.
• Add the shredded cheddar cheese, cream cheese spread, garlic powder, black pepper and salt; stir until well combined.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before serving. (Note: This cream cheese spread can be made the day before if serving for breakfast.)

Looking for more cheesy recipes? Check out these other favorites, too: