Take your appetizers to another level with these scrumptious mushroom poppers. Crispy breaded mushrooms with a spiced creamy cheese filling! Every bite of these poppers is overflowing with incredible flavour and will tantalize your taste buds!

Mushroom Poppers with Cheese (Air Fryer or Oven)
By now you probably know how much I love appetizers… those wonderful starters that go with any meal!... Those fun finger foods which are perfectly paired with another side for parties or during football season!
And these mushroom poppers are on my list of must-have delicious appetizers!
These mushroom bites are so comforting with an unbelievable depth of flavour – and will certainly impress and amaze your family and friends as unique perfect appetizer!
These mushroom poppers have a similar method to the garlic breaded mushrooms – without the garlic buttery mixture. Instead with a creamy cheesy filling subtly flavoured with garlic and flavors of a jalapeno popper.
I can’t wait for you to try these!
Jump to:
Why You'll Love these Mushroom Poppers
- Comforting, satisfying and tasty appetizer – definitely on the must-have appetizers list!
- Handful of simple and affordable ingredients – with no preservatives, just real ingredients to make this easy appetizer!
- No egg – you don’t need egg in the batter.
- Air fryer friendly – you can bake these in an oven or air fryer (my favorite way to make these is in the air fryer).
What you'll need to whip these up
- Mushrooms: mushrooms are a source of fibre, antioxidants and protein. You can use different types of mushrooms including white button mushrooms, baby bella mushrooms or baby portobello mushrooms.
- Cream cheese (or soft cheese): I recommend Philadelphia cream cheese to make the cream cheese mixture to give you creamy mushroom poppers. (You don't need to use room temperature cream cheese for this mixture - you can use straight from the fridge).
- Cheese (cheddar cheese or mozzarella cheese): you can use either grated/shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese – both work in this recipe. You can use pre-shredded cheese from the packet or grate/shred the cheese yourself using a grater.
- Garlic clove: garlic is minced into a paste and added to the cheese mixture for a fresh garlic flavour.
- Fresh Jalapeño peppers (jalapeño chilli peppers): you can use either red or green chilli peppers (or a mixture), chop finely (without seeds if you prefer less spicy/medium heat). Select fresh chilli peppers which are larger (to hold enough filling). When selecting the chilli peppers, ensure they are firm to touch. You want the chillies to feel smooth, dry and look vibrant with no soft spots.
- Oregano (optional): you can use dried oregano. I recommend oregano for its bold and earthy taste.
- Milk: for this recipe you can use either dairy (whole fat or 2%/semi-skimmed milk) or non-dairy milk, based on dietary preferences.
- All-purpose flour (plain flour) (or gluten-free flour): this is used with the milk as a ‘binder’ before coating the mushrooms with breadcrumbs.
- Breadcrumbs: you can use either golden or white breadcrumbs. Golden breadcrumbs have added colour (paprika extract) which will give your mushrooms.
How to make mushroom poppers
- Prepare the spiced cheese mixture. Combine cream cheese with grated/shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese, minced garlic, oregano (if using) and chopped jalapeño pepper into a medium bowl.
- Fill the mushrooms. Thoroughly wash and dry each whole mushroom, then remove mushroom stems and using a spoon, fill each mushroom cap with the spiced cheese mixture using a small spoon.
- Dip the stuffed mushrooms into milk, then flour. Coat each mushroom entirely for best results.
- Dip into milk again. After coating in flour, dip the mushroom back into the bowl of milk, lift it gently and allow any excess milk to drip off.
- Coat the wet mushroom with breadcrumbs so entirely covered (you can either roll the mushroom in a plate of breadcrumbs or place on top of breadcrumbs and use a spoon to sprinkle and coat each mushroom). Repeat for the remaining mushrooms and set aside.
- Cook/bake in pre-heated air fryer or oven until golden brown and crisp. Line a baking tray (or air fryer basket) with parchment paper/baking sheet. Transfer jalapeño popper mushrooms onto the lined baking tray/ air fryer basket (in rows, allowing space between each mushroom). Gently spray with a few squirts of olive oil and cook in preheated air fryer at 190°C for 10 minutes or bake in preheated oven at 200°C (180°C fan) for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown and crisp (turn halfway) Serve immediately and enjoy!
SAVE this recipe! 📩
Equipment
Air fryer: if you are air-frying these mushroom poppers, use a wide air-fryer with a tray. I recommend using the Ninja air fryer. This air fryer has variable fan speed and comes with a crisper basket and an air fry setting which is temperature controlled.
Bake in oven: these mushroom poppers can also be baked in an oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden, turn halfway.
Gloves: I recommend wearing clean, disposable gloves when cutting, chopping and deseeding the jalapeño chilli peppers as these chillies can be strong and cause irritation to the surface of the skin.
Top Tips and Variations
- Mushrooms: make sure you rinse the mushrooms thoroughly with water to remove mud/dirt, then dry with a kitchen/paper towel. Different mushrooms vary in sizes (button mushrooms are smaller than closed cup). Remove the stems from the mushrooms before filling with the spiced cheese mixture.
- Use parchment paper/baking paper before cooking: whether you are air frying or baking these mushroom poppers, line the tray with parchment/baking paper, this helps the mushrooms cook evenly and minimises any mess
- Place breadcrumbs in a bowl and coat the mushroom on a plate in stages: this technique is one I learnt through trying and testing different methods when making jalapeño poppers. When coating the mushrooms in breadcrumbs you may notice that the liquid of the milk can stick onto the breadcrumbs – causing sogginess and resulting in needing a lot more breadcrumbs to coat the mushrooms. I highly recommend keeping all of your breadcrumbs in one bowl and only adding ¼ breadcrumbs onto the plate at a time whilst coating the poppers, to help make sure each popper is coated in breadcrumbs, this also prevents wastage.
- Variations – you can mix and match according to your preferences
- Dried herbs: for a different taste, you can replace oregano with other dried herbs including basil, marjoram or rosemary for a different taste
- Mushrooms: this recipe uses closed cup mushrooms, but you can substitute for cremini mushrooms if preferred – just note, these have a bolder mushroom flavour.
- Green onions: try a sprinkle of green onions/spring onions to mix it up!
- For a lighter mushroom appetizer check out our garlic breaded mushrooms recipe.
How to serve mushroom poppers
These mushroom poppers are perfect to serve as appetizers next time you have a party!
You can also serve these jalapeño mushroom poppers as a starter or side dish with spaghetti, ratatouille (or ratatouille spaghetti) and a salad (courgette/zucchini tomato salad)! Serve with a fresh glass of apple, orange and carrot juice!
Storage
These are best served fresh but can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 day. To reheat, place on lined oven tray or air fryer and reheat for 5-10 minutes, or until crispy and warm/hot to touch.
Related
Check out our other delicious appetizers:
Mushroom Poppers with Cheese (Air Fryer or Oven)
Ingredients
- 8 mushrooms closed cup or chestnut mushrooms (keep whole and remove mushroom stems)
Spiced Cheese mixture:
- 1 Garlic clove minced
- Pinch Oregano optional
- 70 g Cream cheese soft cheese (I recommend using Philadelphia brand)
- 30 g Cheddar or mozzarella cheese grated/shredded
- 2 teaspoon Green/red jalapeño pepper finely chopped, (2 teaspoon = approx. half a small jalapeño pepper)
Coating
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup plain flour or can add more if required
- ½ cup Breadcrumbs or more as desired
Instructions
- To make the spiced creamy cheese filling, add the cream cheese, grated/shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese, minced garlic, oregano (if using) and chopped jalapeño pepper into a bowl and mix together until combined.
- Thoroughly wash and dry the mushrooms, then carefully remove stems from the mushrooms.
- Using a spoon, fill each mushroom with the spiced creamy cheese mixture.
- Dip each mushroom and dip into milk, then into the bowl of flour to coat entirely.
- After coating in flour, dip the mushroom back into the bowl of milk, lift it gently and allow any excess milk to drip off.
- Coat the wet mushroom with breadcrumbs so entirely covered (you can either roll the mushroom in a plate of breadcrumbs or place on top of breadcrumbs and use a spoon to sprinkle and coat each mushroom). Repeat for the remaining mushrooms and set aside.
- Transfer breaded mushroom poppers onto a lined baking tray (in rows, allowing space between each mushroom), gently spray with a few squirts of olive oil.
- Bake in preheated air fryer at 180 degrees for 10 minutes (or in preheated oven at 180 degrees fan/200 degrees for 20-25 minutes), until golden and crisp. Serve immediately and enjoy!
Notes
- Mushrooms: make sure you rinse the mushrooms thoroughly with water to remove mud/dirt, then dry with a kitchen/paper towel. Different mushrooms vary in sizes (button mushrooms are smaller than closed cup). Try to keep all mushrooms consistent in size – this will help them bake evenly.
- Use parchment paper/baking paper (or baking sheet) before cooking: whether you are air frying or baking these mushroom bites, line the tray with parchment/baking paper, this helps the mushrooms cook evenly and minimises any mess
- Place breadcrumbs in a bowl and coat the mushroom on a plate in stages: when coating the mushrooms in breadcrumbs you may notice that the liquid of the milk can stick onto the breadcrumbs – causing sogginess and resulting in needing a lot more breadcrumbs to coat the mushrooms. I highly recommend keeping all of your breadcrumbs in one bowl and only adding ¼ breadcrumbs onto the plate at a time whilst coating the poppers, to help make sure each popper is coated in breadcrumbs, this also prevents wastage.
- Storage: These mushrooms are best served fresh but can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 1 day. To reheat, place on lined oven tray or air fryer and reheat for 5-10 minutes, or until crispy and warm/hot to touch.
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