Bacon and Cheese. Is there anything else that makes food taste better? Maybe add some jalapenos and smoke? Yes! Put them all together with pork tenderloin and you have a Jalapeno Cheddar Stuffed Pork Tenderloin wrapped in bacon!
With only seven ingredients, Jalapeno Cheddar Stuffed Pork Tenderloins are easy to make and delicious. The filling is made of five ingredients that are mixed together, then stuffed in the tenderloins before wrapping in bacon. Then the meat is smoked for an afternoon.
Ingredients For Jalapeno Cheddar Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
The seven ingredients in this recipe are easy to find and may already be on hand. I know in our house, we always have these ingredients in the fridge and pantry.
Tenderloins are usually always part of our grocery list, especially in the summer. We buy them when we do our weekly grocery shopping. We have been known to buy extras when they are on sale and freeze them so we always have some on hand.
Fresh jalapenos. These are always in our fridge. Jalapenos are perfect for any dish if you want to add a little heat to them.
Cream Cheese. It is a staple for baking and cooking.
Cheddar. We like to use old or aged cheddar. And we grate it ourselves so it is fresh when we use it. (Grating cheese is usually a job we delegate to one of our kids. They learned to grate the cheese by 7 or 8 years old.)
Chili Powder and Cumin. These are the only two spices used.
Bacon. This is where the salt comes in. We don’t add salt because usually, bacon has enough salt in it to add that flavour to the meat.
Equipment
We use a smoker to make these tenderloins but a BBQ with a smoker box also works well.
When it comes to smoking wood, we do prefer chunks of wood over wood chips. Since we use an Oklahoma Joe Smoker most of the time, chunks are perfect. But other smokers have specific types of wood, so you can use what is best for your type of smoker. For example, our Traeger smoker uses pellets. And chips are what we use if we are smoking on the Cuisinart gas grill.
We mostly use apple wood as the flavour but we have also used cherry and it also worked well.
You will also need a very sharp knife to cut the tenderloins open. You don’t want jagged edges on the meat from sawing with a dull knife.
One tool that does come in handy for making the filling is a potato masher. It is great for mashing the cheese together. Especially when the cream cheese is still a little cold. A potato masher will help to get rid of the bigger chunks of cream cheese and make a smoother filling.
What To Serve With Jalapeno Cheddar Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
There are numerous side dishes you can serve with this.
Baked Potatoes are a good choice. Wrap potatoes in foil and place them on the smoker to bake while the tenderloins are smoking.
Salad is another good option. Potato Salad or Macaroni Salad are our favourites to serve with this meat. Garden or Chef’s Salad also makes good sides.
Leftover Filling
This recipe makes three average-sized pork tenderloins. There may be leftover cheese and jalapeno filling. The leftover jalapeno and cheese filling can be stored in a freezer bag in the freezer for up to 6 weeks, then thawed in the bag. To use just cut a corner off the freezer bag and pipe the mixture.
You can also make only one or two of these tenderloins at a time for smaller meals and freeze the remaining filling.
The filling is similar to a Jalapeno Popper and can be used as such. Simply roll the filling into small balls and coat with a batter. Then fry until golden.
This filling can also be used for stuffed burgers. It goes well inside beef burgers that are grilled and then topped with Monterey Jack cheese.

Jalapeno Cheddar Stuffed Pork Tenderloin
Equipment
- Smoker
Ingredients
- 3 pork tenderloins
- 2-3 jalapenos, seeded and finely chopped
- 10 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
- 1⅓ cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin
- 12-15 bacon slices
Instructions
- Place apple wood chunks in water and allow to soak for 1 hour before adding to lit smoker
- Light smoker and preheat to 250°F
- Mix cream cheese and shredded cheese together with chili powder and cumin
- Fold in jalapenos
- Butterfly the tenderloins and place open face up
- Spread cheese mixture evenly in centre of tenderloins
- Close the tenderloins by gently pulling the sides up to meet in the middle
- Wrap tenderloins with bacon slices, 4-5 slices per tenderloin
- Place tenderloin sin smoker and close lid.
- Allow to smoke for one hour
- Continue smoking until fully cooked, pork should have an internal temperature of 165°F, about 2-3 hours
- Remove from smoker and cover with foil
- Allow to rest 15 minutes before slicing
This sounds unbelievably delicious! When my boyfriend gets back from working away he always smokes something tasty for us, and this is next on the list😍
This looks so amazing! I love trying new recipes and this one caught my eye immediately! I love jalapenos and what a great way to incorporate it into a new recipe! I can’t wait to try it!
This sounds so incredible! I never quite know what to do when I buy pork tenderloin, and always seem to make the same ‘basic’ crockpot recipe. I am definitely trying this though, and I just so happen to have a pork tenderloin in the freezer! Thank for sharing!
This sounds like something my husband would devour. I love the idea of using the extra filling for other recipes like poppers!
Looks yummy! And I’m doing the keto diet, so it looks totally compatible with that. I’m not, however, very good with grills. Is there any way this can be done in the oven?
We haven’t tried it in the oven,but it would probably turn out if cooked at 250°F just like it is done on the smoker. You would just be missing the smoky flavour that is added when smoking. If you do try it in the oven,we would love to know how it turns out.
Wow! Those look amazing, can’t wait to make it!!! 🌶🌶🌶
This was amazing. So easy to make and my family loved it!
Oh my goodness, these sound amazing! Thanks for sharing!
This absolutely divine. If I was a Vegan, this dish would covert me to a meat eater. 🍖 Love the pepper and cheese 🧀 in the center makes it perfect for a pork tenderloin slider or sandwich 🥪.
this reminds me of our version of Morcon but I like how you added jalapeños to give that extra kick. This is a nice meal to serve for dinners and occassions.
This looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!
This looks really good! We love anything with jalapeños in it.
This looks delicious. I just sent the recipe to my son in law who has a smoker. Hope he makes it for us!
i’ve never made Stuffed Pork Tenderloins before. I’m excited to try this on the weekend! it looks really good!