Tailgate in Style with Beefy Jalapeño Bites

Kick up your game for GAME DAY! These Beefy Jalapeño Bites will win over even the most picky tailgater. Filled with Gouda cheese, Old El Paso seasoned beef and topped with scrumptious homemade pickled jalapeños… What’s not to LOVE! Come learn how to make these tasty treats.

Disclaimer • This post is brought to you by Old El Paso & Walmart. All thoughts, ideas and opinions are my very own.

Tailgating season is upon us and the age old question remains… What to make to share with our football loving friends? You know you want it to be fabulous, full of flavor but, easy to make. We live in Lincoln, Nebraska where football is the state religion (yea, not kidding.) People take football & Tailgating VERY SERIOUSLY here! I have no room for error when it comes to game day treats.

The problem is, you don’t want to spend all of your time in the kitchen or stuck at the grill when you have tailgating to do & games to watch. One of my secrets is to create elements that you can make ahead that really take your tasty bites up a level. Another secret, find elements that make serving and eating the food easy. No one wants to be weighed down with messing plates and hands. They want to grab and go without any fuss.

With that challenge in mind, I headed to Walmart to grab some of my favorites to create a new tasty treat for game day. First stop, the Old El Paso Section where I grabbed some of their Mini Taco Boats along with an Soft Taco Kit. These gems are perfect for creating easy and tasty treats that anyone can eat in 2-3 bites. The Taco Boats are flat on the bottom.  That means they are easy to fill, serve and eat all in one. Touchdown!

Next, I grabbed some thin sliced beef. The kind you would use for fajitas. Some sliced Gouda cheese, Jalapeños, red onion and a few more ingredients that I’ll share in my recipe. Now, the secret to this recipe is the homemade pickled jalapeños and onions. This is what takes a normal tailgate small bite dish and kicks it up several notches and turns it into MAGIC!

Here’s a quick video to show you how to make these Beefy Jalapeño Bites…

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Beefy Jalapeno Bites

Prep 40 mins

Cook 10 mins

Inactive 4 hours

Total 4 hours, 50 mins

Author Heather Thoming • WhipperBerry

Yield 12 taco boats

Kick up your game for GAME DAY! These Beefy Jalapeño Bites will win over even the most picky tailgater. Filled with Gouda cheese, Old El Paso seasoned beef and topped with scrumptious homemade pickled jalapeños… What’s not to LOVE! Created by WhipperBerry 

Ingredients

Pickled Jalapeños and Onions

• 5-6 medium to large jalapeños
• 1 red onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup distilled white vinegar
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 tablespoon salt
• juice from 2 large limes

Pickled Jalapeño Dip

• 16 oz. room temperature cream cheese
• 1 cup chopped Pickled Jalapeños & Onions
• 1 tablespoon Old El Paso Taco Seasoning 
• 2 tablespoons sour cream
• 3 tablespoons Old El Paso Taco Sauce

Beefy Jalapeño Bites

• 1 lb. thinly sliced beef 
• 1 packet of  Old El Paso Taco Seasoning in the soft taco kit, reserve 1 tablespoon
• Old El Paso Mini Taco Boats - 12 count
• 7 oz. sliced Gouda cheese
• pickled jalapeños & onions
• pickled jalapeño dip

Instructions

Pickled Jalapeños & Onions

1. Sterilize your jar in the dishwasher and hand wash the lid and ring.
2. Wash and slice the jalapeños into rings. Don't make them too thin.
3. Thinly slice the red onion.
4. In a medium saucepan over medium high heat, add water, vinegar, sugar, oregano, salt, lime juice and garlic. Bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Make sure the salt and sugar fully dissolve.
5. Layer the jalapeños and onion in the sterilized jar.
6. Pour pickling brine over the jalapeños and onions.
7. Place lid on jar and put into refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Preferably, overnight or longer.
8. These pickled jalapeños and onions will last in the refrigerator for 2 months.

Pickled Jalapeño Dip

1. Place room temperature cream cheese into the mixing bowl.
2. Dice the pickled jalapeños and onions and add to the cream cheese along with the sour cream, Old El Paso Taco Seasoning and Taco Sauce.
3. Whip mixture until nice and light for about 1-2 minutes.
4. Place in an air tight container and store for up to a week.

Beefy Jalapeno Bites

1. Slice your thinly sliced beef into strips.
2. Place beef strips into a non-stick skillet on Medium heat.
3. Add the remaining Old El Paso Taco Seasoning and brown the meat.
4. Once meat is browned remove from the heat and start to build your beefy jalapeño bites.
5. Fold one slice of gouda in half and place the entire slice into the Old El Paso Mini Taco Boat.
6. Fill the mini taco boat with beef mixture and top with a couple of the pickled jalapeños and onion strips.
7. Place in a toaster oven or under the broiler in your oven and toast for 2 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Be careful not to burn the edges of your mini taco boat.
8. Remove from the oven and place on a serving tray.
9. Serve with the Pickled Jalapeño Dip

Notes

Make your pickled jalapeños and onion along with the dip a few days before hand, then all you have to do on game day is brown your meat and build your tasty bites. Super easy and oh, so good!

Notes

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Courses appetizer