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Chicken Bacon Ranch Pickle Poppers – I can honestly say that I’m not sure if more delicious words have ever been put together in a sentence, let alone a recipe. If you’ve been following my content for any amount of time, you’ll know that I’m a sucker for all things bacon, and pickles, and I’m always looking for ways to bring the 2 together.
These little poppers have so much flavor with the tangy pickles, creamy ranch, and crispy, crispy bacon. They're the perfect appetizers for literally any event and will become your new go-to!
These CBR pickle poppers were inspired by jalapeno poppers, which are another of my favorite foods.
I realized that you can core pickles, like jalapenos, and fill them instead of peppers. The nice thing is that they're not spicy, so even the kids will eat them, and they're another way to enjoy even more pickle flavor to your life.
Once you see how easy they are to make and how amazing they taste, you'll be hooked too.
This simple recipe has all the flavors you’d expect plus the salty and savory flavor of smoky bacon that you’d expect with the whole thing wrapped up in a slice of it. They make a great conversation starter, but they also taste so good you'll want to make them again and again!
We specialize in pickle-infused recipes here and have many options to pair with these pickle poppers, like these delicious Pickles in a Blanket. Love the pickle popper idea? You can also fill them with ground beef and cheddar cheese for Bacon Cheeseburger Pickle Poppers. Come hang around for even more pickly goodness!
Why you’ve got to try these Bacon-Wrapped Pickle Poppers
- Great for entertaining - These chicken bacon ranch pickle poppers will hit the spot for any appetizer or snack needs for the big game, the tailgate, backyard cookout, or just to feed yourself or family. I love making them for guests and seeing how much they love them!
- Great flavor - Is there anything better than CBR (chicken bacon ranch)? Well, adding some pickles. The tart pickles balance out the richness of the filling so nicely.
- Super easy recipe - There's nothing really complicated here. It's more about prepping your ingredients and then taking the time to wrap them well. The rest is super simple!
Wanna make 'em? Click here to print this recipe for later!
Ingredients
- Cooked chicken - This can be grilled chicken, leftover rotisserie chicken, etc.
- Ranch seasoning - The powdered ranch seasoning adds so much flavor quickly.
- Cream cheese - To give the filling a creamy, tangy flavor.
- Whole dill pickles - These need to be halved and gutted similar to cleaning jalapenos for jalapeno poppers.
- Bacon slices - To wrap around the pickles once they're filled. I like to use regular-cut bacon for this recipe.
- Queen Bee Honey BBQ Seasoning - You can use your favorite BBQ dry rub, but I love the sweet, smoky flavors in Queen Bee like nothing else!
How to Make Pickle Poppers with Chicken Bacon Ranch
The first thing that I like to do in this recipe is prep the pickles for before the chicken bacon ranch flavors come together. I prefer to work in an assembly line fashion, so this makes it easy. If you've never hollowed out a pickle before, it's simple.
Slice the ends off of your pickles so that you have flat ends. Next you’re going to slice your pickles horizontally to have 2 equal halves that should mirror each other in size. Then, grab a spoon and scrape out the inside of the pickle. You’ll be left with a canoe-shaped pickle that will hold all of the chicken bacon ranch flavored goodness inside of a delicious dill pickle. You can really start to see how this is all coming together!
- Preheat your oven or smoker to 400F.
- Prepare pickles: Slice off ends, slice in half long-ways, and remove seeds with spoon to form a canoe shaped pickle. Continue with all remaining pickles until each one is prepped.
- Prepare Cheese mixture: Combine cream cheese, Ranch seasoning, and chicken in a small bowl. Mix well to combine.
- Fill each pickle half: Spoon roughly 1 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture into each halved and cored pickle. Smooth the top.
- Wrap with bacon: Wrap each stuffed pickle in a slice of bacon. Make sure to put ends of bacon on bottom so they don't unwrap when cooking.
- Season: Liberally season the bacon with Queen Bee seasoning.
- Smoke: Place on wire rack, and cook in oven or smoker for 35-40 minutes until bacon is cooked to your liking.
- Cool and serve: Remove and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Serve hot.
Pro Tip: I highly recommend using a wire rack - this makes it a LOT easier to cook these and move them around on and off your smoker, or in and out of oven. I prefer this method especially when cooking multiple items that are a little smaller in size because the time required to take the items on and off can be significant relative to the cooking time needed
Storing Suggestions
We don't usually have leftovers when we make these CBR pickle poppers, but if you do, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge for a day or two. It's best to heat them back up in the air fryer or oven to help the bacon crisp back up.
Tips & Variations
- Try spicy pickles. To add another flavor and a kick of heat, choose spicy whole dill pickles instead of regular.
- Play with the fillings. I love the creamy ranch chicken filling, but that's just one of many options. You can easily replace the seasonings or protein in countless different ways or even replace the cream cheese with pimento cheese for a Southern-inspired flavor.
How to Serve
I usually like to serve these with a quick dipping sauce made with a 50/50 mixture of buffalo sauce and ranch dressing. Seriously good!
Pair them with your other favorite finger foods for a crowd-pleasing appetizer table, like Chicken Bacon Ranch Loaded Chips or these crazy good Dr. Pepper Lil Smokies.
If serving them as part of a meal, pair them with your favorite smoked brisket, potato salad, coleslaw, and all the fixings.
FAQs
Can you core the whole pickle?
I typically don't fill the entire pickle because whole dills are pretty huge. If you have smaller pickles around, like snack-sized ones, then you can try coring the center with an apple corer. You just want to make sure you have enough pickle wall to hold the fillings in place. Otherwise, they'll likely turn into a mess in the smoker.
Do you have to use a smoker?
I really think smoking any sort of bacon-wrapped recipes is the best way to do it. Smoking render the fats out slowly, so you get the best texture, without any weird chewy pieces, and a deliciously smoky flavor. That being said, you can definitely make these in a regular oven, if you prefer. I still recommend using a wire rack placed over a sheet pan to help make all the sides crispy. Heat the oven to 400F and watch them towards the end of the cooking time to make sure the bacon doesn't burn on the outside.
Do you have to wrap the pickles with bacon?
I'm a firm believer that pickle poppers all deserve to be wrapped in bacon, which adds so much extra flavor and a nice crunch. Technically though, you don't have to...If you decide to skip this step, try adding crumbled bacon to the filling to keep that CBR flavor. You may also want to sprinkle a little shredded cheese on top before they bake to get a little crispy crunch going on.
More Pickle Recipes
- Stuffed Bacon-Wrapped Pickles
- Spicy Maple Bourbon Pickles
- Bacon Cheeseburger Pickle Shots
- Pickle Ham and Cheese Roll-Ups
- Dill Pickle Deviled Eggs
Let's get cooking!
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Chicken Bacon Ranch Pickle Poppers
Ingredients
- ¾ C Chicken finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon Ranch seasoning
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- 8 Whole Dill Pickles halved and gutted
- 16 slices Bacon (1 lb)
- 1 TBSP Queen Bee Honey BBQ Seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat your oven or smoker to 400F
- Prepare pickles: Slice off ends, slice in half long-ways, and remove seeds with spoon to form a canoe shaped pickle
- Prepare Cheese mixture: Combine chicken, Ranch seasoning, and cream cheese. Mix well to combine
- Spoon roughly 1 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture into each pickle-shaped canoe, smooth the top.
- Wrap each stuffed pickle in a slice of bacon. Make sure to put ends of bacon on bottom so they don't unwrap when cooking
- Liberally season the bacon with Queen Bee seasoning
- Place on wire rack, and cook in oven or smoker for 35-40 minutes until bacon is cooked to your liking
- Remove and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving
- Serve hot.
Tara says
How can I cook these without a smoker?
Danny Dobrzenski says
Oven will work - you'd just be missing out on the smoke flavor.
- Danny
Catherine Moore says
Great for a family of pickle lovers!
Danny Dobrzenski says
You can say that again!