Jalapeño Bottle Caps

Jalapeño Bottle Caps are crunchy, tasty, spicy little bites of fried jalapeño that are particularly good on salads or with ranch dressing as a snack

Jalapeño Bottle Caps are tasty little bites of fried jalapeño that are absolutely killer on salads. Or… great as a snack with ranch dressing or cheese dip. Totally yummy, not a diet dish by a long shot.

I first discovered these ages ago at Red Robin. They serve an awesome Southwest Chicken Salad that is topped with these (which they call “fried jalapeño coins). They do a great job on these. But they are also pretty easy to make.

I made these with a buttermilk masa harina (corn flour) batter. I actually made 2 batches, one with wheat flour and one with masa. The difference is subtle, but when we did a side-by-side taste test, we both preferred the masa version. Masa harina is typically found in the international aisle of most supermarkets, and it comes in white, yellow, and blue. Here I used white masa. Often this is made with beer or seltzer water instead of buttermilk. I just particularly like using buttermilk.

Getting the right amount of browning is key – the bottle cap in front is ideal. It should be fried to a dark caramel color on the edges with the light golden color in the middle. If it’s all golden, they come out soft, not crispy enough. All dark and they are overdone with edges bordering on burnt. It’s easiest to judge by the color. You can see from the photo that the smaller ones cook faster, so you’ll want to take the smaller ones out earlier when they reach the right color.

Here you can see I served it on a salad. These are just great on salad – real treat. Hope you try these and enjoy them!

Jalapeño Bottle Caps

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

6 mins

Total time

11 mins

 

Author: Anita

Recipe type: Appetizer

Cuisine: Southwestern

Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 4 fresh medium jalapeno peppers sliced into ⅛" rings
• ½ cup masa harina (corn flour)*
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp smoked Spanish paprika
• ⅛ tsp salt
• ⅛ tsp pepper
• 2 large eggs
• ½ cup buttermilk
• 2 to 3 cups peanut or vegetable oil, enough to cover the battered jalapenos
• * wheat flour can be used instead of corn flour

Instructions

1. Heat the oil in a large pan to medium-high heat (about 375). Do not let it boil.
2. In a mixing bowl, add corn flour, garlic, paprika, salt and pepper. Mix well.
3. Add the eggs and beat into a batter.
4. Stir in the buttermilk.
5. In batches, coat the sliced jalapeno peppers in the batter.
6. Fry the battered peppers about a half dozen or so at a time 5-7 minutes each, turning as needed, until golden with brown edges.
7. Drain on paper towels and serve.

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