Updated August 21, 2026
Texas Roadhouse
Rattlesnake Bites
There is no snake in them. Diced jalapeños and jack cheese, hand-battered, fried, and served with ranch — $8.49 and 560 calories.
$8.49
Typical price
560
Calories
Mild
Heat level
What Rattlesnake Bites Actually Are
The question almost everyone arrives with: no, there is no snake in them, and there never has been. Rattlesnake Bites are diced jalapeños folded through Monterey Jack cheese, rolled into balls, hand-battered and deep fried. The name is about the bite of the pepper. Nothing more.
What arrives is a basket of roughly golf-ball-sized pieces with a crisp seasoned shell. Break one open and the cheese pulls. The jalapeño reads more as a warm background note than as heat, because the cheese and the batter absorb most of it. Ranch comes on the side and is included.
Worth knowing: at 560 calories these are one of the lighter things to share at the table. The Cactus Blossom is around 2,250 for comparison, which is why it is meant for three or four people.
How They Compare to the Other Appetizers
Same prices and calorie counts the rest of this site runs on.
| Appetizer | Price | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| Texas Red Chili (bowl) | $3.99 | 500 |
| Fried Pickles | $4.99 | 550 |
| Cactus Blossomshared by 3–4 | $5.99 | 2,250 |
| Cheese Fries | $6.99 | 1,240 |
| Rattlesnake Bites | $8.49 | 560 |
| Boneless Buffalo Wings | $8.99 | 760 |
| Road Kill | $12.49 | 760 |
| Grilled Shrimp Appetizer | $15.49 | 1,360 |
Prices are set per restaurant and move by market. See the full menu with prices or the nutrition numbers.
How Hot Are They Really?
Milder than the name suggests. Jalapeños sit low on the scale to begin with, the kitchen dices them small, and melted cheese is about the most effective thing there is for dulling capsaicin. Add ranch and most of what remains is gone.
If you avoid spicy food
You will almost certainly be fine. The warmth builds slowly and fades fast. Keep the ranch close for the first one and judge from there.
If you want real heat
These will disappoint you. They are a cheese appetizer with a pepper in it, not a spice challenge. Make them at home and leave the seeds in.
The Copycat Recipe
Four servings for roughly the price of one order, and you control the heat. The one step that decides whether this works is the freeze.
Recipe Card
Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rattlesnake Bites
Jalapeño and jack cheese bites, battered and fried until the shell cracks and the middle pulls. Our version of the appetizer, built to fry without leaking.
Prep
20 min
Cook
10 min
Total
1 hr 30 min
Serves
4 servings
AppetizerAmerican+ 1 hr resting
Scale
Ingredients
For the bites
For the coating
Instructions
- 1
Mix the filling
Shred the cheese and dice the jalapenos small — bigger than a pea and they fall out when you roll. Toss both with the 2 tablespoons of flour. Now squeeze a handful in your fist. If it holds like wet sand, it is right. If it falls apart, another spoon of flour. If it feels greasy, the cheese has warmed up; put the bowl in the fridge for ten minutes.
- 2
Roll and freeze them hard
Roll into balls a bit smaller than a golf ball. You should get around 20. Onto a lined tray, into the freezer, and leave them a full hour. Do not shortcut this. Frozen cheese takes long enough to melt that the coating sets around it first, and that is the whole trick. Warm cheese melts before the shell forms and you get a pan of oil with cheese floating in it.
- 3
Set up your coating station
One bowl with the flour, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper, whisked so the cayenne is not sitting in one spot. Another bowl with the egg beaten into the milk until there are no streaks of white left.
- 4
Coat, then coat again
Flour, egg, flour. The second flour pass is not optional either — one coat leaves thin patches and cheese finds them. Press the flour on rather than rolling it lightly. Put the coated bites back on the tray and into the freezer while the oil heats.
- 5
Fry them in small batches
Two inches of oil at 350F. Use a thermometer; guessing is how this goes wrong. Four or five at a time, no more — every bite you add drops the temperature, and a crowded pan makes greasy bites instead of crisp ones. They take 60 to 90 seconds. Pull them when they are deep gold, not pale. Let the oil come back to 350F between batches.
- 6
Drain and eat them now
Onto paper towels for a few seconds, then straight to the table with ranch. These are at their best in the first five minutes, while the shell still cracks. After ten it softens and after twenty it is a different snack. Fry them last, not first.
Notes
- The freeze is not optional. Room-temperature cheese melts before the coating sets and leaks into the oil.
- Oil temperature matters more than time. Below 325°F they absorb oil; above 375°F the outside colours before the middle melts.
- Wear gloves when dicing jalapeños, or wash your hands well before touching your face.
- They can be frozen coated and uncooked for up to a month, then fried from frozen with an extra 30 seconds.
Nutrition
Per 1 serving (about 5 bites)
420
Calories
16g
Protein
24g
Carbs
28g
Fat
Nutrition is an estimate calculated from the ingredients listed and will vary with brands, substitutions and portion size.
Rattlesnake Bites: Common Questions
Are Rattlesnake Bites actually made from snake?
No. There is no snake in them and never has been. They are diced jalapeños and Monterey Jack cheese, hand-battered and fried. The name refers to the bite of the jalapeño, not the ingredient.
How much are Rattlesnake Bites at Texas Roadhouse?
They are $8.49 at most locations. Prices are set per restaurant and vary by market, so yours may differ by a dollar or so either way.
How many calories are in Rattlesnake Bites?
560 calories for the appetizer as served, before the ranch on the side. That makes them one of the lighter shared appetizers on the menu — a Cactus Blossom is about 2,250.
How spicy are they?
Mild to medium. The cheese and the batter blunt most of the heat, and the ranch cuts what is left. People who avoid spicy food generally manage them fine. People chasing real heat usually find them tame.
What comes with Rattlesnake Bites?
Ranch for dipping, included. Nothing else — they are ordered as a starter, not as part of a meal.
Are Rattlesnake Bites gluten free?
No. They are battered in seasoned flour and fried in shared oil. Anyone avoiding gluten should speak to their restaurant rather than rely on a menu description.
Can I get Rattlesnake Bites as a takeout order?
Yes, they travel on the takeout menu. Fried cheese does soften on the drive, so they are at their best eaten in the restaurant.
Order Them Between 3 and 5 PM
Monday to Thursday the restaurant is quietest between 3 and 5 PM, which is also the Early Dine window. Fried food is at its best straight out of the kitchen, and that is when it will reach you fastest.