Welcome to my Easiest-Ever Stuffed Peppers Recipe. There’s nothing to pre-cook for these Chicken Cheddar Stuffed Peppers. Put the ingredients in the peppers, bake, and voila!
Who doesn’t love stuffed peppers? Actually, I never used to like them much, mostly because they’re a pain to make. Needing to cook a filling and then stuff and then bake was too much for me.
But then I started filling them with leftovers. That was brilliant, if I may say so myself.
Leftover Stuffed Peppers
There’s nothing quite like a bell pepper stuffed with leftover paella. Nothing, that is, except for a red bell pepper stuffed with leftover spaghetti Bolognese, topped with cheese that’s bubbling and oozing so much that you know it’s going to burn the roof of your mouth.
So that’s how I’ve been stuffing peppers for the last few years. And it’s been good. It’s a great way to breathe new life into leftovers.
But lately I wondered if there was a filling for stuffed peppers that didn’t require pre-cooking of any kind.
Chicken Cheddar Stuffed Peppers
I found it! With this stuffed pepper recipe, you combine the raw ingredients and seasonings in the peppers and it all gets cooked in the oven together. While I enjoy all sorts of stuffed peppers (and even devoted a series to them on TheCookful, this one is a real time-saver.
With the oven preheated to 400°F, you combine the panko breadcrumbs, seasonings, and some of the cheese in a bowl. This gets rubbed together to incorporate the cheese with the breadcrumbs, and set aside to use as the topping.
The chopped chicken (still raw!) gets mixed with thyme, salt, cheese, and some flour. This is the filling that goes into the halved bell peppers.
On a baking sheet, arrange the bell peppers cut side up, fill with the chicken mixture, and top with the cheesy breadcrumbs. Bake until the chicken is cooked through and the crumbs are golden brown, 22-25 minutes. Yum!
Serve with a side salad or something like this Whole Roasted Broccoli – it cooks at the same temperature as the peppers and only takes a few minutes longer. Simple and delicious for a weeknight dinner.
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Chicken Cheddar Stuffed Peppers
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 22 minutes
- Total Time: 32 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
These stuffed peppers are a breeze to make because the filling doesn’t have to be cooked before the peppers are stuffed.
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make these stuffed peppers, with some great tips along the way, by clicking the play button below:
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
- salt
- black pepper
- olive oil
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 3/4 lb chicken breast cutlets, roughly chopped
- 1 Tbsp. chopped fresh thyme leaves (1 tsp. dried leaves)
- 2 tsp. all-purpose white flour
- 4 red bell peppers, halved from stem to base and de-seeded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF.
- In a small bowl combine the panko, garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon of salt, 1/8 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 1/3 cup of the shredded cheese. Use your fingers to rub the crumbs and cheese together until the bits of cheese are about the size of the larger crumbs. Set aside.
- In a second bowl combine the chicken, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon of salt the remaining 2/3 cup cheese and the flour.
- Brush the outsides of the peppers lightly with olive oil (about 1 tablespoon will be enough for them all) and sprinkle lightly with salt. Arrange them on a baking sheet cup-side-up. Fill each half of pepper with approximately 1/4 cup of the chicken filling and then top each with about 1 tablespoon of the crumbs.
- Bake until the chicken is cooked through and the crumbs on top are golden brown, 22-25 minutes.
Katie Smith says
Made these the other day and they are DELICIOUS.
★★★★★
Deby says
Loved the idea of easy and fast cooking! I’ll try this recipe for sure! Thanks!
★★★★★
Karen D says
I love to roast them then chop and add to homemade cornbread
F Kane says
I love grilling red, yellow and orange bell peppers on my outdoor grill!
Megan says
I love stuffed bell peppers – really any kind of stuffed pepper. As long as there’s a pepper…and stuffing… :)
Dawna says
My tried and true favorite is just green peppers stuffed with ground meat and rice and seasoned tomato sauce. Because I trying to watch we used cauliflower riced in the Cuisinart instead of rice. Basic and simple my ultimate comfort food. You can make it in the crock pot or on the stove I don’t like to mess around with my stuffed peppers. I will anything else but those LOL
Andrea @ Run, Eat, Date, Sleep says
I’m definitely adding this to my dinner line-up! I’ve started to cook A LOT more, and I can’t wait to try this.
Amanda @ Amanda's Apron says
These look lovely! Growing up, my mom often made a stuffed bell pepper with red sauce, rice, and served with a side of pork chops. :)
Katie says
Yum! These stuffed peppers sound so good! Love the idea of going the non-traditional route!
Amy @ What Jew Wanna Eat says
I love that these are easy but look totally delicious too! Yay!
★★★★★
Jen @JuanitasCocina says
You said chicken and cheese! I’m in!!!
Betsy @ Desserts Required says
This is, seriously, the easiest stuffed pepper recipe…EVER! Thanks Christine!
phyllis says
I love bell peppers. These recipes all sound delicious.
★★★★★
Donna K says
I don’t have a fave. I am looking for recipes.
Rebecca says
I love roasted bell peppers with mozzarella.
Maggie says
stuffed peppers with ground beef
Monique says
What a fantastic idea!!! I used to LOVE making stuffed peppers but they always had similar fillings. What a great idea to use leftovers!
Noted for leftover monkfish marinara in the fridge.
Calees says
My favorite bell pepper recipe is Pepper Steak. I’ve grown up with my mom’s recipe and love it. So simple really and one of those childhood favorites to have time and again.
Rusty H says
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus by What Jew Wanna Eat
Becca from ItsYummi says
Stuffing peppers with leftovers is a brilliant idea, Christine! Your chicken stuffing sounds amazing, too :)