Chicken stuffed bell peppers with rice is a great twist to the old fashioned version. Use fresh or rotisserie with buffalo sauce for some heat, or leave mild. Bake in the oven or cook as Crockpot stuffed bell peppers instead all day. Best dinner ever.
I love making a batch of these, especially as a leftover chicken breast recipe. Whether you want to make these spicy like buffalo chicken or with fajita seasoning, they make for a healthy dinner even my kids love. (affiliate links present)
Yes you can certainly use fresh meat, boil breasts and shred it for this too. Typically I will make these the day after I have made poultry for a meal though. We always seem to have leftovers and if you follow me at all you know how much I hate wasting food.
Table of Contents
- How to Prep
- Should I boil peppers before stuffing them?
- Ingredient Tips
- Variations
- Chicken Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe
- How do you bake stuffed peppers without them falling over?
- How long does it take to bake stuffed bell peppers in the oven?
- How to save leftovers
- Other Ways to Make Stuffed Peppers Youโll Love
How to Prep
There are a few steps to this process and each one has a rhyme or reason as to why we do it so donโt skip one. It is best to precook everything ahead of time before combining and filling. That means the meat should be so tender it shreds easily, rice is fluffy, cheese is shredded, and peppers are boiledโฆ.just slightlyโฆ.letโs talk about this part for a hot second shall we? ๐
Should I boil peppers before stuffing them?
SO in true typical mom fashion I just take the bag out of the fridge and blanch bell peppers first quickly to soften them up a bit before you fill them. It is not like they would be ruined without this step but it is highly recommended and tastes better.
The reason you do this so to slightly soften them up and get rid of a bit of the bitterness. It doesnโt really matter whether you choose yellow, green or red bell peppers, they all have a bit of bitter taste if they arenโt boiled at all. Also you donโt really want a crunchy texture with the soft filling, this is an important step.
Ingredient Tips
Youโll want one bell peppers per person, or 2 if you have hungry boys or a husband. Look at the bottoms at the store and choose those with 4 bumps, they are easier to sit flat and not fall over whether you use a baking dish or muffin pan.
I would make a batch of white rice or variety of choice. Instant Pot brown rice, Ninja foodi rice, cooked wild rice are other options, 3 cups is measured after cooked.
We love lots of cheese, Mexican blend is kindaโ nice to use, shredded so it melts easily. Cream cheese is in there too for a smooth creamy element. There are dairy free alternatives out there if you need them.
Buffalo sauce and blue cheese dressing, or really any sauces of sorts will work to keep the meat moist.
And of course the main star of the show is rotisserie chicken, or use cooked and shredded chicken breasts or thighs to make our recipe for stuffed bell peppers with chicken.
Do you add raw or cooked rice for stuffed peppers?
The steps for this arenโt much different than if you were to make a pan of stuffed green peppers the โold fashionedโ way. There are many variations to these but typically you would use ground beef or ground sausage as your protein and you do need to cook the rice. You can do this on the stove, pressure cooker or rice cooker until fluffy.
Variations
Below it calls for buffalo sauce. If you didnโt want any heat to these you could change it up and use enchilada sauce instead, mild works great. Then add a packet of fajita seasoning and your tweak is done. There are so many ways to change this up a bit so each way is different but the base for prep, rice, cheese and all remains the same.
Chicken Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe
Equipment
- 1 pot for blanching peppers
- 1 rice cooker
- 1 Bowl
- 1 9ร9 pan or large enough for stuffed peppers to sit upright to bake
Ingredients
- 4-5 bell peppers
- 3 cup chicken, precooked, about 1/2 lb.
- 1/3 cup buffalo sauce, or mild enchilada sauce for no heat
- 3 cup rice, white or brown, 3 cups are measured after cooked
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 1/4 cup blue cheese dressing
- 1 cup cheese, cheddar, shredded
Instructions
- Cook the chicken in a saucepan seasoned with salt and pepper, when pink is gone pour the buffalo sauce over the top. Cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165F and is cooked all the way thru.
- Remove meat and place on a cutting board. Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese, blue cheese dressing and the remaining buffalo sauce from the pan.
- Stir in the rice, then set aside. Chop/Shred the chicken and add to the bowl with the rice. Add the shredded cheddar cheese and stir to combine.
- Fill a large pot with water and bring to a rolling boil over medium/high heat.
- Remove the top and core from each bell pepper and empty of all membranes and seeds. When the water is boiling submerge all hollowed out peppers into the water to blanch them (soften and take away some bitterness). This should take about 5 minutes to slightly soften and then take out and set inside your baking dish with holes facing up.
- Fill each bell pepper with the chicken and rice mixture and then place in a casserole dish. Cover the bell peppers with tinfoil and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the tinfoil and continue to bake for 10 more minutes.
- Then remove from the oven and add a bit of additional shredded cheese. Bake for a final 5 minutes, uncovered, to melt the cheese for a total of 25 minutes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
How do you bake stuffed peppers without them falling over?
For baking it depends on how many youโre making. You want them to fit tightly so they donโt fall over. If you have 6 or less I would use a muffin tin, seriously. Sit the bottom right into the holes (1 each) and they will sit perfectly upright. 8ร8 pan will fit 5 well and 9ร13โณ if youโre making a bunch. Timing for more or less should remain the same.
How long does it take to bake stuffed bell peppers in the oven?
Whether you are making a recipe for stuffed peppers with chicken or beef it should take a total of 25 โ 30 minutes, then uncovered for about 5 minutes so shredded cheese can melt and then enjoy together!! A super quick and easy to make. Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top for added yum.
If you wanted a vegetarian version you could change the chicken mixture to something with a can of drained canned black beans instead. That would be super easy. Eliminate the cheese entirely or use a vegan dairy free alternative instead. If you do this method they are kindaโ nice with a fresh squeeze of lime juice over the top too!
How to save leftovers
Any and all versions save really well too. Sometimes I even think they are better the next day because they continue to soften up in the fridge. Just wait until they are cooled, transfer to an airtight container and when you reheat pop them in the microwave.
Other Ways to Make Stuffed Peppers Youโll Love
Want to make these even faster?? Use our Instant Pot stuffed peppers recipe to skip the blanch step entirely and be done in half the time! Or try our stuffed mini sweet peppers appetizer. Nutritional info is listed below with calories, saturated fat etc but is only calculated with exact ingredients listed below.
You can even cook air fryer stuffed peppers and it will actually add a bit of crisp to the top too which we love. You would make them as directed here and then follow the temperature and timing in this link for coking them in your small countertop appliance instead of the oven.
