Cream Cheese Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers

Sausage cream cheese stuffed mini sweet peppers are the best appetizer. Wrap with crescent dough for a fun mummy Halloween party food, as a Super Bowl party food or make year round. Smaller than our Old Fashioned stuffed green peppers with a creamy inside.

Stuffed Mini Peppers Recipe

Ok so there are tons of different ways of cooking stuffed peppers in air fryer, in the oven or pressure cooker. Since these are tiny and you want a bit of crisp we’re going to use a baking sheet this time. You can fold in cooked rice, make creamy like we did here, or use diced tomatoes for a lower fat version.

Once you get the hang of how they are done you can let your imagination run wild as to what else you’d like to spoon into the middle. Have leftover chicken? Make chicken stuffed bell peppers this way. Of course since these are smaller they are generally served as an app. vs. a meal but either way.

Sausage and Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers

This time it was for a crowd, not a meal so I used some softened cream cheese. I wouldn’t use that if I were making these for dinner but just for a few bites I’d highly suggest this mixture. Now let’s talk ground sausage for a minute. I like half spicy and half regular Jimmy Dean brand.

Not only does it add a bit of heat but you really could skip all the seasonings listed below if you add the spicy version because it is already packed inside the mixture. You can decide to make these wrapped with crescent roll dough or leave as is. Wrapped kinda’ seems more popular since it isn’t as common.

Do Peppers Need to be Cooked Before Stuffing

In this case and when making Instant Pot stuffed peppers the answer is no. You do want a bit of a crunch to them so you can pick them up or they would be floppy. In the case of larger versions in the oven you do in fact want to blanch bell peppers first to get the bitterness out and the texture should be soft.

Halloween Finger Foods

You’ll want a baking sheet with some parchment paper for baking, and a knife to prepare these sort of Jalapeño poppers appetizers for stuffing. The ends will be cut off and discarded as well as the seeds inside. You want a cavity to fill essentially, with whatever you want. This is what was used this go around.

• 1 roll pre cooked sausage, I like half spicy and half Italian sausage
• 12 sweet peppers mini, tops removed, sliced lengthwise with seeds removed
• Cream cheese softened
• Cheddar cheese shredded
• I like to make freshly roasted Ninja Foodi garlic, mince, and use that
• Onion or garlic powder and paprika
• Pinch of salt and black pepper to taste

If you want to make these wrapped, use 1 roll of crescent dough. You could use rolls but you’d want to push together the perforations, then slice into strips and wrap all the way around. You can use a can of sliced olives, drained, 2 on each one if you want to add mummy eyes

Stuffed Mini Peppers Cream Cheese

Great for game day food ideas this one is because it takes less than 20 minutes to make. There is a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post but here is a quick rundown of it.

• Preheat first to make stuffed peppers at 400 F. Prepare baking sheet with parchment paper.
• In a pan over medium heat on the stovetop, brown the sausage, until fully cooked.  Remove from heat and drain grease.
  • Set aside. While sausage is cooking, wash prepare the sweet peppers by removing the seeds and slicing in half.
  • Slice in half, lengthwise, then remove and discard the ribs and seeds.
• Arrange them, skin side down, on your prepared baking sheet. In a mixing bowl, combine the softened cream cheese, browned sausage, cheddar cheese, garlic, and seasonings.
• Spoon about one tablespoon of mixture into each pepper slice, spreading to the edges.
• Place on baking sheet and heat for 8-10 minutes until lightly browned and serve.

I you are making “plain” and not for the holidays you can sprinkle green onions diced over the top to bring some color to the dish.

Halloween Appetizer

If you do want to go a step further you can. I mean even if it is Christmas you can wrap them but just leave off the olive eyes to make it easier to eat and a bit heartier with the fluffy dough. I would use 375 degrees F for this method so the dough can cook at a bit lower temperature to brown and not get too dark.

• Unroll the crescent dough onto a lightly floured surface. Cut into 1/2 inch wide by 2 inch long strips.
• Arrange each one over the filled peppers in a back and forth pattern to look like the strips of gauze wrapped around a mummy.
• Place two black olive slices on top to make eyes, then place on baking sheet.
• Add to preheated oven at 400 for crispier outside, or 375 for this look.
• Cook for 8-10 minutes, or until the crescent dough strips are baked golden brown and the peppers are softened, then serve.

So fun right?? Want to make a matching dessert finger food that looks like this too? Make our mummy haystacks with peanut butter or mummy candy apples. They are a really fun less than 30 minute no bake treat to make in the Fall.

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