How to make baked mini stuffed sweet peppers filled with cheese and bacon then topped with breadcrumbs. Jump to the Cheesy Bacon Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers or read on to see our tips for making them.
These mini stuffed peppers are a true crowd-pleaser. They are a spin-off from our bacon wrapped jalapeño peppers recipe. If you love spice, jalapeño peppers are the way to go. Spicy food isn’t for everyone, which is why these tame, but incredibly delicious poppers do the trick.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: This easy recipe for roasted stuffed peppers with tomatoes, fresh herbs, garlic and cheese. Jump to the Roasted Tomato Stuffed Peppers with Herbs.
How to Make Oven Baked Stuffed Sweet Peppers with Bacon and Cheese
These stuffed peppers are very simple to make. Mini sweet peppers are becoming more popular in the grocery stores, if you cannot find them, use jalapeño peppers with all the seeds and membrane removed. Or, if you can find them, longer mild Anaheim peppers, which are less spicy (they are light green).
The filling is made with cooked bacon, onion, cream cheese, goat cheese and spices. We love the combination of cream cheese and goat cheese, but substituting the goat cheese for feta cheese would also be delicious.
Once the peppers are filled, we top them with breadcrumbs and bake until the peppers have softened and the breadcrumbs are golden brown.
Recipe updated, originally posted March 2011. Since posting this in 2011, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear. – Adam and Joanne
Cheesy Bacon Baked Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers
- PREP
- COOK
- TOTAL
These oven-baked stuffed peppers are very simple to make. Mini sweet peppers are becoming more popular in the grocery stores, if you cannot find them, use jalapeño peppers with all the seeds and membrane removed. Or, if you can find them, longer mild Anaheim peppers, which are less spicy (they are light green).
You Will Need
12 mini sweet peppers
3 slices bacon
1/2 cup diced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
1 scallion, chopped
Juice of half a lemon
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted
3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh parsley, chopped
Directions
1Heat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2Slice each pepper in half lengthwise then scoop out any seeds and membrane to make space for your filling.
3Cut the bacon crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick strips and add to a pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until crisp. Transfer cooked bacon to a paper towel to drain.
4Add the onions to the pan used to cook the bacon. If the pan seems dry, add a splash of olive oil. Cook the onions, stirring occasionally, until translucent. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Remove from the heat.
5Add the cream cheese, goat cheese, bacon, onion, garlic, scallions, the lemon juice, red pepper flakes, dry oregano, and the salt to a medium bowl. Mix until well blended.
6In another bowl, combine breadcrumbs and parsley with the melted butter.
7Spoon the cheese mixture into each pepper half then place the pepper, filling side down, into the buttery breadcrumbs.
8Arrange pepper halves, filling side up on the baking sheet. Bake the peppers until they have softened and the breadcrumbs are golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Adam and Joanne's Tips
- Gluten-free breadcrumbs: Try ground gluten-free hard pretzels, brown rice cereal, or gluten-free Chex cereal in place of the breadcrumbs.
- Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA Supertracker recipe calculator to calculate approximate values.
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I made this according to the recipe. Paired it with an Albarino. It was a perfect pairing and also easy to prepare ahead and tasty. I recommend it and will make it again!
Just made these for my siblings (biggest critics on the planet) and they absolutely loved them…and so did I! I did not deviate at all. Yum. Me.
Make Paleo or keto by using crushed Chicharrones. Just made with feta. Think I like goat better. Tks. Always a hit!
Sounds so good. I use petite orange and yellow capsicums. Have done a slight variation on the recipe with incorporating a different mix of herbs and no chilli. (fussy eaters) I have also just stuffed the petite Capsicum and left whole. Am freezing to bake for a girls night a week from now. Am sure they will be awesome. So easy!
I made this according to the recipe and other than the lemon I thought it was good. Everyone that had it felt their was to much lemon. It caked for juice and zest of 1 lemon. I don’t have a way of squeezing except by hand, so there was potential for even more juice from the lemon….and I didn’t zest it. Yet it was still way to much lemon. Just throwing it out there for anyone not expecting it to have that much.
I am having a Valentine’s cocktail party this Sat. I plan to make the Sweet Pepper Poppers by Adam. How far in advance can I make these and could I freeze them and cook later?
You can definitely freeze these in advance and then partially thaw (for a few hours or overnight) and bake.
Easy to prepare, wonderful to munch! Thank you so much!