Southwestern Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers
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These stuffed mini peppers have a perfect touch of the southwest. Slightly spicy, creamy, crunchy and so tasty! What more could you want?
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Stuffed mini peppers are always a party favorite and they’re just the right size for an appetizer.
How long it takes: 48 minutes (it takes a bit of time to stuff each pepper but that can be done ahead)
Equipment you’ll need: Sharp knife, sheet pan, oven, mixing bowl
Servings: 12
- 1 Recipe Overview
- 2 Reasons to Love These Stuffed Mini Peppers
- 3 Ingredients
- 4 Cooking Tip
- 5 How to make Mini Stuffed Peppers
- 6 Variation Ideas for Stuffed Mini Peppers
- 7 Make Ahead Ideas
- 8 Storing & Reheating Leftovers
- 9 Leftover Love
- 10 More Cheesy Appetizer Recipes
- 11 Get the Recipe: Southwestern Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers
These Tex-Mex-inspired stuffed mini peppers are one of my latest favorites. They are so good and so addicting. Miniature (and might I add, adorable) sweet peppers stuffed with spiced-up cream cheese and topped with crunchy panko breadcrumbs? I mean, really, what could go wrong in this scenario?
Like corn ribs and potato skins, these mini stuffed peppers have that irresistible finger food appeal. They’re a perfect appetizer for game day get-togethers and parties. Mini stuffed peppers are ideal for after school snacks or just because.
Stuffed mini peppers are terrific hot out of the oven but they also taste great as they cool. Save some for a midnight snack. They’re better than potato chips. Wait, did I just say that? Really, these things are so stinkin’ tasty!
Reasons to Love These Stuffed Mini Peppers
- Bold southwest flavors. Taco seasoning adds zippy flavor to the cream cheese filling while the shredded cheddar ups the ooey-gooey factor.
- Easy to make. May I add that stuffed mini peppers are fairly easy to make? Granted, prepping the peppers and stuffing them is slightly on the time-consuming side but they aren’t difficult.
- Great for making in advance. If you want, the peppers can be stuffed ahead of time so they’re all ready to pop in the oven. Those are my favorite kinds of party appetizers!
Ingredients
- Sweet Mini Peppers: The sweet multi-colored mini peppers are sold in bags in the produce section. They’re not the same as small hot peppers or jalapeño peppers. The sweet peppers aren’t spicy at all. Their flavor is similar to a bell pepper. They’ve been specially bred for sweetness, size, and crunch.
- Cream Cheese: Soften the cheese at room temperature so it’s easier to mix in the taco seasoning and to spread. Cut the brick up into little pieces if you want to hurry up the softening process. Use either full-fat or reduced fat. Nonfat cream cheese doesn’t taste as good and isn’t as creamy. It can also be more watery.
- Sharp Cheddar: I used white cheddar for these stuffed mini peppers. Regular cheddar is fine or a Mexican blend. For extra heat, you can swap in pepper jack.
- Taco Seasoning: Using a seasoning blend is an easy way to get lots of flavor without opening 10 different jars of spices.
- Panko Bread Crumbs: For the perfect crispy-crunchy topping, I like panko bread crumbs. They’re coarser and more airy than regular bread crumbs.
- Unsalted Butter: This helps the panko get brown and extra-crispy.
Cooking Tip
I like to use my homemade taco seasoning mix for this recipe, but store-bought is fine too! Be sure your taco seasoning is spices only and doesn’t include flour or a thickening agent.
How to make Mini Stuffed Peppers
Prep peppers. Wash and halve each pepper. Stem on or off, it’s totally up to you. (I think the stem looks kind of cute.) Scrape out the seeds and ribs.
Make the filling. In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, and taco seasoning until well-blended.
Fill the pepper halves. You can use a spoon to fill the peppers, a pastry bag, or a plastic bag with a corner cut off. Don’t stress too much if the filling isn’t perfectly even. It settles into the corners as the peppers bake and the cheese melts.
Add panko topping. Top the peppers with a mixture of panko breadcrumbs and melted butter. Lightly pat the crumbs onto the filling so it sticks on.
Bake. Put the pan of mini stuffed peppers into the oven and bake them for 15 minutes. If you like, turn the broiler on and broil the stuffed peppers for a couple of minutes to brown the bread crumbs.
Serve. You’ll want to let the stuffed mini peppers cool slightly before you serve them. The cheese filling is very hot. The stuffed peppers are tasty served hot or cooled down to room temperature.
Variation Ideas for Stuffed Mini Peppers
- Switch up the seasoning: Season the filling with whatever spice mixture you enjoy or happen to have. They don’t have to be southwestern. Instead of taco seasoning, try ranch seasoning mix, Italian seasoning, or homemade mild curry powder. Cajun seasoning or my southwest spice blend work well. Fresh chopped herbs are so good, too!
- Try another cheese: Instead of sharp cheddar, substitute blue cheese, pepper jack, Swiss, or any cheese you like in these stuffed mini peppers
- Make jalapeño poppers instead: Simply replace the sweet peppers with jalapeño peppers and continue with the recipe. Note: Wear gloves when prepping the peppers to protect your fingers.
- Looking for entrée-sized stuffed peppers? Try vegetarian stuffed peppers, pepperoni pizza quinoa stuffed peppers, or this easy stuffed pepper casserole. If you don’t care for peppers all that much, try these Caprese couscous stuffed tomatoes or chicken fajita stuffed spaghetti squash.
Make Ahead Ideas
Prep the peppers ahead. It takes a little while to halve the peppers and remove the seeds and ribs. This step can be done a few of days in advance. Refrigerate the prepped peppers until ready to use.
Prep the cheese filling ahead. To avoid last minute prep, prepare the filling in advance, cover and refrigerate up to 3 days. Allow it to soften an hour at room temperature before filling the peppers.
Make and bake later. Stuff the peppers, cover and refrigerate them up to a day in advance. Bake the stuffed mini peppers when it’s party time.
Freeze stuffed mini peppers. Place the filled peppers (baked or unbaked) on a tray in the freezer until firm. Place in a freezer container or bag for up to a month. They can be frozen for up to a month. Bake frozen peppers (don’t thaw) as directed, adding a couple of minutes to the baking time.
Storing & Reheating Leftovers
Leftover stuffed mini peppers can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Reheat in the air fryer or oven for best results. They can be reheated in the microwave but the topping won’t be as crisp.
Leftover Love
If you have some of the cheesy filling left over after stuffing the peppers, serve it as a spread for crackers or make stuffed celery sticks. You may even want to make a double batch of the filling just for this purpose!
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @rachelcooksblog on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Ingredients
- 8 oz. sweet mini peppers
- 1 pkg. (8 oz.) reduced fat cream cheese, softened (regular cream cheese is fine, too)
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy clean-up.
- Cut peppers in half, leaving stems on if desired. Remove seeds and ribs.
- In a bowl, combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese and taco seasoning until well blended.
- Fill each pepper half with this mixture, so it is level with the edges (not heaping). Place pepper half on prepared pan and continue until all peppers are stuffed.
- In a small bowl, pour melted butter over panko crumbs and mix to combine. Top each stuffed pepper half with bread crumb mixture, lightly patting down to adhere.
- Bake peppers for 15 minutes. Turn oven to broil. Broil stuffed peppers for 2 to 3 minutes or until breadcrumbs are browned. Watch carefully! Cool slightly before serving.
Notes
- Nutrition information is based on one serving, or 2 to 3 stuffed pepper halves. The size of the peppers can vary quite a bit.
- Make ahead tip: Peppers can be stuffed up to a day ahead of time, covered, and refrigerated. Bake as directed. To freeze, see instructions on post.
- Make jalapeño poppers: Substitute jalapeño peppers for the mini sweet peppers.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
Mimi says
These were great! I made this for church fellowship hour and they went quickly, even though I think I may have doubled or even tripled the recipe! You can put the panko breadcrumbs in a bowl and dip the filled peppers. Next time I’ll take the stems off though.
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so glad to hear they were a hit! Great tip about dipping into the breadcrumbs – I’m sure that’s a much faster method! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
Karen Becker says
These are so delicious!!! I have made them many times and they always disappear quickly. I find though that there is enough filling for a whole pound of the little peppers.
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so glad you like these! Thanks for the tip about using a whole pound of peppers. The filling is great with crackers, too! Thanks for taking the time to come back and leave a comment!
balinagra says
Just made these and took them to a party the RAVES were huge and they were gone in no time even though there were many other dishes there!! The only difference I made was that I did not have taco seasoning so I used chili seasoning! IT WAS A HUGE HIT!!
Rachel Gurk says
I’m so happy to hear that! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know. I bet they were delicious with chili seasoning! :)
mom says
I wonder if you could put the cream cheese filling in a sandwich bag and pipe it into the peppers…
Nutmeg Nanny says
I see bags of those mini sweet peppers in the store and always wonder what they could be used for…besides just cutting up. I love your idea of stuffing them like a mushroom. So tasty! I bet they would be good with a little chorizo thrown into that mix too…yum!