Easy Cheesy Stuffed Sweet Peppers
Recipe + Photos By | Lizzie West
Whether you’re prepping for game day, or looking for a quick kid-friendly snack, these sweet and salty stuffed peppers are tasty and easy on your wallet. It’s also a great way to get kids involved in making food, and an awesome opportunity to teach them how to properly wash up before helping out in the kitchen. This recipe gets extra bonus points for being Keto-friendly and gluten-free, too!
Ingredients:
1 lb bag mini sweet peppers
1 block cream cheese
1 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese (we used mild)
¾ cup real bacon bits
3 scallions (green onions), chopped
Seasoning: salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika
Directions:
-Remove your cream cheese from the fridge and place it in a bowl to soften. While it is warming up slightly, prep your peppers and scallions (this is a great job for adults or big kids because it requires using a knife). After washing your produce, slice the top off the peppers and half them. Then, take a small spoon and scoop out the ribs and seeds (great job for kiddos), because they don’t taste as good. Save your spoon, you’ll use it to fill the peppers. Now, take this time to thinly chop your scallions as well.
-After all your produce is prepped, create your filling. Add the cheddar cheese, bacon, and chopped scallions to your softened cream cheese. Also, add about a ¼ teaspoon of garlic powder and paprika, as well as salt and pepper to taste, and combine all these ingredients until it seems well mixed without any big pockets of plain cream cheese. (This can be a fun task for the littles to help with, but make sure you have a big enough bowl to prevent losing a lot of your filling from energetic mixing.)
-Use your spoon and scoop small amounts of the filling into each prepped pepper half. This is also something everyone can help with to speed up the process. (And it’s a great time for quality control, so you will want to take a bite or two – just to make sure it’s good)
-Place all your stuffed peppers on a plate and serve. Enjoy this crunchy, sweet, and salty snack that’s a fan favorite for all ages!
Protips:
- If you want to get really fancy, you can wrap these in bacon (instead of OR in addition to adding bacon to your filling) and bake them for about 30 minutes at 350°F for a hot snack
- If you love a spicy snack, you can swap out the sweet peppers for jalapenos, just make sure you wear gloves to prepare them and wash everything thoroughly after preparing them. These would also be awesome baked with or without the bacon wrapping.
- If you don’t like bacon, feel free to substitute it for sausage or chorizo in fine crumbles. You can even use andouille for those that love a Cajun flavor. Or make your own bacon bits from scratch if you want to take the time to make them extra special.
- And speaking of substitutions, feel free to modify or swap out ingredients for your own family’s preferences. For example, you may want to try smoked gouda cheese instead of cheddar, or an 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper instead of paprika. The sky is the limit to personalize these snacks!