Chicken and Peppers is a true crowd pleaser dish where boneless chicken thighs are baked with sauteed peppers, onions and mushrooms under a blanket of cheese until gooey. Serve on top of creamy mashed potatoes or perfect brown rice with the juices and everyone will be blown away!
Chicken and Peppers
Baked chicken and peppers uses just a handful of fresh healthy ingredients. To enjoy this healthy chicken dish is to celebrate the essence of each ingredient, without overseasoning. The combination of peppers, onions and mushrooms give an earthy, sweetness to the lightly seasoned, naturally juicy chicken. The sharpness of the gooey cheese on top elevates this dish to a level where comfort meets healthy meets delicious!
This is my absolute favorite way to cook – meat, veggies and maybe cheese. Dishes like Caprese chicken and zucchini, Mexican chicken and zucchini and chicken breast in tomato sauce remind me so much European way of cooking. That’s how we grew up.
Allowing the flavour of simple ingredients to really shine through is something we need to get back to. With so much added salt, sugar, and preservatives in our food these days, getting back to basics is the perfect way to start the new year!
Ingredients for Chicken and Peppers
- Chicken: Boneless and skinless breast or thighs.
- Seasoning: Salt. Black pepper. Grated garlic clove.
- Veggies: Finely chopped onion. Chopped brown or portobello mushrooms. Chopped large bell peppers.
- Oil for frying: Coconut, avocado, olive or grapeseed oil.
- Cheese: Any sharp cheese will do. Cheddar, marble, gouda or gruyere will work. Shred your own to avoid packaged pre-shredded cheese.
- Garnish: Optional addition is to throw in some finely chopped parsley. If you don’t have it, don’t sweat it.
How to Make Chicken and Peppers Recipe
- Prep: If you’re using chicken breast, cut them in half lengthwise. Preheat the oven and grab your baking dish. You want a dish big enough to fit all your chicken and the delicious toppings.
- Add to dish: To the large baking dish, add the chicken, garlic, salt, and pepper and combine everything. Using your hands or a pair of tongs, mix everything together, making sure all pieces of chicken are coated. Even though this dish uses very little seasoning, chicken is one thing that needs it!
- Bake chicken: Cover the dish and bake until the chicken is completely cooked through.
- Saute veggies: While the chicken is baking, get a large ceramic non-stick skillet out and get it preheated. Drizzle in your oil and swirl to coat it. Once it’s nice as hot, add the onion and saute for a few minutes. Stir occasionally. Add the mushrooms and continue to saute and then the bell peppers last. Continue to stir occasionally until your veggies are soft and their natural flavours and sweetness have been brought out.
- Top the chicken: When your chicken is done baking it will be pale and won’t have the crispy seared marks, but that’s ok, we’re not looking for that! You’ll know when it’s cooked because it will be surrounded by its own clear juices. Get excited because those juices add another layer of flavour to this dish! Take it out of the oven and turn on the broiler.
- Broil: Separate the chicken pieces just slightly to allow any veggies to sit around the chicken as well as on top. Top each piece with sauteed veggies and then top with cheese. Broil until the cheese is gooey and melted.
- Serve: This dish is as good served cold as it is hot! So you get to decide how you want to serve it. I do recommend you keep the juices with it when serving it hot on a bed of brown rice, quinoa, zucchini noodles or a side salad It’s like its own healthy gravy!
Tips and Variations
- Type of chicken: If you are using chicken breast, don’t opt for butterfly cut. It’s thinner and will be quite dry. Use a plumper breast for ultimate flavour. You can also use chicken tenderloin, just bake them for 5 minutes less.
- Sautee the right way: You’ll notice that the recipe states you add one veggie at a time to saute. This is because adding them all together will steam them, which will cause them to become mushy. Mushrooms contain quite a bit of water, so you’ll want a bit of that water to evaporate before adding the bell peppers.
- Mushrooms: Use brown or portobello for more flavour than white mushrooms. Either will work and each one will have great texture. But if it’s the taste you want, opt for the brown mushrooms.
- Cheese: Sharp cheese works really well and adds a bold flavour to this dish. You can, however, use a milder cheese such as mozzarella or provolone.
- Juices: The fact that this chicken dish makes its own flavourful juices is such a bonus! It’s delicious as is, but when you have a bed of rice or quinoa that soaks up all that goodness, it’s just so…mmmm! Got pressure cooker? You have to try this Instant Pot chicken stew. A lot of juice! 🙂
- Parsley: Totally optional. If you have it, great. If not, also great. It will add a level of freshness but will not make or break this dish!
Storing, Freezing and Reheating
Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. You honestly don’t even need to heat it up again if you don’t want to! It’s awesome cold, so even chopping up the chicken and adding a spoonful to a bowl of dark leafy greens would make a great salad.
Freeze: Can be frozen in an airtight container for up to 3 months. To thaw, place in the fridge overnight.
Reheat: To reheat, place in the oven at 350 along with all of its juices, covered. Bake for 10 minutes, until the dish is heated through.
More Favorite Chicken Recipes
- Garlic baked chicken thighs
- Mexican chicken and rice recipe
- Roasted chicken thighs and potatoes
- Chicken pasta (Instant Pot)
- Lemon garlic roasted whole chicken
- Healthy chicken divan
- Baked caprese chicken
Baked Chicken and Peppers
Ingredients
- 3 lbs chicken breasts or thighs boneless & skinless
- 1 large garlic clove grated
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 10 brown mushrooms or 2 portobellos chopped
- 2 large bell peppers chopped
- 1 tbsp coconut or avocado oil
- 1 cup sharp cheese like cheddar, marble, Gouda or Gruyere shredded
- 3 tbsp parsley finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. If using breasts cut in half lengthwise.
- In a large baking dish, add chicken, garlic, salt and pepper. Mix well to coat evenly and spread in a single layer.
- Cover and bake for 20-25 minutes. Chicken is cooked when pale and surrounded by clear juices.
- In the meanwhile, preheat large ceramic non-stick skillet on low-medium heat and swirl oil to coat. Add onion and saute for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms and saute for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add bell peppers and saute for 5 more minutes, stirring.
- Remove chicken from the oven and turn broiler on High. Separate chicken a bit from each other and top each piece with vegetables (sprinkle around too) and top with cheese.
- Broil for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Serve chicken hot with its juices (!!!) over rice, quinoa or zucchini noodles. To be honest, this chicken and peppers dish tastes cold amazing too!
Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat by baking with juices while covered for 10 minutes at 350 F.
Freeze leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
Notes
- Chicken tenderloins: You can use them, bake them for 5 minutes less.
- Saute vegetables adding one by one: Adding all vegetables to the skillet at once will steam them.
- Bake chicken covered until pale: It will not brown and we are not after that. We are just cooking it through.
- Mushrooms: Use brown or portobello mushrooms for more flavor rather than white.
- Cheese: You can use mozzarella or provolone cheese, it has just more mild taste.
- Juices make this chicken: Many readers commented that especially enjoyed juices poured over their side. Yep, that's how we do it.
- Parsley is optional: Food rather than seasonings shines in this recipe. Parsley would be great but don't run to the store just for it. I use only if I have it. Another layer of fresh ingredient.
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes anywhere including social media, print and all world wide web. Nutritional info is provided for informational purposes only and to the best knowledge.
I love chicken and I particularly like both thighs and breasts because I can combine them with so many different ingredients to create tasty dishes. This particular dish is sure to become one of my favorites. I have made it three times already and am likely to make it again in another couple of days. And you are right. It does taste amazingly good cold. Thanks for providing this recipe. It is amazing!
Thank you so much Rudy 🙂
Totally love this recipe! I was not sure if i was going to like this when I saw plain chicken but it ended up having lots of great flavor!
Amazingly simple and so delicious. I love cheese but not my son……so I made half with the cheese and half without. Both were awesome!!
I am one who picks off the mushrooms on pizza. So I took a leap of faith knowing my son loves mushrooms and I love peppers.( I planned on picking out the mushrooms.) But guess what? I loved it all!!!! I can’t say I don’t like mushrooms anymore.lol Thank you for a new favorite!!! AN ABSOLUTE KEEPER!!
So glad this recipe was a hit at your house, Debra! I love that you like mushrooms now!
While baking the chicken I blanched red bliss potato’s, then sautéed all the veggies. After the chicken cooked I removed it from the pan and smashed the potatoes in the bottom of the pan, added the chicken on top then veggies and cheese. Delicious!!!! Thanks so much for a very yummy, healthy recipe.
Awesome! Thanks for sharing Robin!
Hi there! I just came across your blog and am so impressed! I made this dish and it was delicious indeed! Great way to use the often-overlooked and inexpensive chicken thigh. Mushrooms go so well in this dish. I really love your instructions you write before the recipe as they are so helpful. Thank you for this blog!
Thank you for the kind feedback Susan! I am so happy you found my blog 🙂
Great recipe. I served it over rice,it was quick so easy to prepare and flavor was great. Thank you so much.
You are very welcome Jo!
I didn’t have mushrooms and added chopped zucchini. My husband loved it, and my toddler ate the bell peppers and cheese 😉
Sounds like the whole family loved it!
I found this recipe looking for one that I could use up some peppers and mushrooms. It was easy and the chicken was so moist. My husband really liked it. I will definitely make again.
That’s great to hear Vera!
This was simple but absolutely delicious! Thank you!
You are welcome Kelly!
I was skeptical and so pleasantly surprised!! Definitely a keeper! Mmmmmm!!
Awesome Pammie!
Very easy to make, and it came out great for us! I made it with two small chicken breasts, and reduced the other ingredients accordingly.
So great to hear this Ed! Thanks for sharing.
Do you have recipes where you can use their chicken drumsticks besides the chicken wild rice soup?
Yes here https://ifoodreal.com/healthy-chicken-recipes/drumsticks-and-legs/
Olena,
What makes the colesterol so high in this receipe?
Hi Marie! The main source of cholesterol in this recipe comes from the chicken. The only other ingredient that contains cholesterol is the cheese.
I love this chicken dish! So easy and versatile. I change up the veggies, depending what I have. Tonight I added zucchini, which works perfectly. Absolutely delicious!
Thanks for sharing Karen! I really appreciate hearing how much you enjoy this recipe 🙂
I made this the other night- used Gouda and Gruyere cheeses and oh my goodness!
I had the thought, of baking the chicken over a bed of rice for a one pan meal. I will try this next time.
That’s so great! It sounds like you have a new favorite, Marisue!
Thanks Karen I made this tonight I followed your directions I got a sub buns put me some mayo on the buns and put that chicken and vegetables oh my goodness delicious thanks for sharing
Louise
Hope to make this dish today, just wondering if I can freeze the leftovers. I live on my own. Many thanks, M
Yes you can.
Hi, I’m making this dish tomorrow … it looks and sounds amazing. However, the picture shown looks like it has some fresh herbs to brighten up the flavor but I don’t see it listed in the ingredient list. Is it basil or parsley? What is it?
Thanks,
CarolAnn
Hi CarolAnn. The garnish is parsley!
Soooo yummy! Could not believe how much flavor there was! We didn’t have mozzarella so used cheddar and it was delicious. A new family favorite!
Love that this recipe is now a family favourite Heidi!
My family and I enjoyed this. I will be making it again. Easy to make, healthy and yummy. Thank you.
You are very welcome Rosemary!
I made the Baked Chicken and Peppers this evening . Simple, healthy & delicious.
This was so good and crazy easy! We loved it. Very flavorful. This will be something we make on a regular basis.
Yay! Happy to hear this recipe will be on rotation at your house 🙂
Really easy. I marinated boneless chicken thighs for an hour or so before I cooked them. The resulting gravy was good with mashed potatoes. I’m betting rice or pasta would be great too.
Yes!!! I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Joy! Thank you for the wonderful review!
Made this tonight without the mushrooms as I don’t like them. I loaded up with extra garlic instead. Made angel hair pasta tossed in EVOO and red pepper flakes and it was outstanding. Will put it in the rotation for sure
I love angel hair pasta so much!!! So happy to hear you enjoyed this baked chicken recipe, Trudy. 🙂
just make this for the first time. and i must say, it is SUPER DELICIOUS!! Thanks for the recipe!
You are very welcome, Ashlee!
thank you for all the notes you add in the information .. like why veggies are added one at a time and not all at once and why brown not white mushrooms.
You are very welcome, Margaret!
Loved the chicken and peppers recipe! I did a search for the ingredients I had on hand – chicken and red/yellow/orange peppers and so glad I tried it. I was looking for an alternative to stir fry chicken and peppers. Loved the baked chicken/sautéed veggies/broiled with cheese combo. Always looking for good, healthy, real food for dinner. Excited to try more of your recipes. ?
Yay! So happy to hear! Thanks for taking time from your busy schedule to let me know you enjoyed my recipe.
I love the recipe, it was easy and simple to make and very tasty with minimal seasoning – – you can taste the food rather than taste the “seasoning”. The Portobello mushroom definitely adds the flavor, so use that rather than the white mushroom.
Is it possible to make this recipe with chicken tenderloins?
Yes. I would cook them maybe 5 mins less.
This was delicious, my family loved it!I will definately be making this again?
Happy to hear!!!
Made this week and it was amazing ! This recipe is a “go to” next time we have someone over to dinner where I want to impress.
Right?! It’s mine too. Easy and “high end” enough for entertaining. Glad you liked it!:)
I absolutely love the colors and flavors of this dish. I’ve made it with rice, zucchini noodles, and potatoes. It’s so versatile and healthy with veggies and protein. It’s a regular in our house 🙂
Thanks for ALL your recipes Olena 😉
If I could give this 10 stars I would!!!
When I first looked at this recipe I thought it was a bit too complicated, or too much ‘work’. (I’m lazy when it comes to cooking!!) But it is NOT hard, time consuming or anything! Very simple, easy and quick. And the FLAVOUR!!!!!!!!!!! Every single bite blew me away. It honestly tastes like something you would order from a 5-Star restaurant that you wait months to get a reservation.
It does absolutely HAVE to be brown/Portobello mushrooms though – I made it a second time using white mushrooms as they were all I could get. Although it was still very good, it was missing the wow factor.. But when made following the recipe – it definitely has a HUGE wow factor!!
Very VERY highly recommend this to anyone and everyone.
I made this for a Sunday dinner and 3 of my kids were fighting for leftovers. SO good!
I made this for dinner tonight and the whole family loved it – teenage daughters included! I used Colby jack cheese on top and served over white rice. I agree with other comments that the juices drizzled over the top is what “makes” this dish. This definitely goes in our dinner rotation! Thank you!
I was going to make this but don’t have a broiler whatever one of those is. Only a hob, oven, slow cooker, microwave and air fryer. Don’t really have room in my kitchen for any more gadgets. What is a broiler used for.
You have enough gadgets, I hate too many too.:) Broiler is inside your oven – it’s in “the ceiling” of your oven, gas or en electric coil.
I loved this recipe and so did the whole family!! Second one of yours to try that was awesome. Thanks so much!
You are welcome.:)
I loved, loved this recipe, I also made a light sauce to drizzle over the top after dish is cooked that Really complemented it, I put about 1\2 can of chicken broth in a saucepan with 4 tbl real butter, and 7 tsps lemon juice, poured over finished recipe and it was amazing!
That sounds REALLY GOOD!
Delicious!!
The last photo (and the photo on the instructions) shows something green sprinkled on the top. What is that? Cilantro?
Parsley. 🙂 My rule of thumb is – parsley for Mediterranean, dill/green onion for Eastern European, cilantro/green onion for Latin recipes.
I made this for dinner tonight and my husband and 3 kids, none of whom like mushrooms, all thought it was really good. Thanks so much for the great recipe!
You are welcome, Katie!
Made this tonight it was delicious everybody loved it. Thank you.
You are welcome, Susan!
What is that machine you used to make the zucchini noodles?
It is a spiralizer.
This looks good. I am going to make this some time this week. Question, if I use chicken breast instead of the chicken thighs will that drastically change the weight watcher points?
Honestly IDK. I don’t follow WW. Sorry. 🙂
Wow. Absolutely delicious! Followed the recipe as is. Used a blend of mozzarella and Monterey Jack cheeses. Made the butter/lemon/chicken broth sauce someone else suggested and added a tiny bit to thin pasta with a teensy tiny bit of red Pepper flakes. My husband said it’s a new top 10 and even my kids liked it!! Thank you!!
Nicole! So happy to hear this was a hit with your whole family 🙂
I’m planning on trying out this recipe tonight but using 2 boneless chicken breast and sweet baby bell peppers.
That should work.:)
Mozzarella is not a hard cheese. Parmesan? I don’t know marble…
Most of the cheese that we eat on an everyday basis is hard cheese. Our cheddars, Colby, Gouda, and Swiss are all hard cheeses. With these cheeses, once the curds were made and drained away from the whey, they generally were pressed with a cheese press to form a block.(source)
Marble cheese originates from England. They are usually hard, processed cow’s milk cheeses, produced from a combination of the curds of white and orange cheddars (for Marbled Cheddar), or similar. Colby-Jack combines Colby cheese and Monterey Jack and is most popular in the United States. (source).
I love this recipe! I chose to serve it on one of my personal favorites: spaghetti squash! An awesome, healthy and flavorful alternative to pasta that goes great with this recipe! Thank you.
I agree. I love spaghetti squash too! In fact, baking one tonight for dinner.
Rinsing chicken is a horrible idea that is no longer supported. Absolutely must remove from any recipes you have published.
You should buy local happy farm raised chicken that roams gardens and eats worms instead of cage confined sick commercial chicken. Then you won’t have any problem rinsing chicken. Entire world has been rinsing chicken for centuries but America suddenly can’t because Lysol needs to make money! Washing your sink with dish soap, hands with soap and having a dedicated meat cutting board is quite enough. In Ukraine we even didn’t have dish soap. Everything was washed with hot water and no one ever heard of salmonella. Please do your research and don’t believe everything you see on Facebook and other blogs. Everyone is after page views, likes and YOUR money.
Yes! Girl, love your response 🙂
Me too ! I will ALWAYS rinse chicken before I cook it. Have not as yet made this but will definitely give it a whirl….sounds delish. Greetings from CapeTown !
Very nice and enjoyed by every one thanks for the recipe.
You are very welcome, Nollie!
It looks delicious. Just making it now. I have added some green chillies (jalapeños).
Oh, that is a great idea!
Thank you for this delicious recipe! I love that you can pair it with whatever is on hand or have it by itself!
What did you put on the noodles you served it with? Any certain sauce?
Just the sauce/liquid from the chicken. The best and the lightest!!!
Made this tonight and it was absolutely delicious. So simple too. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes. Thank you!
You are welcome, Cindy!:)
l love your recipes! It is like you are cooking just for us! I rarely find an author that I like more than one or two recipes from them. I have pinned a lot of yours and cooked at least 4 already. Thanks
Awe, thank you, Judy!!!
I loved this recipe! Very easy to prepare and healthy. My husband enjoyed it also, although he wanted a sauce on it. But he did eat it! Will look for more recipes on your site. Thanks!
It is sooooo good. Reminds me of pizza. Thanks for sharing this.
This sounds delicious. I plan to make it tonight for tomorrow nights dinner.
Let me know how it turns out. This dish is perfect for making ahead.:)
Love this simple, low-calorie recipe…and so flavourful too!! Thanks for sharing…
-Shannon
Thank you Shannon! It’s amazing what mushrooms can do! Just need to update the photo;) Not too thrilled with this one…Was rushed by hungry kids to take the picture in the dark.
Absolutely loved this recipe, I did tweek the chicken marinade by also adding lemon juice, chipotle flakes, dried rosemary, dried oregano and a tiny splash of EVOO. I used monteray jack cheese. It was delicious.