These Ground Chicken Stuffed Peppers have a delicious filling with lean ground chicken, rice and simple sauce, then finished with melted cheese on top.
We also love Mexican stuffed peppers or deconstructed stuffed peppers skillet. For a modern approach, try my Instant Pot stuffed peppers.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easy recipe: These ground chicken stuffed peppers are so easy to make because bell peppers have a natural cup or bowl shape to them. Unlike cabbage, which is the reason for unstuffed cabbage rolls.
- Perfect for weeknights: It’s a quick recipe to prep with minimum steps. They are easily one of my favorite weeknight dinners along with chicken and peppers and ground chicken tacos.
- Delicious: The stuffing mixture is filling, saucy, and so, so good!
- Healthy: Lots of veggies, lean meat and brown rice.
Ingredients for Ground Chicken Stuffed Peppers
- Bell peppers: Choose medium to large size, any color bell peppers. I love using red, yellow, and orange because they are much sweeter than the green bell peppers. However, there’s no rule! Green ones will work just fine.
- Ground chicken: It’s lean and less flavorful than ground beef but you wouldn’t know it in this recipe. It’s got the same texture and ends up just as delicious.
- Rice: White rice or brown rice work. The instructions include cooking the rice. However, if you have any leftover rice like Instant Pot long grain white rice or Instant Pot jasmine rice, you can use that. Save a bit of time!
- Onion and garlic: It’s the base of flavors that the rest of the flavors are built on.
- Tomato sauce: Just be on the lookout for added sugars and high sodium levels.
- Balsamic vinegar: Adds a bit of a sweet tangy flavor to the mixture.
- Spices: Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes.
- Cheese: Parmesan cheese adds flavor to the stuffing. Mozzarella cheese goes on top and melts. Any melting cheese will work.
How to Make Stuffed Peppers with Ground Chicken
- Prep: To prepare bell peppers, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and white membrane. You can also cut off the stem, if desired. Cook about 1/2 cup dry white or brown rice as per package instructions. You can also use my Instant Pot brown rice recipe for this step.
- Make the mixture: Cook onion, garlic, ground chicken, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes until fully cooked, about 10 minutes. Stir often and break up the meat into small pieces. Add in the cooked rice, tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, and Parmesan cheese. Cook for about 5 more minutes.
- Stuff the peppers and bake: Spoon the filling into the halved bell peppers, stuffing well with slight domes. Pour in water or chicken broth into the baking dish, cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes.
- Add cheese: Sprinkle peppers with mozzarella cheese and bake for another 10 minutes until cheese has melted.
Variations
- Meat: Ground chicken is the leaner choice, along with ground turkey. But you can also use ground beef or ground Italian sausage, just maybe drain the extra fat.
- Sauce: I love using tomato sauce but I have also tried them with marinara sauce. There are no hard and fast rules around the tomato sauce. Some people have used tomato paste and diced tomatoes, while others have just used diced tomatoes. Fire roasted tomatoes will be great too!
- Stuffed whole peppers: You could also cut the pepper tops off, stuff and bake covered for about 50 minutes.
- Cheese: Swap mozzarella cheese for more flavorful smoked Gouda or sharp cheddar cheese.
Serving Suggestions
I do think these ground chicken stuffed peppers are a complete meal. We usually serve them with sour cream or plain Greek yogurt and whole wheat or rye bread to sop up the juices.
You can also never go wrong with a side salad! Cucumber and tomato salad or cucumber tomato bell pepper salad are our go-to because they are easy to make and contain staple ingredients.
How to Store and Reheat
Store: Keep any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freeze: I am not a fan of freezing stuffed peppers as they will become too watery when thawed.
Reheat: Simply pop them back in the oven at 350 degrees F to warm through for about 10 minutes. If you’re only reheating one, the microwave will suffice!
Can I Make These Ahead of Time?
Yes, for sure. Preparing parts of these ground chicken stuffed peppers separately is an easy way to prepare dinner ahead of time.
Cook and cool the stuffing completely the night before and keep mixture in the fridge. Or you can refrigerate them stuffed and covered.
Come dinner time the next day, all you need to do is stuff the peppers and continue with the recipe as directed.
FAQs
No, you don’t. If you were to do this, they would be way too soft to hold the filling and be overcooked by the end.
Yes. They would be great for an appetizer or younger kids! The cooking time will be shorter by 10-15 minutes, so keep an eye on them.
Your best defence is not adding too much liquid to the baking dish and not overcooking. Also I do not recommend to freeze them as this is what makes cooked peppers soggy.
More Stuffed Recipes
- Stuffed pepper soup
- Instant Pot stuffed pepper soup
- Cream cheese stuffed mini peppers
- Goat cheese stuffed mini peppers
Ground Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups white or brown rice cooked
- 6 large bell peppers
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves minced
- 1 lb ground chicken
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 3/4 tsp salt
- Ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp oil for frying
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 1 cup mozzarella shredded
- 1 cup water or broth for baking
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and cook rice as per package instructions.
- To prepare bell peppers, cut them in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and white membrane. You can also cut off the stem, if desired. Add to 9×13 baking dish and another 8×8 baking dish and set aside.
- Preheat large skillet on medium-high heat and add onion, garlic, ground chicken, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. Cook until fully cooked, about 10 minutes, stirring often and breaking up the meat.
- When the meat is fully cooked add in the cooked rice, tomato sauce, balsamic vinegar, and Parmesan cheese. Cook for about 5 minutes longer to incorporate the flavors and cook off some of the juices.
- Spoon the filling into the halved bell peppers, stuffing well with slight domes. Pour in water or broth into baking dishes, cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
- Remove the foil, sprinkle peppers with mozzarella cheese, and bake for another 10 minutes until cheese has melted.
- Remove peppers from the oven and serve hot.
Notes
- Store: Refrigerate leftovers for up to 5 days in an airtight container. Reheat in microwave or place in a pot with a splash of water, cover and simmer for 5-10 minutes until steamed through.
- Freeze: Do not freeze as peppers will become too watery when thawed.
Can I use a flavored balsamic? What temp when using small peppers.
Sure you can. Same temperature but just shorter cook time. Cut baking time in half and go from there.
this was slammin!!!!! i didn’t use the vinegar tho but was still bangin! and i used the yellow and orange peppers because they are cuter! highly recommended!
What a wonderful review, Angela!
Can you use ground turkey in this recipe?
Yes that works.
Hi Olena,
I’m going to try this recipe because it seems to be what I’m looking for. My question is: if
I cut the peppers lengthwise, will they still take an hour to cook?
Hi Janet. No, I think they will take about 40 minutes like my Mexican stuffed peppers.
Could you make the filling as a freezer to Instant Pot version and then just stuff the peppers with the hot mixture and roast for a shorter time?
I don’t think I understand your question. Sorry… Can you explain more please.
I love all your freezer to instantpot recipes, so I was thinking of assembling and freezing the raw filling ingredients as a meal prep version. Then on a weeknight, I can bring the frozen filling out and cook in the Instantpot, stuff the peppers and roast at a higher temperature for a shorter time. Do you think it would work?
Now I get it. I thought that’s what you meant but wanted to double check. YES, will work!
Thank you!!!
Can this be stored in a plastic bag as a frozen meal?
We tried but peppers lose all their juices when cooked from frozen.
I made this recipe before and last night I made it again. I use lean ground beef instead of ground chicken. I know it’s not necessary but I cook the meat first and let it drain to get rid of the ‘fat’ meat juices. I think your recipe is very tasteful and we all love this dish. My eldest girl is not too fond of bell peppers so I made her tomatoes with the same filling.
Hi! Bought everything to make this 🙂 so we don’t need to pre-cook chiken ?
No, you don’t. Enjoy and try my rice stuffed tomatoes next, since they are so cheap right now.
This looks great. I was going to add shredded cheddar to this. Do you recommend that and if so should I blend it in or sprinkle on top and broil at the end?
Mix it in right with the stuffing and stuffed peppers will be glorious!!!
Once again you created a winning recipe. So good and so easy too.
Yay!!!