These Cream Cheese Stuffed Bell Peppers are an easy and delicious appetizer, perfect for any type of get-together. They are stuffed full of ranch-flavored cream cheese, sour cream, and cheddar cheese, then baked until melty - yum!
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Easy Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers
This Stuffed Bell Pepper with Cream Cheese recipe is a keeper. With just 5 ingredients and about 30 minutes you can crank out an ooey-gooey, flavorful, and unbelievably simple appetizer that everyone will love. These lil sweet peppers bake up super colorful, much milder than a jalapeño popper, and chock full of cheesy goodness.
Stuffed cream cheese bell peppers are also incredibly easy to customize to your own liking, so feel free to switch up the cheeses, add ground beef, or top with yummy ingredients like green onions, bacon bits, walnuts or hot sauce.
Whether you need an easy appetizer for a baby shower, game day or holiday get together, this recipe is bound to become a favorite.
Stuffed Cream Cheese Peppers Ingredients
- Mini Sweet Peppers - you should be able to find these at your local grocery store. Oftentimes they are sold in a bag next to the full-sized bell peppers.
- Cream Cheese - you want your cream cheese to be at room temperature so that it mixes well with the other ingredients. If you forget to pull it out of the fridge ahead of time, just transfer it to a microwave-safe container and heat for about 10 seconds at a time until no longer cold.
- Ranch Seasoning Mix - you can find this dry mix in the salad dressing section at your grocery store. Feel free to adjust by adding a bit more salt, black pepper or even garlic powder if you would like.
- Sour Cream - either full fat or lite will work.
- Cheddar Cheese - any type of cheddar cheese will taste great.
How to Make Stuffed Peppers With Cream Cheese
- Prep peppers. Prepare peppers by cutting off the tops, slicing in half, and scooping out the seeds.
- Make cream cheese filling. In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, ranch seasoning, sour cream and ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese. Mix until combined.
- Stuff peppers. Pat dry the pepper halves, then using a butter knife or small spatula, scoop 1-2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture into each of the peppers and smooth to fill evenly. Place the filled peppers on a parchment-lined baking sheet, cheese side up. Repeat until all of the peppers are filled, then top stuffed peppers with another ½ of shredded cheese.
- Bake. Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly, melted, and golden brown.
- Serve. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before transferring to a serving platter. Enjoy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes and no. They are both considered sweet peppers. However, mini sweet peppers are quite a bit sweeter (and smaller!) than bell peppers. They both come in multiple different colors, such as red, green, yellow, and orange, and are both crunchy and nutritious.
We love mini sweet peppers because they are super sweet and because they are the perfect two-bite appetizer size. They are also a great way to add a pop of color to your menu.
Recipe Variations for Stuffed Peppers
If you want to try different variations of stuffed peppers, here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Vegetarian Quinoa Stuffed Peppers: Fill with quinoa, black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, onions, and your favorite Mexican spices. Top with shredded cheese and bake until bubbly.
- Italian Sausage and Rice Stuffed Peppers: Make a filling with Italian sausage, cooked rice, diced tomatoes, onions, garlic, and Italian herbs. Top with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese.
- Caprese Stuffed Peppers: Fill with fresh mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, fresh basil, and balsamic glaze. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Southwest Stuffed Peppers: Fill peppers with ground beef (or ground turkey), black beans, corn, diced tomatoes, onions, and a mix of Southwest spices. Top with avocado and cilantro.
Storing Cream Cheese Peppers
- Make-Ahead: This appetizer really does taste best soon after it is baked, so we don’t recommend making a huge batch with the purpose of saving some for later. If you want to prep this ahead of time, you can always prep your peppers (wash, slice and deseed), prep your cheese mixture, and store them both separately in the fridge for up to 24 hours. That way, you can fill and bake just before serving and save yourself a few minutes.
- Refrigerator: If you do have lots of leftovers, store them covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- To reheat: either microwave or pop them back in a preheated 350-degree oven for 5-10 minutes, or until warm.
Stuffed Peppers Recipe with Cream Cheese
Ingredients
- 12 Mini Sweet Peppers cut in half, seeds removed
- 8 ounces Cream Cheese room temperature
- 1½ Tablespoons Ranch Seasoning Mix
- ½ cup Sour Cream
- 1 cup Cheddar Cheese shredded (½ cup for filling, ½ cup to add to top before baking)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Prepare peppers by cutting off the tops, slicing in half and scooping out the seeds.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, ranch seasoning, sour cream and ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese. Mix until combined.
- Pat dry the pepper halves, then using a butter knife or small spatula, scoop 1-2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture into each of the peppers and smooth to fill evenly.
- Place the filled peppers on a parchment lined baking sheet, cheese side up. Repeat until all of the peppers are filled, then top stuffed peppers with another ½ of shredded cheese.
- Bake in a preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly, melted and golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before transferring to a serving platter. Enjoy!
Nutrition
More Appetizer Recipes To Try
- BLT Dip
- Frank's Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Jalapeño Popper Dip
- Garlic Parmesan Wings
- Cream Cheese Stuffed Jalapeños
- More Appetizers
More Stuffed Pepper Recipes
These cream cheese filled peppers are an easy appetizer that's perfect for all sorts of occasions. They're filled with a ranch flavored cream cheese mixture and then baked.
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