Cream Cheese Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers are the perfect appetizer for big game parties and holiday gatherings.
These are stuffed with an amazing mixture of cream cheese and bacon and do not have to be baked. So quick and easy to make, just like this spicy crab dip appetizer.
Your guests might enjoy snacking on these while sipping on a Texas margarita or a Copycat Starbucks Matcha Green Tea Latte.
Jump to:
- What Kind of Peppers Should be Used?
- SAVE THIS RECIPE!
- ❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
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- 🥘 Ingredients
- 🔀 Substitutions
- 🌈 Variations / Options / Add-Ins
- 🥄 Equipment Needed / Helpful Tools
- 🔪 How to Make Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers
- 👩🍳 Pro Tips
- ❓ Recipe FAQs
- 🙏 Pairing
- SAVE THIS RECIPE!
- 📋 Recipe
- Pro Tips
- Recipe FAQs
What Kind of Peppers Should be Used?
This recipe works best with the colorful baby bell peppers. They’re perfectly sized for an easy party food.
Since this appetizer isn’t cooked the mini sweet peppers taste the best because they have a sweeter flavor and crunchier texture than the bigger sized peppers. Regular bell peppers have a stronger flavor and are not as good in this particular recipe.
Plus, the mini sweet peppers are conveniently bagged at the store and all ready to go. They’re also completely seedless so that makes prep super easy too.
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❤️ Why You’ll Love This Recipe
This recipe is one of my go-to’s for easy entertaining. Here are some of the reasons why:
- Ready in minutes: There are only 5 ingredients needed for this recipe, so prep time doesn’t take long.
- No baking required: You just have to combine the ingredients, stuff the peppers and chill them in the refrigerator. This frees up your oven for other dishes.
- Kids can help: Since this recipe is so easy to make, the kids can help mix the ingredients and spoon the filling into the peppers. They’ll be proud to help make the appetizers for your party.
If you like appetizers that are stuffed with cream cheese, you’ll like these grilled stuffed mushrooms too.
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🥘 Ingredients
This finger food recipe only has 5 ingredients. It is inexpensive to make and you’ll feel good knowing you’re serving some veggies too.
- Mini Sweet Peppers: They are usually sold in a bag in the produce section.
- Cream Cheese: Using block cream cheese is preferred for this recipe because it has a firmer texture and is less watery than tub cream cheese, making the filling thicker and more stable for stuffing the mini peppers.
- Bacon: Store-bought real bacon bits work great in this recipe and saves you the time of having to cook bacon strips.
- Shredded Cheese: Sharp cheddar works great. You can either buy pre-shredded or block cheese and shred it yourself (a food processor shreds cheese fast).
- Mayonnaise: I do not recommend using Miracle Whip in this recipe. Regular mayo gives the cream cheese mixture a better flavor.
🔀 Substitutions
If you don’t have the ingredients you need, or if you have different dietary needs/preferences, see if you have these instead:
Cream cheese: If you don’t have cream cheese, you can use goat cheese or ricotta cheese. A vegan cream cheese can be used for a dairy-free option.
Bacon: For a lower fat version use turkey bacon or to keep it plant-based use a vegetarian bacon alternative. If you only have pancetta that’s fine to use because it has a similar savory taste.
Shredded cheese: You can substitute different kinds of shredded cheese that you prefer or use vegan shredded cheese for a dairy-free substitution.
Mayonnaise: You can substitute sour cream, plain Greek yogurt (for a lower fat option), ranch dressing, or goat cheese.
🌈 Variations / Options / Add-Ins
Here are a few ways that you can personalize this appetizer recipe:
Mix-Ins: You can enhance the flavor of your cream cheese filling with herbs and spices like garlic, onion, paprika or Italian seasoning. If you want to add a little kick, add some fresh diced jalapenos to the mixture or some taco seasoning.
Omit the bacon: If you want a vegetarian version, add some diced vegetables like mushrooms or cucumbers to add some crunch. If you still want meat in it, but don’t like bacon, you can try smoked sausage crumbles.
Additional garnishes: For added color, top with some chopped chives, parsley, cilantro or chopped green onions. Chopped walnuts or pecans add a wonderful crunch when sprinkled on top of the stuffed peppers.
If you also want to serve a warm appetizer made with cream cheese, try this Instant Pot Buffalo chicken dip.
🥄 Equipment Needed / Helpful Tools
You only need a few kitchen tools to help you make this easy stuffed peppers recipe.
- Cutting board: You’ll slice the peppers on this.
- Knife: Use this to slice the peppers in half.
- Medium or large bowl: The filling ingredients will be mixed in this bowl.
- Baking sheet: Put the peppers on here to chill in the refrigerator.
🔪 How to Make Cream Cheese Stuffed Peppers
If you have 5 minutes then you have time to make these Mini Peppers Stuffed with Cream Cheese. It is a great recipe to keep on hand when you need to make a snack in a hurry.
Step 1: Prepare Peppers
Take the package of mini bell peppers and slice the peppers in half. Deseed the peppers.
Step 2: Make Filling
Put the softened cream cheese, chopped bacon, shredded cheese, and mayonnaise in a medium or large bowl.
Stir to combine these ingredients well.
Step 3: Stuff Peppers
Spoon or pipe the cream cheese mixture into each of the pepper halves.
Step 4: Chill
Place the stuffed halves on a baking sheet and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill.
Step 5: Garnish and Serve
After the stuffed mini peppers are chilled you can garnish with additional chopped bacon or parsley flakes if you desire. Serve and enjoy the classic and timeless taste that everyone loves.
👩🍳 Pro Tips
Here are a few tips to help make sure that these peppers turn out well for you.
- When deseeding the peppers, use a small spoon or melon baller to easily scoop out seeds and ribs.
- Use a piping bag or resealable bag with the corner cut off to fill the peppers cleanly and quickly.
- Prepare the filling a day in advance and stuff the peppers right before serving for convenience.
- Arrange peppers on a platter with fresh herbs or colorful garnishes to make them visually appealing.
❓ Recipe FAQs
Yes! These can be made the day before serving. Just make sure to store them in the refrigerator in an airtight container or covered with plastic wrap.
You sure can! Wrap them tightly in plastic wrap and then store in an airtight container in the freezer up to one month.
Yes. If you want to serve these as a hot appetizer, place the peppers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Preheat the oven and bake at 400°F for 5-7 minutes.
🙏 Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with Cream Cheese Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers:
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📋 Recipe
Cream Cheese Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers
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Equipment
- Knife
- Medium or large bowl
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 1 package mini sweet bell peppers cut in half and deseeded
- 8 ounces cream cheese softened to room temperature
- 5 strips bacon cooked and chopped or real bacon bits
- 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
- Take the package of mini bell peppers and slice the peppers in half. Deseed the peppers.1 package mini sweet bell peppers
- Place the cream cheese, bacon, cheddar cheese, and mayonnaise in a medium or large bowl. Stir to combine well.8 ounces cream cheese, 5 strips bacon, 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- Spoon or pipe the mixture into the pepper halves.
- Place the stuffed halves on a baking sheet and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes to chill.
- Garnish with chopped bacon and parsley flakes before serving (optional).
Video
Notes
Pro Tips
- When deseeding the peppers, use a small spoon or melon baller to easily scoop out seeds and ribs.
- Use a piping bag or resealable bag with the corner cut off to fill the peppers cleanly and quickly.
- Prepare the filling a day in advance and stuff the peppers right before serving for convenience.
- Arrange peppers on a platter with fresh herbs or colorful garnishes to make them visually appealing.
Could you use Ricotta or goat cheese?
Absolutely, you can substitute ricotta or goat cheese for the cream cheese in your recipe. Both will give a different flavor and texture but should work well. Using ricotta will make the filling a bit lighter and creamier, with a slightly grainier texture compared to cream cheese. You might want to adjust the amount of mayonnaise if the ricotta makes the mixture too runny. Goat cheese will add a tangy flavor and a creamy texture. It’s a bit softer and more spreadable than cream cheese, so you might need to use a little less mayonnaise to achieve the right consistency.
Great recipe! I love the idea of using cream cheese as a filling for the peppers. It’s such a unique and delicious twist on traditional stuffed peppers. Can’t wait to try it out!
I’m glad you like the idea. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for commenting.
How soon ahead of time can you make the filling?
You can make the filling the day before, just be sure to store it in an air tight container in the refrigerator.
Do you think it’ll still turn out fine if I do want to bake these? Do you think the texture will be affected?
If you want to serve these as a hot appetizer, place the peppers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Preheat the oven and bake at 400°F for 5-7 minutes.
These are delicious! As much as I love bacon, I didn’t use any only because I didn’t feel like cooking it. They don’t even need bacon to be delicious!
I’m so glad you liked these! That’s the great thing about recipes, you can modify them according to what you want to include or leave out. Thanks for commenting.
This is definitely a keeper! We guessed 5 strips of bacon at 2/3 cup and that worked well … could adjust down if not a bacon fan. Filled 9-10 peppers in bag and had some filling left over and enjoyed on crackers. Great flavor !!!
I’m so glad you like the recipe! Thanks for letting us know how much bacon you used and for the suggestion on what to do with any leftover filling.
How many in 1 serving
The recipe says it makes 10 servings and looks like there’s at least 18 appetizers in the picture, so about 2 are in a serving.
Thank you so much for this amazing recipe! So easy to make and tasted really delicious! Highly recommended, will surely have this again!
I’m glad you liked the convenience of the recipe and the taste. Thanks for commenting.
How many peppers are in the recipe and how many to a serving? 549 calories is a lot for only one serving.
The nutrition facts are for 1 serving. I use an automatic nutrition calculating tool when I type up the recipe, so if you aren’t sure about the information, you can always look up the nutrition facts yourself or look on the labels on the packages you’re using.
How many stuffed pepper halves can I eat for 549 kCal. That seems like a lot of calories.
The nutrition facts are for 1 serving. I use an automatic nutrition calculating tool when I type up the recipe, so if you aren’t sure about the information, you can always look up the nutrition facts yourself or look on the labels on the packages you’re using.
Could you use whipped cream cheese in a pinch
Since it’s not heated, you can use whipped cream cheese if you substitute by weight.
Do you yhink adding a little garlic powder would alter the flavour too much?
That sounds like a good addition. I think it would enhance the flavor and taste delicious!