Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers

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Tender bell peppers filled with buffalo chicken, rice, and creamy ranch dressing. They come together easily, bake up tender and juicy, and work as a make-ahead meal or a same-day dinner.

These buffalo chicken stuffed peppers are truly one of the best proofs of that rule. Traditional stuffed peppers lean into sausage or beef and rice, and while there’s nothing wrong with that simple combination, I love changing things up and bringing unsuspecting flavors to everyday meals (just like I do my treats– looking at you brown sugar frosted Pop Tart cookies and Biscoff butterscotch sandwich cookies).

For this spicy remix on the classic, shredded chicken, rice, hot sauce, and ranch get stirred together in one bowl, packed into bell peppers (you pick the color!), and baked until the peppers are tender and the filling is creamy and tangy. They taste like you put in real effort when in reality, you didn’t. You simply stirred things together and stuffed it into a pepper.

We make these a few times a year in our house, and they’ve earned a permanent spot in the dinner rotation of a set of friends we served them to once.

There’s so much to love about this dish, and here are some of the highlights:

Minimal effort: there’s no browning, no sautéing, and no sauce to babysit. You simply stir and stuff.

Make it ahead or make it now: stuff the peppers and refrigerate them for up to a day, or bake them right away. Both methods work and I don’t prefer one over the other.

Great leftovers: these peppers reheat well, and they freeze either baked or unbaked, depending on your future needs.

Easy to scale: you can easily double this recipe for a crowd, or bake a batch to share with a neighbor or a new parent who needs a night off from cooking.

BELL PEPPERS: any color works. Red, orange, and yellow are a little sweeter, while green is more savory and slightly bitter. Choose peppers that can easily stand upright on their own, since that makes stuffing much easier, but know you can always slice a thin sliver off the bottom if one wobbles.

RICE: I originally wrote this recipe with quinoa, but the more I make it, the more I utilize rice. White or brown both work, and so does a rice and quinoa blend, either one you mix yourself or one of the ready-made dry blends. Just make sure the grains are cooked before they go into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

HOT SAUCE: I like a buffalo-style hot sauce because it’s already built for this kind of dish, but a traditional hot sauce works too. Of course, you can adjust the heat to your family’s taste post-bake. Personally, I don’t think they’re unbearably hot from the start, so I wouldn’t worry about them being too spicy as written.

RANCH OR BLUE CHEESE DRESSING: ranch dressing is the milder choice, and blue cheese dressing will pack more of a punch. Both are good, so use whichever your audience will actually eat.

CHEESE: feta or blue cheese crumbles on top are optional but add a nice tang. For a dairy-free version, use dairy-free ranch and serve the cheese on the side (or grab a plant-based cheese), which is what we do in our house.

Stuff the peppers: pack the filling in firmly and don’t be shy about heaping it up. You may have a little filling leftover, and that’s ok. Since nothing in there is uncooked or raw, you can just eat it or serve it outside of the pepper in case there’s a pepper hater at your table.

Add water to the dish: pour about 1″ of water into the bottom of the baking dish. This helps create steam, which softens the peppers while preventing the filling from drying out.

Rest and serve: let the hot peppers cool for about 10 minutes, then serve them with extra hot sauce and that optional (but encouraged!) cheese on the side.

Leftovers: keep anything leftover covered tightly in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Freeze baked peppers: after allowing them to cool completely, wrap the baked stuffed peppers tightly and freeze them for up to 3 months. You can thaw them in the refrigerator overnight, then reheat as desired.

Freeze unbaked peppers: wrap peppers tightly and pop in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw them overnight in the refrigerator, then bake as directed.

Something I love about this meal (other than how simple it is to make!) is that it’s got protein, carbs, and fats built in. You don’t necessarily need an extra veggie, but if you’re looking for a more robust meal, I suggest you serve it with a simple salad or flavorful roasted veggie.

I hope you’ll adopt this recipe as a regular addition to your rotation like it is at our house. It’s easily doubled for sharing or feeding a larger crowd, and even for intentional leftovers (highly recommend!). Because remember: we don’t do boring for dinner here!