Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers Recipe
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.
Servings: 6 stuffed peppers
Ingredients
- 6 large bell peppers any color
- 1 and ½ to 2 pounds chicken1 cooked and shredded
- 1 and ½ cups cooked rice2 any color or blend
- ½ cup (120mL) hot sauce3
- 6 Tablespoons (90mL) ranch or blue cheese dressing
- feta or blue cheese crumbles if desired
Need to keep track of your ingredients?Check out my Printable Ingredient List!
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF (177ºC), unless you want to make this dish ahead of time.
- Prepare your peppers by slicing off the top portion and cleaning out the seeds and ribs. Place cleaned out peppers upright in a baking dish (I usually use 9" x 13" for 6 peppers). Set aside.6 large bell peppers
- Place the shredded chicken, rice, hot sauce, and dressing in a large bowl. Stir until completely combined.1 and ½ to 2 pounds chicken1, 1 and ½ cups cooked rice2, ½ cup (120mL) hot sauce3, 6 Tablespoons (90mL) ranch or blue cheese dressing
- Spoon the chicken mixture evenly into the peppers, pressing down firmly to pack as much filling into each pepper as possible. Don't be afraid to make a heaping filling, though you may still have a bit of filling leftover. If you are making this ahead, cover the stuffed peppers tightly and chill them in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake them, or up to 1 day.
- Pour about 1" of water into the bottom of a baking dish, then bake the prepared peppers in the oven covered with foil for 40 minutes. Remove the foil, add cheese if desired, then bake for another 10 minutes or until the peppers are tender. Allow peppers to cool about 10 minutes before serving with additional hot sauce and cheese, if desired. Leftovers can be kept in the refrigerator, covered tightly, up to 5 days. Baked peppers may be frozen, wrapped tightly, up to 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator overnight and reheat as desired (I usually do a 300°F (149°C) oven for 25-30 minutes until peppers are warm in the center).feta or blue cheese crumbles
- Make ahead instructions: unbaked peppers may be frozen, wrapped tightly, up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and bake before serving. Do not bake from frozen.
Video
Notes
- Chicken: I have used everything from thighs to rotisserie, and I have no preference. I don't prefer using just breast, simply because it is fairly low in fat, but it will work just fine in this recipe if that's your preference.
- Rice: I originally wrote this recipe to use quinoa, which also works just as well in this recipe. You can also use a combination of both!
- Hot sauce: I like to use buffalo hot sauce in this recipe, but have also made it plenty of times with traditional hot sauce.
- Make it dairy free: we have a gluten- and dairy-free person in our house, so we often use a dairy-free ranch dressing and serve the cheese crumbles on the side.
Nutrition Disclosure
All nutritional values are approximate and provided to the reader as a courtesy. Changing ingredients and/or quantities will alter the estimated nutritional calculations.
Serving: 1stuffed pepper | Calories: 432kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 17g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 7g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 729mg | Potassium: 498mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 3823IU | Vitamin C: 167mg | Calcium: 33mg | Iron: 2mg
