Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers
If you’re looking for a make ahead appetizer that holds up in the fridge, these buffalo stuffed mini sweet peppers can be prepped five days ahead and baked fresh when you are ready to serve.

Most appetizers fall into one of two camps: impressive but time consuming, or easy but forgettable. These stuffed mini sweet peppers land squarely in the middle in the best possible way. Six ingredients, naturally low carb and gluten free, and the entire thing can be prepped ahead and refrigerated until ready to serve. The filling is bold, creamy and packed with buffalo flavor, and the sweet pepper balances every bite!
Why you will love Mini Sweet Peppers
- Easy: Mix, stuff, bake. No special tools, hard to find ingredients or complicated techniques.
- Completely customizable: Dial up the heat with extra sauce, swap chicken for tuna, use any cheese you want.
- Make Ahead: You can prep the peppers and the filling 3-5 days ahead of time, then just assemble and bake when you are ready.
What You’ll Need
- Mini sweet peppers – Sliced and deseeded.
- Cooked and shredded chicken – This can be slow cooker chicken, leftover grilled chicken, cooked ground chicken, a rotisserie chicken from the store, or even leftover turkey.
- Cream cheese, Ranch dressing mix, and Frank’s Red Hot Original Buffalo Sauce – Allow your cream cheese to soften before mixing to make it easier. Note that this uses the powdered dressing MIX, not the liquid pre-made dressing.
- Shredded cheddar cheese – Feel free to use a smoked gouda, mozzarella cheese, or blend if you prefer.
- Green onions – This is an optional garnish, but I love the added texture and flavor these add!

How to Make Stuffed Mini PeppersÂ
This buffalo chicken stuffed peppers recipe is a breeze to make, promise! You only need a mixing bowl and a baking pan. Here are the basic steps:
- Place sliced sweet pepper halves in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the chicken, cream cheese, ranch seasoning mix, and buffalo sauce. Stir until well mixed.
- Place a spoonful of the buffalo chicken mixture in each pepper.
- Top with shredded cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Garnish with green onions before serving.




How to Serve
You can finish these off with a drizzle of buffalo sauce and sprinkle of crumbled blue cheese and green onions for a great looking appetizer. To make these quick stuffed peppers a meal, serve them with one of the following sides:Â
Stuffed Pepper FAQs
Yes, you can prep these, freeze, then bake from frozen whenever you are ready. You can also freeze the baked peppers, though the melted cheese does change texture a bit.
Yes! To make this recipe a meal, you can use full-size bell peppers instead of mini sweet peppers. Instead of baking for 15 minutes, you will need about 25 minutes to get the bell peppers nice and tender.
As written, this is just enough for a nice bit of spice, but it won’t set your mouth on fire. Everyone has their own taste preferences, so I recommend using this recipe as a guideline but adjusting to make this as spicy or as mild as you like.
Other Easy Starters and Appetizers

Get the Recipe: Mini Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 pound mini sweet peppers, tops removed and sliced
- 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
- 4 ounces cream cheese, reduced fat or full fat
- 1 package ranch dressing mix
- 1/4 cup Frank's Original Buffalo Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Green onions, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a large cookie sheet with cooking spray.
- Place sliced sweet peppers in a single layer on the cookie sheet.
- In a medium size mixing bowl, combine the chicken, cream cheese, ranch dressing seasoning, and buffalo sauce.
- Place a spoonful of the buffalo chicken mixture in each pepper. Top with shredded cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly.
- Garnish with additional buffalo sauce and green onions, if desired.

Oooh I adore how quick, cute and little these are!! They sound SO flavorful too. Swoon! I want to grab a couple of these to snack on right now 😉 Also…the red board is definitely next on the list!
You always have the best buffalo chicken recipes, Annie! I love these mini peppers!
These look amazing & how fun for summer get together!!
Appetizers that count as dinner are the best kind! I can’t handle a lot of spicy food but I know my husband would LOVE these!
I have a mild obsession with app-style stuffed sweet peppers and I seriously can hardly stand how amazing these little cuties look! They look so kickin’ and flavorful with all that buffalo goodness!
Could I make them and freeze them before cooking and take out and bake as needed? I have a lot of peppers and no events coming up.
Hi Julie! I haven’t actually tried that, but I did some googling and it appears that should work just fine! I think if you assembled them on a cookie sheet, and stuck the whole cookie sheet in the freezer and let them set, then move them to a storage container it would work perfectly! You would just need to adjust the cooking time.
These look fantastic! I’m always looking for ideas on how to use rotisserie chicken.
Ranch flavored cream cheese…I think we just became best friends, lol! Love everything about this. I bet I could devour these in no time!
OOOoh I loveeeee the look and sound of these! Believe me the title itself made me salivate! <3 I love stuffed peppers and I am certainly going to amp up the heat since I love a spice kick to my food! This shredded chicken and cheddar combination is making me droooool!
I am glad Samina! We can’t get enough of them!
How funny, I was just at the store the other day and these mini peppers seem to be on sale all summer and I was thinking that I needed to buy some more! I’m not sure what I like more, your pesto and chicken stuffed peppers or these ones! I love buffalo chicken flavor, so I think I gotta try these right now 🙂
We love it too! We are kind of addicted actually! I could eat buffalo chicken flavored anything!
These look so delicious and pop-able, Annie! I think I’d probably go through about a dozen myself. 🙂
I probably did go through a dozen! 😉
What a great idea for a stuffing! And I LOVE the mini sweet peppers, had some in my kitchen all summer long for cooking and snacking! I’ll have to try stuffing them!
I totally agree Nora! They have become one of our favorites for sure. They are just so handy because they are nearly bite sized and they have hardly and seeds in them. Such a good summer staple!
I am loving these little spicy peppers! I’ve got to try these, great recipe, seems like they would make a great appetizer!
Oh absolutely! They would make great little appetizers! And they make so many!
So unique! I need to get to stuffing some peppers ASAP.
Thanks Erin!
Oh my!! I can assure you I won’t be able to stop at one..they look so delicious.. love everything about this.. yummmm! !
Thanks Arpita! 🙂
What a fun recipe! Stuffed peppers are great, and I love that you gave these a creative twist with chicken.
Thanks Gayle! You can’t go wrong when chicken+buffalo sauce+cheese are involved!
I love stuffed peppers, stuffing them with some buffalo chicken sounds delicious! So creative and gorgeous, pinning these!
Thank you Danielle!! 🙂
These are too too cute, Annie! I love stuffed peppers in any form and this fun twist looks delicious!
Aren’t things more fun when they are mini?!
Oh my gosh I want to eat that entire pan! These are stunning and delicious!
Thank you Chris! It is hard to stop at just one!
These look delicious – and what a great appetizer for a party. Pinned!
Yes! These are crowd pleasing for sure!