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Chicken Stuffed Peppers

5 from 9 votes
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posted: 01/22/23

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This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy

Chicken Stuffed Peppers are an easy low carb dinner that everyone will love. Bell peppers stuffed with shredded chicken, cream cheese, spaghetti sauce, and seasonings are so irresistible they will become a regular on your menu.

overhead of a casserole dish with chicken stuffed peppers

If you are looking for an easy low carb meal, you have come to the right place. These Chicken Stuffed Peppers are very easy to throw together. They are packed with delicious flavors derived from simple ingredients. Best of all, they bake up in just 25 minutes.

Reader Review

This was so easy and absolutely delicious! I made it for my parents and topped with extra mozzarella and they just loved it! I’m keeping this recipe for sure! Thank you!

How to Make Stuffed Bell Peppers

This is a brief overview of how to make this delicious dinner recipe. For the full recipe with all of the ingredients and measurements, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

  1. Prepare the peppers. For this recipe we are slicing the peppers in half, and then carefully cutting out the seed core and the ribbing. The goal here is to leave the rest of the pepper in tact for filling, so use a sharp knife and careful cutting skills when taking out that seed pod.
  2. Precook the bell peppers. There are a few ways to do this. In this recipe, we are putting them in the microwave with a little oil first. Read below to learn about other methods.
  3. Make the filling. While the peppers are precooking, mix together the chicken, spaghetti sauce, cream cheese, spices, and cheeses.
  4. Fill the peppers. Working carefully with the hot peppers, place them in the baking dish and distribute the filling evenly amongst them. Top with the remaining cheese.
  5. Bake and enjoy the stuffed peppers.
overhead of bell pepper halves that have stems on but insides removed in a large glass bowl

Precooking Bell Peppers

One of the ways to speed up a bell pepper recipe is to pre cook the peppers. Just a little bit of time in the microwave or oven will cut off a lot of time once they are filled and back in the oven. In fact, we can cut the cooking time by about half and only have them in the oven for 25 minutes.

While this recipe uses the microwave to precook the peppers, you can also do it in the oven.

  1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
  2. While the oven is preheating, prepare the peppers.
  3. Place the peppers on rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
  4. Bake the peppers for 10 minutes or until they are easy to pierce with a fork.
  5. Lower the oven temperature and allow it to come to 350 while you finish preparing the peppers.
overhead of a bowl full of cream cheese, spaghetti sauce, cheese, chicken and seasonings for chicken stuffed peppers

Low Carb Stuffed Pepper Filling

I have had so many readers ask me for more low carb recipes. One of my favorite dinners to make for my family (and for yours!) is stuffed peppers. I have so many different varieties that are delicious (I even have a Stuffed Pepper Casserole), but the bad news is they all have a grain in them.

Bound and determined to make a stuffed pepper recipe that was low carb friendly, I made this amazing filling. It contains shredded chicken, cream cheese, spaghetti sauce, cheese, herbs, and spices to give it a lot of flavor. All of these ingredients are great for a low carb diet.

The only ingredient we need to watch out for is the spaghetti sauce, so read on.

close up of a stuffed chicken pepper in a casserole dish

Spaghetti Sauce for Chicken Stuffed Peppers

If you are on a low carb diet, the one ingredient in these stuffed peppers with chicken that you need to pay attention to is the spaghetti sauce. It brings a lot of the flavor to this recipe, but if you aren’t careful, it can also bring a lot of carbs. You want to either buy a brand that contains few processed ingredients and is low carb, or you want to make your own.

I love my homemade spaghetti sauce recipe for it’s flavor, but also because you can control the ingredients. In it’s current form, it contains 7 grams of carbs per cup of sauce. So that would be about 1 gram of carbs per serving of these stuffed peppers. If that is more than you want, you can cut the 2 teaspoons of sugar from the recipe or replace it with 2 finely grated carrots that you put in during step 2.

This recipe will make more sauce than you need for this recipe, but it freezes very well.

Spaghetti Sauce

This Easy Homemade Spaghetti Sauce Recipe from scratch comes together in about 25 minutes!
Jar of Spaghetti Sauce on counter
chicken stuffed pepper recipe on a plate with a fork dishing up the cheesy goodness

Keeping Shredded Chicken on Hand

While you can easily make shredded chicken on the stovetop or in the instant pot, I find that it is easiest to just keep shredded chicken in my freezer. It thaws very quickly and makes meals like this a snap.

Freezing Cooked Chicken

Freezing cooked chicken to keep on hand is the perfect short cut for dinners during a busy weeknight! Learn how to freeze cooked chicken with these simple easy steps.
overhead of a ziplock bag full of frozen rotisserie chicken

Make Ahead

These stuffed peppers can be made up to 24 hours ahead. Follow the recipe up to the point of putting them in the oven. Instead, cover them and place them in the refrigerator.

When ready to bake, place the stuffed peppers in the preheated oven and bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Reheating Chicken Stuffed Bell Peppers

If you have leftovers, store them in the refrigerator in an air tight container for up to 4 days. When you want to reheat a stuffed pepper, place it in a covered baking dish and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Freezing Stuffed Peppers

If you don’t need all six stuffed peppers, these are great to freeze for a quick meal in the future.

  1. Make the recipe up to the point of putting them in the oven.
  2. Flash freeze the peppers. Place them on a plate or a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze for 2 to 4 hours.
  3. Transfer the peppers to an air tight container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Alternatively, vacuum seal the peppers (individually) to last in the freezer for closer to 6 months.
  4. When ready to eat, transfer from the freezer to a baking dish. Cover and bake for 35 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Uncover and bake for 15 more minutes.
close up of a chicken stuffed bell pepper in a casserole dish

What to Serve with Stuffed Peppers

There are so many great side dishes to make with this recipe that will keep the dinner low carb friendly. Here are some of my favorite choices.

If you make these stuffed chicken peppers or any of my other recipes, please leave me a comment and let me know what you think. I love hearing from you.

close up of a chicken stuffed bell pepper in a casserole dish
5 from 9 votes

Chicken Stuffed Peppers

Serves: 6 servings
(tap # to scale)
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 25 minutes
Total: 40 minutes
Chicken Stuffed Peppers are an easy low carb dinner that everyone will love. Bell peppers stuffed with shredded chicken, cream cheese, spaghetti sauce, and seasonings are so irresistible they will become a regular on your menu.

Ingredients

  • 3 bell peppers cut in half with the seeds and ribbing removed
  • 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 cups shredded chicken
  • 1 cup spaghetti sauce
  • 4 ounces cream cheese softened
  • 1 cup mozzarella cheese grated and divided
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried parsley
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried basil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Cut the bell peppers in half and cut out the seeds and ribbing.
  • Place the peppers in a large microwave safe bowl. Drizzle them with olive oil. Cover the bowl with a plate, and microwave for 6 minutes. (If you prefer, you can precook the peppers in the oven. Read how to do that here.)
  • In a bowl, combine the chicken, sauce, cream cheese, spices, 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese, and the Parmesan cheese. Add the filling to the peppers. Top with the remaining 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese.
  • Bake for 25 minutes. For a crispier top, turn on the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes at the end, watching closely.
Calories: 255kcal (13%) Carbohydrates: 8g (3%) Protein: 20g (40%) Fat: 16g (25%) Saturated Fat: 8g (50%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 5g Cholesterol: 72mg (24%) Sodium: 1057mg (46%) Potassium: 414mg (12%) Fiber: 2g (8%) Sugar: 5g (6%) Vitamin A: 2478IU (50%) Vitamin C: 79mg (96%) Calcium: 189mg (19%) Iron: 2mg (11%)
Author: Lisa Longley
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
close up of a chicken stuffed bell pepper in a casserole dish

did you make this

Chicken Stuffed Peppers

I’d love to see what you made! Tag me @lisasimplejoy and hashtag it #simplejoyrecipes!

Hi! I'm Lisa Longley, and I am committed to giving you simple dinner ideas and recipes that are easy to make; recipes that will fill your home with joy. I am the owner and author of SimpleJoy.com and I'm so glad that you are here.

Reader Interactions

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  1. Maria says

    5 stars
    It has been fantastic finding you, you have amazing recipes healthy, different, practical, easy ingredients!! I just love everything!! You are amazing thank you for shearing!!! I am so happy! God blessed you and your family :) let’s cook and bake 🎉

    • Lisa Longley says

      Thank you so much for this wonderful comment, Maria! I needed this one today.

  2. Janis Beffort says

    have not tryed chicken stuffed peppers but will be do love stuffed peppers with hamburger and rice….so this is just a different taste or change on stuffed peppers.Love your meal ideas….thank from myself and my husband

  3. Judith Fulton says

    Can I omit the cream cheese in this recipe? I am lactose intollerant and wondered about the taste?

    • Lisa Longley says

      Unfortunately, no. We have cream cheese, mozzarella, and Parmesan in this recipe. So you would need to take out all three, and that would definitely impact the taste. I haven’t tested this without the cream cheese. I’m worried it would feel like it’s missing something.

  4. Judith Fulton says

    Thank you Lisa for answering me..I really enjoy your recipes!

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so happy to hear that!

  5. Maritza says

    I think your recipes are awsome,and use many of them. They always turn out good and delicious!!!! Thank you fo sharing them with us, your fans!!!!

  6. Gina says

    5 stars
    This was so easy and absolutely delicious! I made it for my parents and topped with extra mozzarella and they just loved it! I’m keeping this recipe for sure! Thank you!

    • Lisa Longley says

      Gina, I’m so glad this was a hit for you and your parents! Thank you for taking the time to come back and tell me.

  7. Debra says

    I add riced cauliflower to get the sensation of a regular stuffed pepper. It adds no calories or carbs. Win Win

    • Lisa Longley says

      I hope you liked them!

  8. Maritza says

    5 stars
    Hi Lisa, I cooked the chicken stuffed bell peppers today and they came out delicious. Even thoughI used a commercial spaguetti sauce,they came out superb. I didn’t have time to cook the homemade spaguetti sauce, but I’m planning to have it cooked and ready for future use.I enjoy your recipes, they’re delightful!!!! Thank you so much for sharing them!!

    • Lisa Longley says

      I’m so glad that you liked these!

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