Chicken parmesan stuffed peppers are delicious, healthy, and filling. This recipe combines two all-time favorites: chicken parmesan and stuffed bell peppers — and the results are phenomenal. These chicken parm stuffed bell peppers deliver flavorful, cheesy, saucy, chicken parmesan goodness wrapped inside soft and vibrant bell peppers. They are seriously loved by all who try them. Plus, stuffed peppers are easy to make ahead, freezes well, and great for meal prep.
Why You’ll Love Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Classic chicken parm ingredients. Chicken parmigiana is one of my favorite meals of all time. After all, what’s not to love about breaded and baked chicken with cheese and marinara sauce on top? Well, with these chicken parmesan stuffed peppers, you get to enjoy all the same flavors — chicken breasts, panko breadcrumbs, mozzarella, parmesan, and marinara sauce, but made healthier and wrapped up inside a delicious bell pepper.
- A filling and healthy meal. These chicken parmesan stuffed bell peppers are a one-dish wonder. They are wholesome and filling so you don’t need to worry about cooking up extra side dishes. Everything you want in a meal is inside those peppers — protein, vegetables, dairy, and grains.
- They’re great for meal prep. Stuffed peppers are easy to make ahead and store, and freeze really well too, which makes chicken parm stuffed bell peppers perfect for meal prep too. It makes the perfect low carb and healthy lunch throughout the week.
Ingredients and Substitutions
To make delicious chicken parmesan stuffed peppers, you will need the following ingredients (full quantities in the recipe card below):
- bell peppers - Look for peppers that are large and round and easy to stuff. You can feel free to use any color that you want.
- cooked chicken - this is one of my favorite recipes to use up any leftover chicken from a Roast Whole Chicken, Air Fryer Chicken Breast, or store-bought rotisserie chicken. You can also substitute with leftover turkey.
- panko breadcrumbs
- cheese - for that classic chicken parmesan flavor, we will need both mozzarella and Parmesan cheese.
- parsley
- olive oil
- tomato sauce - you can also substitute with marinara sauce.
- salt and pepper
- garlic powder
- water - for the water bath for baking. This creates steam in the pan when baking, which makes the stuffed peppers tender more quickly.
How to Customize
The best thing about this recipe is that you can customize it and make it your own. Try:
- substituting eggplant for the chicken to make it vegetarian.
- adding fried onions, steamed spinach, broccoli, or mushrooms to the filling for a veggie-packed option.
- using your favorite cheese blends instead of or in addition to mozzarella and parmesan. For instance, give it a Mexican twist with a Tex Mex cheese blend.
- using more or less cheese and sauce to suit your tastes.
How to Make the Best Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Peppers
- Prepare the bell peppers. Cut the peppers in half vertically. Remove and discard the seeds. Place the bell peppers in a 9x13-inch casserole pan or large half sheet baking pan and set aside.
- Make the chicken parmesan stuffing. In a large mixing bowl, add chicken, breadcrumbs, ½ cup mozzarella cheese, Parmesan, parsley, oil, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Stir well until evenly incorporated.
- Stuff the peppers. Fill up each pepper with the chicken filling and top with 1 tablespoonful mozzarella cheese.
- Make a water bath. Add water to the casserole dish and cover the dish with aluminum foil. This creates steam in the casserole dish when baking, which makes the stuffed peppers tender more quickly.
- Bake. Bake in 375F preheated oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the foil. Continue baking uncovered for 5-7 minutes until the cheese is melted. Let the stuffed peppers rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Tips and Tricks
- How to store: Keep leftover chicken parmesan stuffed bell peppers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- How to freeze: Stuffed peppers freeze and reheat well. Store the cooked stuffed bell peppers (or just the cooked chicken filling) in an airtight container with the cut side up for up to 3 months.
- How to reheat: Reheat cold stuffed peppers in the oven. Place them in an oven-safe casserole dish and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Reheat in a 350F preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until warmed through. You can also reheat in air fryer for 10 minutes at 350F or in the microwave.
More Stuffed Peppers
- 10 Best Stuffed Peppers Recipes
- Ground Beef Stuffed Peppers
- Leftover Turkey Stuffed Peppers
- Mexican Stuffed Peppers
- Vegan Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Chili Stuffed Peppers
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Recipe
Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Peppers
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings
Description
Chicken parmesan stuffed peppers are delicious, flavorful, healthy, and filling, and combines two all-time favorites. Great for meal prep and freezes well.
Ingredients
- 4 large bell peppers
- 1 + ½ cups cooked chicken breast, shredded or finely chopped
- ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1 cup mozzarella, grated and divided
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- ¼ cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup tomato sauce or marinara sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ cup water (for baking)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Cut the peppers in half vertically. Remove and discard the seeds. Place the bell peppers in a 9x13-inch casserole pan or large half sheet baking pan and set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, add chicken, breadcrumbs, ½ cup mozzarella cheese, Parmesan, parsley, oil, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Stir well until evenly incorporated.
- Fill up each pepper with the chicken filling and top with 1 tablespoonful mozzarella cheese.
- Add water to the casserole dish and cover the dish with aluminum foil. This creates steam in the casserole dish when baking, which makes the stuffed peppers tender more quickly.
- Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and remove the foil. Continue baking uncovered for 5-7 minutes until the cheese is melted.
- Let the stuffed peppers rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
How to store: Keep leftover chicken parmesan stuffed bell peppers in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
How to freeze: Stuffed peppers freeze and reheat well. Store the cooked stuffed bell peppers (or just the cooked chicken filling) in an airtight container with the cut side up for up to 3 months.
How to reheat: Reheat cold stuffed peppers in the oven. Place them in an oven-safe casserole dish and cover tightly with aluminum foil. Reheat in a 350F preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until warmed through. You can also reheat in air fryer for 10 minutes at 350F or in the microwave.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Italian
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Mary D says
They were delish…halved the recipe and it worked perfectly. I added sautéed broccoli, zucchini and garlic…Love that it doesn’t have rice…
Andres and Fran says
We tried this recipe and we’re blown away by how easy and DELICIOUS it is. Will definitely be making this more often with left over chicken
Margarita says
Delicious recipe! Everything turned out perfect! My husband even loved it and I thought he might not. That says a lot!
Michele H says
This was absolutely easy & delicious. This is great for leftover chicken from the rotisserie.. great for my intermittent fasts when I’m ready to eat!
Ash says
Alrighty, was looking for an easy weeknight recipe that was low-ish carb, stumbled here.
Prep work was easy enough, was originally gonna use rotisserie for this but my store didn't have any, so we cooked the chicken on the spot, seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
I had larger peppers and may have used less chicken than the recipe (I only had thighs) so we only got 3 in before we were out of mix. I added minced garlic because I am a garlic FIEND and have one of those huge jars in my fridge. As I was stuffing, my partner had the wildest idea, "wrap it with bacon".
My heart sang at the idea, but I knew it may not work with the way they were being cooked and the temperature. Nevertheless, we gave it a go, wrapping 3 of the halves in the last of our bacon.
We topped our dish with foil, said "Good luck in there!" and let it go. It took everything in me not to peek during baking.
Served with a side of garlic bread because my freezer needed space. Here's what we thought.
I won't be wrapping it in bacon again, beginner's mistake, at least not without precooking the bacon some.
The filling was PHENOMENAL. I can see myself twisting it and using alfredo instead of marinara, as alfredo is my comfort food. It's so good, and I will definitely be saving this recipe for future use.
Scott Huddleston says
My wife made this for dinner tonight. We loved it. No changes at all, except that we only had three peppers, so they got a little over stuffed. So yummy