Pesto Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Stuffed peppers was one of my favorite dinners growing up. I love how many variations there are now with quinoa and veggies or ground turkey. As a fan of pesto, I thought making the filling pesto chicken would give this classic recipe a new summer twist. Instead of tomato sauce, rice and ground beef…this recipe highlights light ingredients. You can buy pre-shredded chicken to make this recipe super easy, and really it is just heating up the ingredients, stuffing the peppers and throwing these beauties in the oven.
Pesto Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Course: DinnerDifficulty: Easy4
servings20
minutes24
minutesThe perfect summer meal to add to your quick dinner list. Pesto chicken and tomatoes are the perfect twist to the classic stuffed peppers recipe.
Ingredients
2 large or 4 small bell peppers, cored and cut in half (from stem to bottom)
3 cups cooked, shredded chicken*
1 cup pesto
1/4 cup parm cheese*
About 5 oz grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
Directions
- Preheat oven to 375°F
- Add your shredded chicken and pesto to a large frying pan, mix together well. Heat pesto chicken on medium heat for 8-10 minutes (even though your chicken is cooked, you want the chicken to be warm when placed in the oven. You don’t want to overbake the peppers, and the chicken could come out lukewarm if placed in the oven cold). Add in desired parm cheese and mix. Remove pan from heat.
- While pesto chicken is heating up, prep your peppers by taking out the core and cutting them in half from the stem to the bottom. Make sure you have a nice sized “boat” to put the chicken in, and cut away any extra of the “white parts” if needed.
- Add your peppers to a 9×11 baking pan, placing them skin side down. If any of your peppers are having a difficult time staying “up”, play around with them in the pan by leaning them against the sides or against each other. Some of them will also balance better when stuffed.
- Begin adding your pesto chicken to the peppers, stuffing them about halfway. Add 2-3 halved tomato slices on top, and then fill your peppers the rest of the way. Add 3-4 more tomato slices on top of the chicken, pushing down slightly to ensure they stay on top.
- Add a tiny bit of water to the bottom of the pan, just barely enough to cover the bottom.
- Cook for 15 minutes uncovered, and then 10 more minutes covered with aluminum foil. Enjoy!!
Notes
- You can use any color bell pepper for this recipe, however I prefer red orange or yellow. The green ones can have a bitter aftertaste.
- Feel free to add more parmesan cheese if desired or omit altogether to make this recipe dairy free (make sure your pesto is not made with dairy)
- If you are making your own shredded chicken, 3 cups is about 1.5lbs of chicken!
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