Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Peppers.
We love these chicken bacon ranch stuffed peppers! Caramelized peppers stuffed with a quinoa filling, loaded with chicken, broccoli, bacon, ranch seasoning and more. So satisfying and delicious!
There’s a new stuffed pepper in town.
It’s no secret that I’m ALWAYS creating new and exciting dinner ideas and I’m thrilled to tell you that we’ve got a good one. This is amazing!
These peppers are stuffed with a broccoli chicken quinoa filling, made with crispy bacon and drizzled with ranch dressing. They are warm, cozy, incredibly satisfying and taste absolutely wonderful. You don’t want to pass these up!
A million years ago I worked at Quiznos as a part time job. It was when it was a newer chain and I quickly fell in love with the chicken bacon ranch sandwich. I’ve mentioned before that I never really cared for ranch dressing – never really ate anything with ranch, actually (no, not pizza), so this was huge.
And it was so, so good. I’ve really enjoyed that flavor combination ever since, but it’s been years since I made anything close to a sandwich with those flavors.
I do have a chickpea bacon ranch salad that we really enjoy, but I tend to make it as a quick side dish to go with another meal component.
So enter: our chicken bacon ranch stuffed peppers. With broccoli! And quinoa!
The texture is incredible. These are so wildly satisfying, so filling and super delicious. There is something in them for everyone and the kids like them too.
Like most stuffed pepper recipes, this one does have a few steps – but they are so worth it.
I start with the bacon. I cook it until crispy then remove it from the pan – then throw in any other vegetables I want to add. Like onions, garlic and in this case, broccoli. Once those are sauteed a bit, I make the quinoa in the same pan.
You can use another grain here. I like to do a quick cooking one, so quinoa takes about 15 minutes and that’s perfect. I add in the quinoa and stock and cover the pan, cooking it with the vegetables.
While the quinoa cooks, I also pre-roast the peppers. If you’ve made any of my other stuffed pepper recipes, you know this is my secret. It takes 15 extra minutes but it is SO worth it. To do this, I slice the peppers and season them with salt and pepper. Then I roast them by themselves for 10 to 15 minutes.
Pre roasting the peppers gives them that classic roasty, caramely flavor that everyone loves. The peppers are more tender when they are finished too, which is how we prefer them anyway. It’s a few minutes of time and if you start it when you start the recipe, everything is done at the same time!
I use rotisserie chicken for this. Or leftover chicken! Whatever I have on hand. This is a great recipe to make with leftovers – even if you have leftover rice or quinoa or couscous, you can use that and mix everything together instead of cooking the quinoa. It’s super versatility and very forgiving.
Once that quinoa mixture is cooked, everything goes into the pot. The shredded chicken, the bacon – then it’s all tossed together. I also add a ranch seasoning in here. I use the one from Trader Joe’s or even some from a hidden valley packet. This ups the flavor intensely! I stuff the peppers, throw them back in the oven and boom! Dinner is ready.
I don’t add cheese here because I don’t think the peppers need it. They are hearty, flavorful and really delicious. But if you’re a cheese freak, I’d opt for shredded cheddar on top before baking.
When the peppers come out of the oven, I give them a big ranch drizzle. This just ups the flavor again and let’s be real: everything’s better with SAUCE.
Any kind of sauce. Right?
I can’t even express how much we love ’em. They taste like everything you love to eat!
Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Peppers
Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers, sliced in half lengthwise
- olive oil spray or drizzle
- kosher salt and pepper
- 4 slices uncooked bacon
- ½ sweet onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 cup chopped broccoli florets
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon ranch seasoning
- 1 ½ cups shredded chicken
- ranch dressing, for drizzling
- fresh chives, for topping
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Place the peppers in a baking dish. Spray or rizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper all over. Roast the peppers for 10 to 15 minutes while you start the rest of the meal.
- Place the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until crispy and golden, and all the fat has been rendered. Remove the bacon with a slotted spoon and place it on a paper towel to drain excess grease. Remove all but 1 to 2 tablespoons of bacon grease from the pan.
- Add the onion and garlic to the bacon grease over medium-low heat. Cook until sosftened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the broccoli, cooking for another few minutes. Add the quinoa and chicken stock. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce it to a simmer. Cover and cook for 15 minutes, or until the quinoa fluffs easily with a fork.
- Stir in the ranch seasoning and the shredded chicken. Add the bacon back in too.
- Fill each pepper with the quinoa mixture. You can stuff them as full as you’d like! If there is extra, the quinoa is also delicious on its own.
- Place the stuffed peppers in the oven and bake for another 15 minutes. Remove and drizzle with ranch dressing, then sprinkle with fresh chives. Serve immediately.
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Texture queen!
3 Comments on “Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Peppers.”
I love stuffed peppers but my kids and hubby not so much. I’m definitely going to give this a try! I mean bacon and ranch, how could they not?!
Update! These were super easy and SO good! My kids loved it and said I need to make them again. Even my hubby gobbled it up. Thanks for another great go to recipe!
My 4yo LOVED the filling and ate more quinoa than ever before. I did increase the chicken and bacon a bit because we tend to be protein-heavy. The 4 adults also enjoyed tremendously!
I used green peppers because they were on sale, but they ended up a little bitter so I think I’d use colorful bells next time. Adding this one to the rotation!