Air Fryer Stuffed Mini Sweet Peppers (Cream Cheese)

Air Fryer Stuffed Peppers - Air Fryer Mini Peppers with cream cheese , marinara sauce and a blend of mozzarella and cheddar cheese.

When you bite into the cheesy stuffed pepper, you will get the flavors from the sauce, the soft gooeyness of the cream cheese...And the crispy browned mozzarella cheese.

These are sort of mini pizza bites but using peppers instead of bready pizza base.They are healthy and delicious!

If you entertain as much as we do, you need some quick finger foods recipes. Something that can be prepped ahead and can be eaten without plates.

Another great vegetarian appetizer that can be prepped ahead of time is air fryer stuffed mushrooms or these Air Fryer Sweet Potato Wedges.

I mean who loves washing dishes after a party!

These delicious cheezy mini peppers tick all of those boxes!

It's a great appetizer that can be prepped ahead of time. When the guests come, just throw it in the oven or air fryer for ten minutes.

And serve in a platter! Thats all.

It goes very well along with a simple cheese platter and some crackers.If you are serving, i always make my no sweat 5 minute yogurt dip to go with the appetisers.

You can make these in the oven or the air fryer. Air fryer is quick and less hassle but if you are making more than 10 peppers, an oven works better.

I use a store bought already grated pizza blend here.It's simple, fast and saves me a tonne of time!

Ingredients for Air Fryer Mini Peppers

You only need 5 ingredients for this recipe.

• Mini Sweet Bell Peppers
• Cream Cheese
• Marinara Sauce
• Cheddar Cheese
• Mozzarella Cheese

Here are some more details about the ingredients

Mini Bell Peppers

Choose smaller peppers. These will make great single bite finger foods. When you are picking peppers, try and get the smallest ones possible. They make the best one bite finger food.

Instead of mini bell peppers, you can also use banana peppers or jalapenos. Do make sure to wear gloves while cutting and deseeding those. It's no fun when your hands and eyes burn. I speak from experience here!!

Cream Cheese

Use regular cream cheese. It will scoop and fill better if it's at room temperature.

I used two small teaspoons to fill the cream cheese in the peppers.

Marinara Sauce

Beacuse we are using marinara sauce, we dont have to add any other seasoning.Use any store bought or homemade version.

If you would like to make your own marinara, consider making my roasted tomato and bell pepper sauce. I usually make this in a large batch and use for various things like pasta, pizzas and Soups!

Pizza Cheese Blend

Equal portions of mozzarella and cheddar work well for me. You can use either or neither.

My tip here is to reduce your work, buy a pack of shredded pizza cheese. That way you will have time to do other things! Maybe make another cheese platter?

Variations and Swaps

The recipe is so simple that swaps will change the way it tastes quite drastically.But that said...I always look at a recipe as a guide than an absolute rule! So here you go..

Mini Peppers- A good swap for these is jalapenos, banana peppers and also strips of normal bell peppers. Do remember to scrape out the seeds from jalapenos and banana peppers. They can be pretty spicy.

Marinara Sauce- You can leave this out if you prefer. If you like your food spicy, brush the peppers with sriracha instead.

Vegan Stuffed Mini Peppers- You can opt to make this with vegan cheese. Or you can swap out the cream cheese with boiled , mashed potatoes. Mock meat is also a good option.

Keto stuffed Sweet Peppers- If you use keto approved marinara, the dish will be keto approved. 1 pepper ie 2 pieces of the sweet pepper has 5 gms of carbs which can be made way less with right marinara sauce. You can also use sriracha or a hot sauce to make this lower in carbs.
Speaking of Keto, you should also try this Keto Broccoli Cauliflower Casserole.

How to make stuffed mini peppers in air fryer

Here is the step by step method to make these air fryer stuffed sweet peppers.

Prep

Slice the peppers length wise.Keep the stalk on.You wont have to add a tooth pick to the peppers while serving.

Add a teaspoon of marinara in the pepper.

Scoop in cream cheese.In larger peppers, dont fill it fully.It can be too much cream cheese in one bite.

Top it with a blend of mozzerla and cheddar cheese.

Do the same with the rest.

At this point, you can refrigerate these for baking at a later point.You can also freeze the prepped peppers.

Air fry or Bake

Air fry for 8-10 minutes.The time may vary depending on how big your peppers are.

Air fry for --> Preheat the air fryer for 5 minutes.Place the stuffed peppers inside the air fryer basket in a single layer. A stadard air fryer basket should fit about 6-8 peppers.

In this recipe, do note shake the basket midway.
Once the top cheese is melted and brown, you can take the peppers out. Use a tong to take the peppers out.

Bake for --> You can just as easily bake these sweet peppers. In fact, as a rule, I do this when i have to make a lot of these stuffed peppers.

Just Grill or Broil them till the top layer of cheese is golden. This should take about 10-12 minutes depending on the oven.

Tips

• Make sure your air fryer basket is clean before use. Any leftover cheese etc can make the peppers stick to the basket.
• Also don't use wet basket.
• If you are making more than 7-8 peppers, bake them instead of air frying.
• To clean the air fryer, add hot water with a bit of dishwashing liquid. Swish it around and let it rest for a bit. After 10-15 minutes, Scrape it with a brush and rinse!

To serve these air fryer cream cheese stuffed mini peppers, you can simple place them on a board. It really does'nt need any dip or accompaniment.

If you are entertaining, I would serve this along with a cheese board and Dips. Maybe some sliders and caramalised pineapple. Depending on how many people I have invited.

I also like to add some crunch along with these soft appertisers.My goto at the moment is Air Fryer Pita Chips. They are so so good!

Notes

• This appetizer is best served right out of the air fryer when it's still hot and the cheese is melty and gooey.
• Once cold, the cheese on top will harden up. A quick 10 second microwave will make it good again.
• This is a finger food. It does not need any dip to be served with it.
• Make Ahead- All the prep and filling can be done ahead of time. You can fill the peppers up and keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. When you want to serve, just air fry as per the recipe and serve hot.

Some more Appetizer recipes for you

Here are some quick finger food wins for your impromptu parties!

Airfryer Honey Chilli Edamame - Healthy, sweet, spicy, finger licking vegan appetizer made in the air fryer!
Air Fryer Buffalo Shrimp - Panko Breaded shrimp tossed in buffalo sauce
Air Frying Peanuts
Crispy Chilli Peanut Tofu
Chicken Wings-BBQ style

Also! Before you ask, here are some dips that work well with these peppers

My Famous 5 minute Yogurt Dip
Roasted Red Pepper Feta Dip
Greek Yogurt Party Dip - Tzatziki
Black Bean Corn Feta Dip

Please let me know how your stuffed peppers turns out in the comments! I love hearing from you.

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