Stuffed Cherry Peppers Recipe

You can buy stuffed cherry peppers in a jar, but why would you settle for store-bought when you can make your own in only 15 minutes? For the antipasto-curious and experienced alike, this delicious recipe from recipe developer and food photographer Catherine Brookes comes together in a flash, requires only a few ingredients, and, most importantly, packs serious flavor in every bite.

Stuffed cherry peppers are often made with a variety of ingredients, including provolone, prosciutto, and anchovies. This recipe keeps it really simple — you'll only need cherry peppers, ricotta cheese, cream cheese, and a few pantry staples.

"These stuffed cherry peppers are such a simple yet delicious appetizer to serve to guests," says Brookes. "The flavor of the tangy pickled peppers goes perfectly with the creamy, herby cheese mixture." The most advanced culinary technique required to make this recipe is simply spooning the filling into the peppers, so it's great for even beginner home cooks. Let's get started!

For this recipe, you'll need cream cheese and ricotta cheese. You'll also need garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and chopped parsley. You can use curly or flat-leaf parsley — just make sure to chop the parsley finely!

And last but certainly not least, you'll need jarred cherry peppers. If you can't find cherry peppers in a jar or don't want to use them, you have a few options. "You could certainly make these with fresh peppers, but you'd want to make sure they were a small variety of pepper," Brookes says. "You could also go for jalapeños, or tomatoes sliced in half and sandwiched with the cheese mixture."

Before you start making this recipe, make sure that your cherry peppers are drained after taking them out of the jar. A lot of excess liquid will not work well with the filling.

Add the cream cheese, ricotta cheese, garlic powder, salt, and chopped parsley to a mixing bowl. Mix all the ingredients together with a metal spoon until they are well-combined. You've already made the filling and are well on your way to having a delicious appetizer ready to eat.

Now that you've made the cheese filling, it's time to stuff peppers. Using your fingers or a small spoon, stuff the peppers with the cheese mixture. Each stuffed pepper should have a little filling spilling out of the top of the pepper. If you're a stickler for neatness, or you're working with smaller peppers, you could also use a piping bag to get the filling into the peppers. Regardless of how you're getting the cheese mixture into the cherry peppers, don't overthink it! This is a simple recipe.

That's it! Your stuffed cherry peppers are ready to serve. Brookes suggests serving these stuffed peppers with cured meats, cheese, bread, or olives. These stuffed cherry peppers would work well as part of a buffet, as an appetizer, a snack, or even as a side dish with an entree. These peppers should last in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. But if they don't last 4 days because you couldn't resist eating them right away, that's completely understandable!