Artichoke Stuffed Sweet Pepper Poppers

These sweet, mini bell peppers are stuffed with a creamy artichoke filling and topped with Parmesan cheese and finely diced jalapeños. The perfect appetizer for your next party.

Dec 26, 2023

Tis the season for appetizers, and I’ve got one that’s a bit of a mash up – spinach artichoke dip meets jalapeño poppers. The idea came from my love of spinach artichoke dip and the sale my grocery store had on bags of mini sweet peppers.

If you’re wondering why there’s no spinach in the artichoke filling for this recipe, let me explain. When developing recipes, I try to use the full container (can, package, etc.) of an ingredient whenever possible. In this recipe, using an entire can of artichoke hearts was the perfect amount needed to create enough filling to stuff a one-pound package of mini sweet peppers. If you’d like to have spinach in the filling along with the artichokes, use half of a 14-ounce can of artichoke hearts and half of a 10-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach that has been thawed and squeezed of excess moisture.

In a nod to the jalapeño popper that also inspired this recipe, I garnished these stuffed mini sweet peppers with finely diced jalapeño. It adds a little heat along with a nice pop of color. For more heat, garnish with finely diced serrano pepper.

If you’re short on time with the lead up to New Year’s Eve celebrations, components of this hors d’oeuvres can be made in advance. I like to make the artichoke filling a day or two before the party. I also clean the mini peppers, cut them in half lengthwise, and remove the seeds and membranes a day in advance. Just store the prepped pepper halves in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Cheers to a new year! I hope your 2024 is filled with good friends, good food, and good health.

Happy New Year!

Darlene

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ARTICHOKE STUFFED SWEET PEPPER POPPERS

Yield: 12 servings

Serving Size: 3 stuffed pepper halves

Prep: 25 minutes

Ready: 50 minutes

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup (1 ounce) freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed and diced
1 bag (1 pound) mini sweet peppers
1 small jalapeño pepper, finely diced

DIRECTIONS

In a bowl, mix 5 tablespoons Parmesan cheese (reserving 3 tablespoons to use as a topping), cream cheese, mayonnaise, sour cream, onion, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and black pepper until well blended. Add diced artichoke hearts and stir until well combined. Refrigerate mixture until ready to fill pepper halves.
Clean mini peppers and slice each pepper in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and membranes from pepper halves and arrange peppers on a large sheet pan. Fill each pepper half with artichoke filling.
Bake in a preheated 400-degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove sheet pan from oven and sprinkle tops of stuffed pepper halves with remaining 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese. Turn oven setting to broil, return stuffed peppers to oven, and broil until tops begin to turn golden brown, about 2 to 4 minutes. Garnish with finely diced jalapeño and serve warm or at room temperature.

Cook’s note: A 1-pound bag of mini sweet peppers usually contains about 18 whole peppers. This recipe makes 36 stuffed pepper halves. One serving consists of 3 stuffed pepper halves.

Nutrition Information per serving

73 Calories, 5.5 g Total fat, 2 g Saturated fat, 0 g Trans fat, 10 mg Cholesterol, 162 mg Sodium, 4 g Total carbohydrate, 1 g Dietary fiber, 2 g Total sugars, 0 g Added sugars, 2 g Protein, 0 mcg (0%) Vitamin D, 45 mg (4%) Calcium, 0 mg (0%) Iron, 64 mg (2%) Potassium