If you feel like you’re stuck in a weeknight dinner rut, I totally get it. Sometimes even the simplest meals feel like too much work! Well, I’ve got the solution hiding in your crisper drawer, and trust me, it packs a serious flavor punch. Today we are diving headfirst into my favorite way to use up those colorful bell peppers: amazing Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers. Seriously, the combination of savory chicken, fluffy rice, and salty feta cheese baked inside a tender pepper just screams “comfort food made easy.” I think this recipe is so reliable because all the big flavors—especially that oregano and parsley—totally transport you. It’s become a staple here because it looks impressive but really only takes about 20 minutes of hands-on work!
Why You Will Love These Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Honestly, these stuffed peppers flew right to the top of my rotating dinner schedule, and I think they’ll be yours too. They hit all the right spots without emptying your energy reserves after work. Check out why these are such a winner:
- Serious Flavor Jumpstart: We’re talking Greek influence here! The combo of fresh parsley, savory oregano, and salty feta cheese makes the ground chicken taste anything but boring. It’s so bright!
- Perfect Weeknight Pace: While they bake for about an hour total, the actual hands-on time is super fast—maybe 20 minutes max. Plus, they basically cook themselves once they hit the oven!
- Amazing Leftovers: You know I hate food waste! These Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers reheat beautifully, making lunch the next day a total breeze.
- Low-Fat, High-Protein Power: Using ground chicken keeps these light, but they are totally satisfying because of the rice and protein. You’ll feel good eating them.
- Visually Stunning: Let’s be real, baking food in colorful vessels always looks better. Red, yellow, orange—they look like little jewels coming out of the oven!
Essential Ingredients for Authentic Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
You don’t need a million fancy things for this recipe; it’s all about quality staples that bring that Mediterranean vibe into your kitchen. Having everything ready to go before you start cooking makes the whole process faster, trust me. Grab your skillet and let’s get organized!
For the base of these fantastic ground chicken recipes, you’ll need the stars of the show and the supporting cast:
- Four large bell peppers—whatever color you find that looks brightest!
- One tablespoon of good olive oil for sautéing.
- One pound of ground chicken. Ground turkey works too if you swap it out!
- One small onion, finely chopped up.
- Two cloves of garlic, minced until it melts into the oil.
- One cup of cooked white rice—it has to be pre-cooked, remember?
- Half a cup of crumbled feta cheese. This is non-negotiable for the salty bite!
- A quarter cup of fresh parsley, chopped nice and fine.
- One teaspoon of dried oregano—this is your Greek secret weapon!
- Salt and black pepper to taste—start small, you can always add more later.
- One drained 14.5 ounce can of diced tomatoes.
- Half a cup of chicken broth to line the baking dish.
Step-by-Step Instructions for Perfect Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Okay, now that we have all our ingredients lined up, this is where the magic really happens! Don’t let the steps intimidate you; it’s really just three main phases: prep the vessels, build the flavor, and bake it all until it’s bubbly and perfect. These easy chicken recipes are all about hands-on work upfront, then letting the oven do the heavy lifting. This whole process takes about an hour total, which is a steal for dinner!
Preparing the Peppers and Oven
First things first, let’s get the oven ready to go. You want to preheat that thing to 375 degrees Fahrenheit, or 190 Celsius if you prefer metric. While it’s heating up, grab your baking dish and give it a quick light grease—we don’t want anything sticking later, right? Now for the peppers themselves: take off those little green tops where the stem is, and then scoop out all those seeds and the white membrane inside. Think of them as little flavor boats! Stand them up cut-side-up in your prepared dish. Easy peasy!
Cooking the Chicken Filling for Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Time for the stove! Heat up that tablespoon of olive oil in a big skillet over medium heat. Toss in the ground chicken and start breaking it up really well as it cooks. You need to cook it all the way through until it’s nicely browned. My biggest tip here is to drain off *all* the excess fat when you’re done. Soggy filling is the enemy! Next, toss in your chopped onion and let it soften for about five minutes until it gets translucent. Then, add the garlic and give it just one minute until it smells amazing. Don’t cook the garlic too long, or it gets bitter, and remember, this chicken is going back in the oven, so don’t overcook it now!
Assembling and Baking the Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Take that skillet off the heat—we don’t want to cook the feta or rice! Stir in your cooked rice, the crumbled feta, the parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper. Mix it all until everything is happy and combined. Now, you’re going to spoon that delicious mixture evenly into all those hollowed-out peppers you got ready. Pour your drained diced tomatoes around the bottom of the peppers in the dish. Then drizzle that half-cup of chicken broth over the tomatoes. This liquid creates steam and keeps everything moist while baking! Cover the whole dish really tightly with aluminum foil. Bake it like that for 45 minutes. After that, pull off the foil and let them bake for another 10 to 15 minutes until the peppers are tender enough to cut with a fork.
Expert Tips for Next-Level Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
The standard recipe is wonderful, honestly, but if you want to take these Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers from ‘A’ to ‘Oh My Goodness, You HAVE To Try This,’ I have a few little secrets I always rely on. These aren’t complicated, but they add that professional little nudge of flavor that really makes a difference, building on all the great work you did with the feta and oregano.
Here are the tweaks I always make when I have an extra five minutes:
- The Lemon Zest Secret: Okay, this is huge for Greek food—bright acidity! When you’re mixing the filling, grate just a tiny bit of fresh lemon zest, maybe half a teaspoon’s worth, right into the chicken and rice mixture. It wakes up all those herbs and complements the feta beautifully. It’s like sunshine in a pepper!
- Don’t Forget the Tops! Most people toss the pepper tops you cut off, but that’s a waste! Chop those tops up with a bit of extra onion and garlic and sauté them with the main chicken filling. It gives you a richer flavor profile and you use every bit of the vegetable.
- Achieving that Golden Top: After you take the foil off for those final 10 to 15 minutes, I like to brush the tops of the exposed chicken filling very lightly with a little bit of olive oil. This helps them brown up nicely instead of just drying out. It gives you that beautiful, slightly crisp top layer that contrasts with the soft pepper.
- Visual Appeal Matters: If you can, use a mix of colors! A red, a yellow, and two green peppers look incredible all lined up in that baking dish. Dinner isn’t just about taste; it’s about presentation, right? Plus, sometimes the sweeter peppers absorb the savory filling better.
These little additions really elevate the dish, making it taste like it came straight from a seaside taverna, instead of just being a standard Tuesday night dinner. Pair them with some crusty bread—maybe something you’d dip into Italian dressing if you had a side salad, ha!—and you’re golden.
Ingredient Notes and Substitutions for Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
I get so many questions about swapping things out, especially when people don’t have exactly what’s on my list, or if they’re trying to make it fit their pantry! That’s totally fine. This recipe for Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers is super flexible, but there are a couple of spots where you should think carefully before swapping.
First off, let’s talk about the meat. The recipe calls for ground chicken, which keeps things light and low on fat, but if you’re out of chicken or just prefer it, swapping in ground turkey is an absolute breeze. Both cook similarly, so just treat them exactly the same way you would in Step 4—brown it well and drain all that excess liquid really thoroughly.
Now, about those herbs! If you look at the recipe, I called for dried oregano. Honestly, dried oregano is a powerhouse, and it’s perfect here because it holds up so well to simmering and baking. If you happen to have fresh oregano, you’ll need way more—like three times as much—because the flavor concentrates when it dries. For the parsley, fresh is definitely better if you can manage it! Fresh parsley adds a clean, almost grassy note that dried parsley just doesn’t quite capture. But if dried is all you have, just use about a tablespoon in place of the fresh.
And finally, the rice. I wrote white rice because it’s quick and accessible, but if you use leftover cooked brown rice, it works like a charm too. It might make the final texture a tiny bit heartier, but it doesn’t change the overall flavor much. But please, never try to put raw rice in here unless you add extra liquid, or you’ll end up with hard little pebbles instead of soft filling!
Serving Suggestions for Your Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
When you pull those gorgeous, tender Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers out of the oven, you’ve already got a complete meal sitting right there in the baking dish! The peppers are tender, the chicken filling is savory, and the rice bulks it up nicely. But if you want to make this into a real spread, maybe for when company comes over or just because you want extra green on your plate, I’ve got a few perfect pairings that keep the whole meal feeling light and incredibly fresh.
You don’t want anything too heavy that fights with the feta and oregano flavors. I always reach for one of these crowd-pleasers:
- A Big Greek Salad: This is the obvious, but necessary, choice! A huge bowl of crisp lettuce, cucumber, maybe a few Kalamata olives (if you like that salty punch!), and a light vinaigrette. If you’re looking for inspiration, I have some great ideas on healthy and fresh salads that would balance this perfectly.
- Tzatziki Sauce for Dipping: Seriously, this is a game-changer! You can dollop a spoonful right onto the top of your piping hot pepper, or serve a little bowl on the side. That cool, thick yogurt mixed with cucumber and garlic is the perfect counterpoint to the warm, savory chicken filling.
- Crusty Bread for Sopping: I know, I know, carbs! But you need something to drag through the delicious tomato-broth juices that collect at the bottom of the baking dish. Grab a high-quality, crusty loaf of bread—Italian or French works great—and let everyone mop up every last bit of flavor. It’s the best part, don’t skip it!
Keep it simple, keep it fresh, and those peppers will shine!
Storing and Reheating Leftover Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
You know the drill: sometimes these recipes make way too much food, or maybe you just made one too many for dinner last night. Don’t you ever worry about leftovers getting sad and soggy! These Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers actually store and reheat surprisingly well, especially when you treat them gently, allowing you to enjoy that great Greek flavor again later in the week.
The goal when storing is to keep them away from too much ambient moisture, and the goal when reheating is to maintain that tender texture we worked so hard to achieve on the first bake. Luckily, it’s super simple.
Refrigeration Times
When storing leftovers, make sure you’re putting them away within two hours of finishing dinner—we don’t want to risk anything hanging out at room temperature too long. Once they are cool, you have a few options for storage. If you have just one or two peppers left, just tuck them into a small airtight container. If you have more, a large covered container works great!
Generally, these stuffed peppers stay perfectly fresh and delicious in the refrigerator for about three to four days. If you are planning farther ahead than that, you might think about freezing them, but honestly, they are best eaten within that initial four-day window.
The Best Way to Reheat
I know it’s tempting because it’s fast, but please, try to avoid the microwave if you can! Microwaving these peppers tends to make the leftover rice filling a little rubbery and the pepper itself can turn mushy quick. We want to respect the texture we built!
The oven is your best friend for reheating. First, place your leftover pepper or portion in a small, oven-safe dish. Here’s the secret: add just one small splash, maybe a teaspoon, of water or extra chicken broth to the bottom of the dish before you put it in. This creates a little bit of steam, which keeps the filling soft.
Cover that dish tightly with foil—this traps the steam we just added. Pop it back into a moderate oven, about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. They usually only need about 15 to 20 minutes to heat right through. You’ll know they are ready when they are steaming hot all the way to the center. Enjoy that second serving!
Frequently Asked Questions About Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
It’s natural to have questions when adapting a favorite recipe! I’ve gathered up some of the most common things folks ask me about making these Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers. Don’t worry if your pantry looks a little different than mine; we can usually work around it!
Can I make this recipe vegetarian?
Oh wow, yes, you absolutely can! While the ground chicken is great for protein, you can easily swap that out for a hearty vegetarian filling. My favorite substitute is using a mix of cooked lentils and finely chopped sautéed mushrooms instead of the chicken. You’ll need about the same volume as you would the pound of chicken. Just cook those mushrooms down well to get rid of excess water, then mix them with the rice, feta, and herbs just like the main recipe. Still totally delicious and Greek-inspired!
What kind of rice works best in Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers?
The recipe specifically calls for pre-cooked white rice, and that’s what I use most often because it’s quick and it hydrates nicely during the bake time. Now, if you hop over to see my other easy chicken recipes, you might see me using different grains, but for this specific stuffed pepper, cooked brown rice is a perfectly acceptable substitute. Just know that brown rice will take longer to soften up while the peppers bake, so you might need to add an extra five to ten minutes to the covered baking time just to ensure everything is tender. You’ll still get that satisfying texture!
What if I don’t have oregano?
If you’re missing oregano, don’t stress! Oregano is key to that classic Greek flavor, but you can certainly substitute it. If you have dried marjoram, that’s probably your best bet—it’s very similar. Or, you could combine a little bit of dried basil with a pinch of dried thyme. It won’t taste *exactly* the same as classic Greek seasoning, but it will still be herbaceous and wonderful!
Do I really need to drain the diced tomatoes?
Yes, please drain those tomatoes! This is a small step that makes a big difference. Remember, we are already adding half a cup of chicken broth to make sure the peppers steam nicely and don’t dry out. If you add the liquid from the diced tomatoes on top of that, you risk having a soupy bottom layer in your baking dish instead of that flavorful broth concentrate we are aiming for. A quick drain is worth using that broth space for steam!
Nutritional Snapshot of Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
I know a lot of you are tracking macros or just trying to keep things light through the week, which is why using ground chicken really makes these Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers a winner! They’re packed with good stuff to keep you full until dinner tomorrow.
Here is the estimated breakdown for one serving—that’s one whole stuffed pepper—based on the recipe measurements. But hey, remember this is my kitchen math, and every brand of feta cheese or every pepper size might shift things slightly. Always check your specific packaging totals if you are being super strict!
- Calories: About 380 calories. That’s a fantastic number for a meal this flavorful and filling!
- Protein: Look at that! Around 30 grams of protein per pepper, thanks to all that chicken.
- Fat: We’re looking at about 14 grams total fat. That’s pretty low for a baked dinner, especially since most of that fat comes from the healthy olive oil and the richness of the feta.
- Carbohydrates: Roughly 35 grams, most of which comes from the rice and the natural sugars in the peppers and tomatoes.
- Sodium: About 650mg. Because the feta is salty, this is one area to watch if you need to stay low-sodium—you could use low-sodium feta if that’s the case!
So go ahead, enjoy that satisfying Greek flavor knowing you’re getting a solid, relatively balanced meal in one delicious package. These are perfect for feeling full without feeling weighed down!
Print
Greek Chicken Stuffed Peppers
- Total Time: 80 min
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Low Fat
Description
Bell peppers filled with a mixture of ground chicken, rice, herbs, and feta cheese, baked until tender.
Ingredients
- 4 large bell peppers (any color)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup cooked white rice
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit (190 degrees Celsius). Lightly grease a baking dish.
- Cut the tops off the bell peppers and remove the seeds and membranes. Place the peppers cut-side up in the prepared baking dish.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground chicken and cook, breaking it up, until browned. Drain any excess fat.
- Add the chopped onion to the skillet and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
- Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the cooked rice, feta cheese, parsley, oregano, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
- Spoon the chicken mixture evenly into the hollowed-out bell peppers.
- Pour the drained diced tomatoes around the base of the peppers in the baking dish. Pour the chicken broth over the tomatoes.
- Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until the peppers are tender.
Notes
- You can substitute ground turkey for ground chicken if you prefer.
- For extra moisture, you can baste the tops of the peppers with pan juices halfway through the covered baking time.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 60 min
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Greek
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 pepper
- Calories: 380
- Sugar: 8
- Sodium: 650
- Fat: 14
- Saturated Fat: 5
- Unsaturated Fat: 9
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 35
- Fiber: 4
- Protein: 30
- Cholesterol: 95
Keywords: Greek, chicken, stuffed peppers, bell peppers, rice, feta, baked