Name: Chicken Stuffed Peppers
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 65 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 4 each large bell peppers (any color); 1/2 cup fine bulgur wheat; 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil; 1 each medium yellow onion, (diced); 4 each large garlic cloves, (minced); 1 pound ground chicken; 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt; 1 1/2 teaspoons + 1/4 teaspoon Aleppo pepper; 1 teaspoon cumin; 1 teaspoon ground coriander; ½ teaspoon sweet paprika; ½ teaspoon ground sumac; ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg; 15 ounce diced tomatoes; 4 ounces fresh baby spinach, (roughly chopped); 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley; 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint; 3/4 cup thick Greek yogurt; 1 each large garlic clove; 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1 each lemon, (zested); 1/2 teaspoon salt; 3 tablespoons chopped mint (optional)

Get to know the ingredients

Fine bulgur cooks first

Use fine bulgur here, and cook it before it goes into the chicken mixture. It should be tender when it joins the skillet, so it blends into the filling instead of trying to soften inside the peppers.

Use the tomato juices

Tip the diced tomatoes into the skillet juice and all. That liquid helps pull the cooked bulgur, chicken, spinach, and herbs together before you simmer off the extra moisture.

Aleppo pepper shows up twice

Most of the Aleppo pepper seasons the chicken filling, with a smaller amount stirred into the yogurt sauce. It gives both parts of the dish the same warm thread of flavor.

Let’s make it

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Servings

Original recipe: Serves 4. Original quantities shown.

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How to make it

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Preheat the oven: Place the rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F. Set out a large casserole dish or a 9x13 baking dish. Slice the bell peppers in half through the stem end. Remove the seeds and ribs, but keep the stem. Place in the baking dish, cut side up.
Cook the bulgur: In a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat add 1 ¼ cups of water. Bring to a boil, then stir in the bulgur wheat. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover the pan, and cook until tender, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
Make the filling: In a large skillet set over medium heat add the olive oil. Once it begins to shimmer add the onion and garlic. Saute for about 5 minutes. Add the ground chicken, breaking it up as you cook. Add the salt, Aleppo pepper, cumin, coriander, sweet paprika, sumac, and nutmeg. Continue breaking up the chicken and stirring to combine everything together as it cooks. When the chicken is almost done cooking, about 6 minutes, stir in the canned tomatoes (juice and all)cooked bulgur, spinach, parsley, and mint. Stir together and cook for another 5 to 8 minutes just to let most of the moisture evaporate. You still want the filling to have some moisture, you just don’t want it to be soupy.
Stuff the peppers: Spoon the filling into each pepper half until it is heaping. Place the baking dish in the oven, uncovered, and bake for 35 minutes, until the peppers are tender, but still have structure.
Make the sauce: In a small bowl, add the yogurt. Finely mince the garlic, then using the flat side of your knife drag it across the garlic multiple times until it becomes a paste. Add it to the bowl with the yogurt. Stir in the olive oil, lemon zest, salt, Aleppo pepper, and chopped mint (if using). Make sure all the ingredients are well combined and set aside to let the flavors get to know one another.
Serve: Remove the peppers from the oven and serve with the sauce.

Make room for Chicken Stuffed Peppers

Review ingredients in your pantry before anything is added. Meal plans use your household size; grocery-only additions use the servings selected above.

The last little job

Spoon the yogurt sauce over the hot peppers when they come out of the oven. The peppers should be tender but still standing, and the cool sauce is the final bit that brings the spices and herbs together.

A little more help as you go

Make the sauce while the peppers bake

Once the dish is in the oven, you’ve got a good window to stir together the yogurt sauce. Letting it sit while the peppers finish gives the garlic, lemon zest, Aleppo pepper, and mint time to mingle.

Turn garlic into a paste

For the sauce, mince the garlic first, then drag the flat side of your knife over it until it turns pasty. That helps it mix through the yogurt instead of leaving sharp little bits.

A few questions you might have

Do the bell peppers need to be cooked before stuffing?

No. They go into the baking dish raw, cut side up, then bake uncovered after they’re filled. By the end, they should be tender but still have enough structure to hold the filling.

Should I drain the diced tomatoes?

No, add the tomatoes with their juice. The skillet step is where you cook off the extra liquid, stopping once the filling is moist but no longer soupy.

How cooked should the chicken be before the peppers go in the oven?

The chicken is cooked in the skillet with the onion, garlic, and spices, then continues with the tomatoes, bulgur, spinach, and herbs for another few minutes. The oven step is mainly for tenderizing the peppers and settling the filled halves.

Can I skip the optional mint in the sauce?

Yes. The chopped mint in the yogurt sauce is marked optional, so leave it out if you’re not using it. The sauce still includes yogurt, garlic, olive oil, lemon zest, salt, and Aleppo pepper.

Why does the filling include cooked bulgur instead of dry bulgur?

The bulgur is cooked separately until tender before it goes into the skillet. Adding it cooked keeps the filling on track, since the peppers bake uncovered and there isn’t extra liquid in the dish for dry grains to absorb.

Any more cooking tips?

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Chicken Stuffed Peppers

1. Keep the filling moist, not wet

2. Leave the pepper stems on

3. Heap the peppers generously