🌶️ Korean-Style Chicken & Pepper Jack Stuffed Bell Peppers

These Korean-Style Chicken & Pepper Jack Stuffed Peppers are a bold, colorful dinner filled with juicy chicken, cabbage, leeks, scallions, gochujang, oyster sauce and Korean-inspired seasonings. Sweet roasted bell peppers are layered with creamy jalapeño sauce, savory chicken filling and bubbling Pepper Jack cheese, then finished with sesame seeds, scallions, chili crisp and fresh lime. Spicy, cheesy, comforting and packed with flavor, Seoul Meets Jalapeño is an easy stuffed pepper dinner with a delicious Korean-California twist.

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Seoul Meets Jalapeño

There are recipes you plan.

And then there are recipes that happen because you’re standing in somebody’s kitchen staring at a couple of bell peppers, some chicken thighs, a food processor and a jar of something spicy thinking:

Well…what happens if I put all THIS in THERE?

Welcome to The Nomad Kitchen.

These Korean-Style Chicken & Pepper Jack Stuffed Peppers started with an idea borrowed from dumpling filling. Instead of using ordinary ground chicken, I put boneless chicken thighs straight into the food processor with cabbage, leek, scallion, oyster sauce, soy sauce and spices.

The result was almost like a chicken forcemeat—soft, juicy and packed with vegetables.

Then things got interesting.

I spooned my creamy roasted jalapeño sauce into colorful bell pepper halves, piled the chicken filling on top, added more jalapeño sauce and crowned the whole glorious situation with Pepper Jack cheese.

An hour later?

Holy stuffed pepper.

The bell pepper became meltingly tender. The chicken stayed incredibly juicy. The jalapeño sauce underneath mingled with all those beautiful cooking juices, while the Pepper Jack melted over everything.

It’s spicy, savory, cheesy, a little sweet, wonderfully messy and somewhere between Korean comfort food and California cooking.

So I’m calling it:

SEOUL MEETS JALAPEÑO

Because sometimes dinner doesn't need a passport. It just needs to taste fabulous.

🌶️ Korean-Style Chicken & Pepper Jack Stuffed Peppers🌶️

Serves: 2 generously
Prep: About 20 minutes, plus 30–60 minutes chilling
Bake: About 50–60 minutes
Oven: 375°F

You’ll Need

For the chicken filling

• 2 large boneless, skinless chicken thighs, roughly chopped

• 1 cup shredded green cabbage

• 1 cup loosely packed chopped leek, thoroughly washed

• 1 large scallion, trimmed and roughly chopped

• Small handful fresh parsley

• 1/4 cup soy sauce*

• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce

• 1 tablespoon chili-garlic oil

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar

• 1 to 2 teaspoons gochujang

• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

• 1/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice

• Juice of 1 lime

• Freshly ground black pepper

• Salt, only if needed

For the peppers

• 2 large bell peppers — red, yellow or orange are especially beautiful

• Creamy roasted jalapeño sauce, approximately 1/2 cup

• 4 ounces Pepper Jack cheese, shredded or thinly sliced

For the crunchy finish

• Toasted sesame seeds

• Thinly sliced scallions

• A little chili crisp

• Fresh lime wedges

1. Make That Gorgeous Chicken Filling

Place the chicken thighs, cabbage, leek, scallion, parsley, soy sauce, oyster sauce, chili-garlic oil, brown sugar, gochujang, sesame oil, five-spice, lime juice and black pepper into a food processor.

Pulse until everything is very finely chopped and cohesive.

You aren't looking for ordinary ground chicken here.

Think dumpling filling.

The vegetables should disappear into the chicken and create a moist, almost paste-like mixture.

Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour so all those flavors can get acquainted.

2. Prepare Your Peppers

Heat the oven to 375°F.

Cut each bell pepper in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and white membrane.

Place the pepper halves snugly in a baking dish, cut-side up.

Now comes the sneaky-good part:

Spoon a layer of creamy jalapeño sauce into the bottom of each pepper.

Don't skip this.

As everything bakes, that sauce mingles with the chicken and pepper juices and creates this luscious little pocket of spicy goodness underneath the filling.

3. Stuff ’Em

Divide the chicken mixture among the pepper halves, filling them generously without packing the mixture rock-solid.

Spoon another little drizzle of jalapeño sauce over the chicken.

Top generously with Pepper Jack cheese.

At this point, things are looking promising.

They are about to get ridiculous.

4. Bake

Bake at 375°F for approximately 50–60 minutes, until the peppers are beautifully soft, the cheese is bubbling and browned in places, and the chicken filling is completely cooked through.

Because we're working with raw chicken, check the thickest part of the filling with an instant-read thermometer: it should reach 165°F.

If the cheese browns faster than the peppers soften, loosely tent the dish with foil for the remaining cooking time.

Let the stuffed peppers rest for about 5 minutes before serving.

✨ The Finish That Makes It

Right before serving, sprinkle each pepper with:

toasted sesame seeds + fresh scallions + a tiny spoonful of chili crisp + a squeeze of fresh lime.

That's the missing crunch.

You get the soft roasted pepper, juicy chicken, creamy jalapeño sauce and melted Pepper Jack—and then suddenly there's sesame, scallion and crispy chile on top.

Boom. Dinner woke up.

🌶️ How Spicy Is It?

This has a lovely kick, but you control the fire.

For milder peppers, reduce or omit the chili-garlic oil and use less gochujang.

For medium heat, make it exactly as written.

For the Leopard Lounge crowd, add another spoonful of chili crisp on top and accept the consequences.

Nomad Kitchen Notes

You can prepare the chicken filling several hours ahead and keep it refrigerated until dinner.

You can also experiment with the vegetables. Mushrooms, finely shredded carrot or a little zucchini would all be delicious additions, although you don't want to add so many vegetables that you lose that luscious dumpling-like chicken texture.

And use whatever sweet bell peppers look beautiful at the market. Red, orange and yellow peppers become wonderfully sweet when roasted and look spectacular together on a platter.

Serve one large stuffed pepper half with steamed rice, cucumber salad or simply dressed greens for dinner.

Or do what I did:

Stand there eating it and wondering why you've gone your entire life without making stuffed peppers.

Some recipes come from cookbooks.

Some come from grandmothers.

And some come from standing in a borrowed kitchen with a food processor and absolutely no adult supervision.

Those are often my favorites.

Love • Music • Food • Art • Fun

— Tré Taylor
The Nomad Kitchen