These big mild stuffed peppers are like jalapeno poppers without the heat!

Stuffed banana peppers on a platter and plates with red napkins.

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Do you need a snack or appetizer like a jalapeno popper but without the heat of a hot pepper?? Try these Stuffed Banana Peppers, a fun banana peppers recipe your whole family can enjoy!

Sweet Banana Peppers are typically a sweeter mild pepper than the jalapeno which makes for less fiery popper-like peppers. They’re still stuffed full of cream cheese, melty cheese, and for a little spicy kick, horse radish. Then they’re topped with grated parmesan cheese and baked up to make perfect appetizers everyone loves!

Sweet Banana Peppers before being cleaned and stuffed.

We LOVE jalapeno poppers

I have two favorite recipes for jalapeno poppers, either baked poppers or grilled poppers, they are good food I tell you! But I needed a non-spicy popper for one kid who doesn’t like heat.

I was using mini-bell peppers but I wanted to try making something that was really impressive. This stuffed banana pepper recipe is it! It’s got all the flavor of my poppers but it’s mild through and through and kid approved too. Plus it doesn’t use sriracha like my other recipes do.

Sriracha either scares people off with its heat or perceived heat. And at this point in time, there is a shortage and it’s just hard to get ahold of. I just make my own sriracha.

Stuffed Banana Peppers on a platter ready for a party!!

How to Enjoy these MEGA Stuffed peppers

You can enjoy these big stuffed banana peppers as a side dish. They’re fun for parties as a mega appetizer. And they’re perfect for game day.

If you make a big enough batch you can even enjoy them alongside a salad as an easy dinner option.

Be aware of this!

Sometimes Banana Peppers can have up to a medium heat level! They’re supposed to be much milder than jalapenos. More like bell peppers with a tiny bit of heat.

There are TWO REASONS your banana peppers might be hot

1) if pepper plants are underwatered, they have a tendency to get spicier. This means your mild peppers may pack a punch!

2) OR it could mean that you got different peppers like perhaps a Hungarian Wax pepper. They look a LOT like a mild banana pepper, and the only way to tell them apart is to taste them.

I have found that if you taste test 1-2, you’ll determine if they have any heat. When you’re cleaning them cut a tiny sliver of the pepper off 1-2 and see how they taste. They should be just as mild as a sweet pepper with perhaps a little bit of heat. If they have ANY wild heat, you know they’ve been grown in a drought. Or they got mixed up in the warehouse somewhere along the way.

Cheese mixture for stuffed banana peppers.

What You need:

large Banana Peppers (do not confuse them with the common Hungarian Yellow Wax Peppers; they look similar)
softened cream cheese
shredded cheddar cheese
horseradish
grated parmesan cheese
baking sheet
parchment paper
disposable gloves if you are worried your peppers may be hot, please read about hot banana peppers above
medium or large bowl
spoons
spatula
hand mixer
sharp knife
small bowl
cutting board

Use ANY cheese you have or like!

I used a pre-shredded cheese mix of cheddar and jack cheese from Costco. But you can swap out the cheese for just about anything you like.

Sharp cheddar is nice it adds a great flavor to this simple stuffed pepper recipe. Mozzarella cheese will give you all the stretchy cheesy pepper fun you want. Shredded parmesan might be too much, but you could sub it for some shredded cheese. Have fun, mix it up, and make it your recipe!

If you love stuffed peppers, try these Smoked Jalapeño Poppers! Or these oven-baked Jalapeño Poppers or my Grilled Jalapeño Poppers!! Our family is a HUGE fan of cheesy stuffed peppers, how about yours? And we always love cool refreshing drinks to have with them like this Watermelon Mint Lemonade.

Stuffed banana pepper with a bite taken out of it.

How to Clean Peppers for stuffing

If you’re worried you may have gotten hot peppers (please read about that above!)be sure to wear gloves for cleaning, typically for mild chili peppers you won’t need them!

Otherwise, the first thing to do is to wash your sweet peppers to get started and pat them dry with a towel or paper towels. Then lay them on a cutting board and cut them from the tops of the banana peppers right down through to the tip. Cut all peppers at once.

Then use a small spoon to scrape out the pith and the seeds, and dispose of them. Pick out any remaining seeds or pith, and wipe clean. Some people like to cut off the stem at the top of the peppers but I kind of prefer the stem on for all my poppers. It’s a personal preference.

Stuffed banana peppers ready to be baked,

If you have leftovers

You can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. They can be reheated in the air fryer or the oven. Be aware that the peppers will cook up more and be softer but they’ll still taste delicious!