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Hot Sausage Stuffed Banana Peppers

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So the other day Papa Fantabulous was up helping out Mr. Fantabulous on the remodeling of our entire downstairs.  Now you have to realize, what my darling husband decided to do when he said “Honey, I’m going to remodel the downstairs” was not some small undertaking.  Should I point out that he started this 3.5 years ago?  ANNNNNNNNNNNNND that I’ve had bare floors, walls and ceilings down there for  3.4 years and 5 months?  Nah.. I shouldn’t.  Wouldn’t want to do the “I TOLD YOU IT WASN’T GOING TO TAKE 3 MONTHS… HONEY!”  No, *I* would never do that… more than 37 times *blush*

*sigh* but I can’t be too upset as it is actually getting done.

Anyway, with both boys here all day I had a busy day of cooking.  Since I knew Mama Fantabulous wasn’t going to be here *sniffle.. I so love when she’s here* I was home free on making spicy foods.  See Papa Fantabulous puts crushed pepper flakes on everything.  I mean EVERYTHING!

So while they were hammering/cutting/sawing/swearing/laughing/swearing more and making more noise than a heard of elephants I was busy cooking all day long.

In one day I made them the following:

  1. Buttermilk Waffles
  2. Hot Sausage Stuffed Banana Peppers
  3. Crispy Baked Zucchini & Squash Fries
  4. Potato Croquettes
  5. Hands down the best crab cakes you will ever eat
  6. Dill Cream Sauce for the hands down best crab cakes you will ever eat
  7. Stuffed Artichokes
  8. Peach Galette

Now per Papa Fantabulous, the peppers were ‘Perfect!’ but my darling husband was sweating bullets 3 bites into it.  He said it was “really hot honey but I can’t stop eating it as it’s THAT good!” So if you can’t handle hot stuff you could easily use all mild Italian sausage…. wuss *wink*

Also, the picture isn’t the prettiest – turns out these things really don’t photograph that well.  But it’s just incentive for me to make them again, right?

Now these would be perfect for a weeknight meal, pot luck, KILLER for  tailgating or a football game or a Friday night poker night (INVITE ME.. I LOVE me some poker!).

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Hot Sausage Stuffed Banana Peppers

  • Author: The Kitchen Whisperer

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★★★★★ 5 from 14 reviews
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Ingredients

  • 6–8 Banana or Hot Peppers
  • 1 1/2 pounds hot sausage
  • 1 pound mild sausage
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • Tops (minus the stems) of the peppers, chopped small
  • 1/4 cup green peppers, chopped small
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2–3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
  • 3–3 1/2 cups Marinara Sauce

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Cut the tops off of the peppers and set them aside (throwing away the stem itself).
  3. Wearing rubber/plastic gloves, take a knife and chop off the top of the peppers and run the knife on the top about 1/4” from the tip to the top of the pepper. You don’t want to split them in half. You want the pepper whole but have the slit so you can stuff it.
  4. Remove the rib and seeds; discard.
  5. In a separate bowl, add the sausages, onion, green and hot pepper tops, spices, ¾ cup of the mozzarella, egg, bread crumbs (start with a 1/2 cup) and 1/2 cup marinara sauce.
  6. Gently mix to incorporate. If the mixture it too wet add the rest of the bread crumbs. You want the mixture more on the moist side. It should be semi-loose in structure.
  7. Gently open up the pepper and stuff with the meat mixture slightly mounding.
  8. Place each filled pepper in a 9×13” baking dish.
  9. Add the marinara sauce over top of the peppers – at a bare minimum you want to use at least 1 1/2 cups. You can add more if you want more sauce.
  10. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes or when an inserted meat thermometer into the sausage reads 160-165F.
  11. Remove foil and top with remaining cheese.
  12. Bake uncovered for 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
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Recipe Reviews & Comments

  1. We make these every year with banana and cubanelle peppers from our garden. These are the best we have ever had. I’m glad I found your site the first time I googled how to make Italian Sausage stuffed banana peppers!

    Reply

  5. I have made these for the third time. The last 2 times were for picnics. They weren’t even on the table for 5 minutes and they were gone! I am making them today for my husband who didn’t get any last picnic! LOL. Thank You!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Hey Dee

      I’m so sorry I missed this comment. No I don’t cook my peppers first. That’s odd that yours were still hard. Were they bigger than normal size? Or perhaps thicker shelled? That’s the only thing I can think of. When you make these again, you can cook them a little longer (leave the foil on) so make sure they are soft OR you can even pre-cook them (just to partially soften them) before you stuff them.

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      Reply

    • Hi James!

      To reheat, just thaw in the fridge over night, and bake at 350F until hot all the way through ~20/25 minutes.

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      ★★★★★

      Reply

  12. I want to make these and freeze since I have so many peppers coming from garden. Would I cook first then freeze, or stuff without cooking then freeze?

    Reply

    • Hi Vicky,

      I personally stuff, bake then freeze. Now you can freeze without baking BUT you need to cook the filling separately and blanch the peppers first. Allow to cool, stuff then wrap tightly and freeze. They’ll last for about 2 months in the freezer.

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      ★★★★★

      Reply

    • Thank you so much Rich! I just made another batch of these on Sunday for Mr. Fantabulous. He loves these too! What I’ve also been doing is if I have extra filling I’m making them as meatballs, baking them at 350 for about 30-40 minutes then adding them to a baking dish filled with marinara sauce and topped with cheese. Talk about awesome!

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      ★★★★★

      Reply

  15. I’ve made these 5 times already during football season! These were the hit of every party we had or went to! Absolutely LOVE these!

    ★★★★★

    Reply

    • Hey Jesse,

      That’s awesome to hear! Yeah these are a HUGE hit during football or now hockey season! The last batch of these I made, I made with ground turkey and turkey hot sausage. SOOOOOOOO good!

      Best Kitchen Wishes!

      ★★★★★

      Reply

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