Name: Cream Cheese-Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients: 4 bell peppers (assorted colors), stemmed and seeded; Salt , to taste; Pepper , to taste; 1 cup cream cheese; 2 strips bacon , crisp cooked and crumbled; ¼ cup unsalted butter , cut into small cubes; Hot sauce , to taste

Why it works: Cream cheese and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,747 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity, wine. The science ↓

Cream Cheese-Stuffed Bell Peppers

Oven375°F

Timeabout 35 minutes

Ingredients

4 bell peppers (assorted colors), stemmed and seeded
Salt , to taste
Pepper , to taste
1 cup cream cheese
2 strips bacon , crisp cooked and crumbled
¼ cup unsalted butter , cut into small cubes
Hot sauce , to taste

Directions

Prepare the filling

Combine cheese, bacon, butter, salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

Stuff and bake

Place into a piping bag without a tip and pipe into each pepper.
Place stuffed peppers on an ungreased half-sheet pan.
Bake in a 375°F oven about 35 minutes, or until browned and bubbly on top.

Serve

Serve immediately.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

289Calories

6 gProtein

26 gFat

10 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Cream Cheese	1 oz (28g)	99
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Bell Pepper	1 medium (119g)	31
Chili	1 tsp (2.7g)	8
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Cream cheese + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,747 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
Butter + saucetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,338 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Pepper + buttertop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together85,593 recipes

Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
Cream cheese + saucetop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together461 recipes

Shared aroma: decanoic acid (soapy, waxy).
Pepper + saucetop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together15,303 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Butter and sauce barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 15,338 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Cream cheese: Forms the creamy, rich filling that stays soft and spreadable inside the pepper.
Unsalted butter: Adds fat and richness, helping the filling turn smooth and moist as it melts.
Bacon: Contributes savory, salty flavor and crisp bits that contrast with the creamy filling.
Bell peppers: Hold the filling as a shell and soften as they bake, adding mild sweetness.

The step that matters

Bake until browned and bubbly. Baking long enough lets the filling heat through and brown on top, which gives flavor. Underbaked filling stays cool and loose, while overbaking can dry the cream cheese and make the pepper shells collapse.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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Cream Cheese-Stuffed Bell Peppers