‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond’s Mac and Cheese Stuffed Peppers Recipe Is a Unique Appetizer

Ree Drummond puts a unique spin on stuffed peppers — stuffing them with mac and cheese, then breading and frying the peppers. Find out how to make The Pioneer Woman star’s mac and cheese stuffed peppers recipe.

Ree Drummond takes stuffed peppers to a new level

Drummond demonstrated how to make her mac and cheese stuffed peppers on an episode of The Pioneer Woman dedicated to taking her recipes to new levels

“I’m totally raising the bar on mac and cheese,” she explained. Drummond noted that “over-the-top is the name of the game.”

The Food Network host promised to have fun while pushing food boundaries. “I am getting ready to have some fun today,” she said. “I’m taking some of my very favorite recipes and going bonkers with them. I’m going to take them way over the top.”

How to make Ree Drummond’s mac and cheese stuffed peppers recipe

Drummond started by melting butter and heating milk, salt, seasoned salt, and pepper in a saucepan. She added pepper jack cheese and processed cheese next. “If you’re making mac and cheese without a white sauce, this is the quickest way to get a really creamy consistency,” she explained.

The Food Network host turned off the heat, then added cooked and drained macaroni to the sauce.

Drummond blackened poblano peppers by holding them over a stovetop flame, removed the seeds, and cut a slit in them. She stuffed the mac and cheese inside the peppers. “And if I play my cards right, I might have a little left over for me or one of my children,” she joked.

The Pioneer Woman star overlapped the skin of the pepper to enclose the macaroni and cheese and used toothpicks to secure it.

Drummond dipped the peppers in a beer batter next. She combined flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper in a bowl. She whisked together beaten eggs and beer in a measuring cup and added the mixture to the dry ingredients.

“This is a great beer batter that you can use for thin onion rings [or] shrimp,” she shared.

Drummond dipped a pepper into the batter and lowered it into a pot of hot oil then repeated the process for the remaining peppers.

‘The Pioneer Woman’ star made an easy cream sauce for the stuffed peppers

While the peppers cooked, Drummond made a cream sauce to serve with the dish. She whisked together sour cream, lime juice, lime zest, cilantro, and cumin.

She removed the peppers from the hot oil and placed them on a paper towel-lined sheet pan. “Now these look a little crazy when you first pull them out,” Drummond warned. “First of all, the toothpicks are covered in batter, and then second, you always get a little bit of the cheese escaping.”

She added, “You know what? That’s what makes these so fun.”

Drummond spread the cream sauce on a platter, placed the peppers on top, and sprinkled cilantro over them. “These peppers will be slightly spicy and the mac and cheese really hot, so this is nice and cool and fresh,” she said of the sauce. “A perfect complement.”

The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.