My local grocery store has started carrying Cubanelle peppers. They call them "Cubanelles," so I'm going to follow suit. Although you'll also see them listed as Cuban or Cubana peppers. They look like a cross between banana peppers and Anaheim peppers with a similarly mild flavor profile. You could easily substitute banana, Anaheim, poblano, bell peppers, or really in pepper of choice in these Oaxaca Cheese-stuffed Cubanelle Peppers.
You can also mix and match the cheese that you use. Queso fresco is my usual go-to for cheese-stuffed peppers. Although a plethora of grilling cheese, baking cheese, or crumbling cheese will do. I like to use queso fresco, panela, cotija, or Oaxaca. Oaxaca is similar to a pulled fresh mozzarella or string cheese. It's one of my favorite cheeses of all time. I'll even just pull it apart and eat it on crackers or with toast. Cream cheese would also do, if you want more of a jalapeño popper-feel.
I made these in an air fryer today because of how quick and easy they are to toss together. Although you can also use a barbecue, stovetop, oven, or even campfire.
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Variations of Cheese-Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers
I needed to use up some cheese and peppers before I left town, so I just ate stuffed peppers for a snack! Stuffed peppers also make a great addition to salads or scrambled eggs and potatoes. They're great as a snack, side dish, or accompaniment to breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Cheese-stuffed peppers are quick and easy to toss into an air fryer. I used Oaxaca cheese and Cubanelle peppers, but you can mix and match Anaheim peppers, banana peppers, bell peppers, or any pepper of choice. For an extra kick, they make for a fun spin on jalapeño poppers. I also oftentimes make this recipe with queso fresco. Although Oaxaca cheese is similar in consistency to mozzarella or string cheese and makes for a fun change of flavor profile.
Cut the tops off of the peppers. Take a small knife and de-vein and de-seed the peppers.The goal here is to hollow out the peppers, without compromising the shape. It's easier to stuff them when there aren't holes in them for the cheese to spill out! I'll use a long, sharp paring knife for this. That way it will fit inside of the pepper and you can just twist it around to remove the seeds. If you're careful and the knife is sharp enough, you can also slice through the veins and pull them out. You don't have to remove every single vein and seed, but they are quite bitter. So, removing as much of the innards as possible is preferable.
Stuff Oaxaca cheese inside of the peppers.It helps to pull the cheese apart a little bit before trying to stuff the peppers. That way, you can push it into the bottom tip of the pepper, without poking through the flesh. This can be easier said than done! Especially with larger pieces of cheese. Although crumbling it certainly helps as well as stuffing small amounts of cheese at a time.I also like to fill the end of the peppers with a larger chunk of cheese. This serves as a kind of cap to the peppers to keep the crumbled bits of cheese from falling out during the roasting process.
Put stuffed peppers in the air fryer and roast for 10-15 minutes, or until the peppers begin to char and turn slightly brown in color. Make sure to rotate somewhere between half and three-quarters of the way through the roasting process in order to cook evenly.Also make sure that the peppers are propped up as much as possible, to keep the cheese from spilling out. I tend to place them in the air fryer so that the slight curve of the peppers faces upward. Most peppers aren't perfectly straight and lean to a certain direction. Then, when I rotate them to get an even cook, I'll sometimes stack the peppers leaning against one another so that the cheese still faces upwards as much as possible.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
You can also roast peppers in the oven or on the barbecue. Cooking times are roughly the same if you roast around 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
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