17 Pepper Recipes to Spice Up Your Life

Kim Lane
Aug 26, 2014

We’ll eat peppers any way they come… raw, cooked, cracked and in any of their vibrant colors. We love finding different uses for the delicious vegetable, so we’ve put together 17 recipes to share the pepper love. You can stuff them, dip them, purée them and make tons of delicious sandwiches and soups with them. Each of these dishes is so colorful and fun that they’re sure to be the feature of your next Instagram post!

1. Bell Pepper Nachos: Trying to cut back on those salty chips? Try a bell pepper slice instead! This trick will enhance your flavors and add an element of surprise to your snack. (recipe via Sweet Pea’s Kitchen)

2. Red Pepper Hummus: Make your hummus with a kick by adding red bell pepper. This is an easy recipe and a fun twist on the traditional style. (via Design Dining Diapers)

3. Egg Flowers: Love photo-worthy food? These flower eggs are easy and entertaining to make. Just cut the your bell pepper into slices and crack an egg in the middle! (via Apron Strings)

4. Pepper Chicken: These mouthwatering chicken tenders are packed with flavor and are a great finger food for your next gathering. (via Half Baked Harvest)

5. Pepper Jack Cheese Sticks: Love cheese? So do we, and these pepper jack cheese sticks are a great way to spice up one of your favorite snack foods. (via Life’s Ambrosia)

6. Stuffed Peppers: Throwing a fiesta? These open-faced peppers are quick, healthy and perfect for any themed party or quick dinner. Don’t forget the Cinco de Mayo jello shots too! (via A Few Shortcuts)

7. Panzanella: Onions, peppers, cheese, tomatoes and bread in one dish? Yes! Yum. (via Love + Lemons)

8. Pepper Salad: We are always looking for great salad recipes, and we are loving this bell pepper pick right now. This is perfect for an appetizer or side dish, and even tastes great leftover. (via Natasha’s Kitchen)

9. Veggie Burger: We dig burgers of all kinds, and this red pepper version has us drooling. Top it off with some smoked paprika mayonnaise! (via Williams-Sonoma)

10. Red Pepper Pesto Sandwich: How cute are these sandwiches? This pesto and meatloaf creation is a great twist on traditional meatloaf, and is way more fun. (via Cravings of a Lunatic)

11. Red Pepper Grilled Cheese: If you’re always looking for an excuse to eat grilled cheese, this red pepper variety should be next on your list! (via Closet Cooking)

12. Red Pepper Soup: This one-pot-wonder only has four ingredients and is soup-er delicious! (via Your Homebased Mom)

13. Pepper and Onion Sandwich: Try this flavor-packed sandwich. With Italian sausage, caramelized onions and roasted red peppers, how can you go wrong? (via Cravings of a Lunatic)

14. Stuffed Poblanos: Your game day lineup just met its match. Stuffed poblano peppers are sure to please the fans! (via How Sweet It Is)

15. Enchilada Peppers: This twist on the enchilada is not only colorful and inviting, it comes in its own edible bowl! (via Sugar Bee Crafts)

16. Pepper Soup: Want the comfort of chili with a fresh taste? Try this hearty stuffed pepper soup! (via Skinny Taste)

17. Pepper Cod: Spice up your fish dish with this quick cracked pepper cod recipe. (via Roti + Rice)

Are you a pepper person? Which of these dishes will you be trying? Tell us in the comments below!

Dakota Johnson & Josh Hartnett Join Anne Hathaway In Colleen Hoover's 'Verity' Cast

Colleen Hoover stans, listen up! While the announcement that Anne Hathaway would lead CoHo's Verity movie broke the Brit + Co group chat, it has nothing on the announcement that was made today: she'll be joined by the one and only Dakota Johnson. And we freaked out. Dakota is a master at intrigue and suspense, and I can't think of anyone else who'd be able to draw us into the story like she will.

Verity follows it-girl author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway) and her husband Jeremy, who hire Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson) to finish the remaining books in Verity's series. But as Lowen starts to take a closer look at their lives, she comes to the horrifying realization that not all is as it seems. While It Ends With Us is Colleen Hoover's most popular and widely-known title, Verity is regarded as one of the wildest — and I'm sure the movie is going to be the same.

You already know Anne Hathaway, meet the rest of the Verity cast before the movie premieres!

1. Anne Hathaway as Verity Crawford

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The Princess Diaries' Anne Hathaway leads the new movie as Verity Crawford, author, wife, and (apparently) secret keeper.

2. Dakota Johnson as Lowen Ashleigh

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Dakota Johnson stars as Lowen Ashleigh, a down-on-her-luck writer who's confident working for Verity is her big break.

The actress is also starring in Celine Song's upcoming rom-com Materialists, and told Brit + Co just how much she loved working with "big idiots" Pedro Pascal and Chris Evans.

3. Josh Hartnett as Jeremy Crawford

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We'll also see Trap's Josh Hartnett as Jeremy Crawford, Verity's husband.

The Verity movie isn't the only Colleen Hoover book adaptation in the works! Read up on the latest news on Regretting You, starring Allison Williams and McKenna Grace.

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'Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives' Season 2 Is "Better" Than The First, According To Whitney Leavitt & Taylor Frankie Paul

The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives totally dominated the reality TV space in 2024 — and season 2 is will be here before you know it. The show premiered on the Hulu on September 6, and quickly became the year's most-watched unscripted season premiere. Well, MomTok watchers: drop everything (except your phones) because Taylor Frankie Paul and Whitney Leavitt just teased a crazy season 2 of Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

Here's what Taylor Frankie Paul and Whitney Leavitt said about The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 2.

Taylor Frankie Paul & Whitney Leavitt say season 2 is "better" than the first.

"With the second season, you're having conversations constantly with your peers and sitting in your interviews or confessionals where they're constantly asking you questions about yourself and about a scenario. It can be very therapeutic," Whitney Leavitt tells People.

Taylor Frankie Paul admits she has some nerves around filming season 2, considering they're not in total creative control. "It's exciting but I guess I'm always a bit nervous," she says. "We're used to making content that we can control and edit and we don't have control with this. It's nerve-wracking going into it knowing that what happens isn't exactly how the edit might make it look."

"But I do think this one is going to be just as good, if not better, than our first season," she continues. "So far, I think everything has been so fun and entertaining to experience for myself."

And one detail we'll see from both ladies in The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives season 2 are their new babies! Taylor Frankie Paul had her third baby Ever on March 19, 2024, and Whitney Leavitt gave birth to her third baby Billy on October 24, 2024.

"It was a beautiful moment that you'll see more of in season 2. I'm so thankful for him," Taylor says.

And they're still getting used to their 'Secret Lives of Mormon Wives' fame!

Despite their cult followings on social media, both women admit they're still getting used to their fame in the TV space, and how wildly successful the first season was. Taylor says she's "at a loss for words sometimes."

"I remember thinking, 'This will do okay. It should do well, given that we all have a story that people haven't heard about, and all of us do have a following," she adds. "I didn't know the extent of how well it was going to do, so it was shocking as it happened."

And it wouldn't be a show about MomTok without some surprising DM's! "The people that are in your messages reaching out, just unexpected people that you have fangirled over, we've all fangirled over," Taylor continues. "So that was really cool to see. And sometimes I just forget that people are out there watching it. It's a nationwide thing. To this day, I still don't think I even realize it, to be honest."

Maybe season 2 will reveal who's sliding in their DM's. 👀

Have you seen all of this month's incredible December TV shows? They make for the perfect weekend watch.

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These Easy Christmas Cookies Will Make Your Dreams Come True

If there’s one recipe you 100 percent need to crank out some seriously festive Christmas dessert ideas, it’s the classic, basic sugar cookie. Some of the most intricately ordained, masterpiece cookies (like pink Christmas decorations, jolly reindeer, and llamas) begin with a simple foundation. Let’s start with this recipe we love for a vanilla-bean-speckled version that’s sure to hold its own under all that royal icing.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter (room temperature + cubed)
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cups flour

Directions

Using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then add vanilla bean and egg. Mix until just incorporated. Stop mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a spatula.

Gradually add flour (you may not need the full three cups), and mix until dough forms and pulls away from the bowl. Divide dough into two even discs and wrap in cling wrap, then refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight.

When ready to roll dough, pre-heat oven to 350°F and line baking trays with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.

Using a rolling pin, roll cookie dough between two pieces of parchment paper to 1/4-inch in thickness, and use cookie cutters to cut out cookie shapes.

Transfer cookies to a baking tray using a lightly floured spatula. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes before baking.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or when edges begin to brown. The time will be dependent on size and thickness of cookies.

Allow to cool on tray until warm to touch, then transfer onto a wire cooling rackbefore decorating.

Decorate your easy Christmas cookies to you and your family's liking!

Check out our baking and cooking classes for more recipes to make at home!

Brit + Co may at times use affiliate links to promote products sold by others, but always offers genuine editorial recommendations.

See our ‘Grammable Holiday Cookie Guide.

Recipe via Vickie Liu; photos via Brittany Griffin/Brit + Co

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