Stuffed Peppers is a blend of ground meat, rice, tomato sauce, seasonings, and stuffed into fresh bell peppers.
Stuffed Peppers are pure comfort food. You can stuff peppers with your favorite protein like ground beef, ground sausage, ground pork, ground chicken, or even plant-based meat.
We keep it simple with beef and use fresh bell peppers, onions, and tomato. A good marinara sauce is key. You can use homemade sauce or your favorite storebought brand. Rice is our preferred grain, but you could even use quinoa in its place.
Stuffed Pepper Ingredients:
- Bell Peppers – Fresh bell peppers make this dish, and you can use any color bell pepper.
- Olive oil or Avocado oil – This is used to brown the onions, but you can also use broth to keep it oil-free.
- Onion – Using fresh onion adds flavor and more texture.
- Dried seasonings – Granulated garlic, dried basil, dried oregano, salt, and pepper to taste add more flavor to this dish.
- Ground Beef – You can use a mixture of beef and sausage or plant based meat as well.
- Tomato – We also like adding fresh tomato, but you can use canned in a pinch.
- Marinara – Our favorite store-bought marinara is Rao’s.
- White Rice – Stuffed peppers are a great way to use leftover rice.
- Mozzarella Cheese – We’re dairy free so we use follow your heart shredded mozzarella.
How to Make Stuffed Peppers
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Wash the peppers and cut them in half. Remove and discard the core and seeds.
Place the peppers onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 15 to 20 minutes until tender.
Add the avocado oil to a large cast iron pan on medium heat and cook the onions until translucent. Add the granulated garlic, basil, and oregano, and cook for another minute; do not brown the onions.
Add the raw ground beef to the pan and cook until browned.
Once the beef is fully cooked, add the tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce. Bring to a boil and then remove from the heat. Stir in the cooked rice, and then add salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Remove the peppers from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F.
Pour 1/2-1 cup of marinara sauce into the bottom of a 9×13 oven-safe casserole dish.
Place the peppers into the casserole dish. Add the stuffing to the peppers and then top with a sprinkle of shredded mozzarella.
Cook the peppers for 15-20 minutes.
Remove the stuffed peppers from the oven and allow them to cool for a few minutes before serving.
Recipe Tips and Alterations:
- Roasting the peppers before stuffing helps soften the peppers. You could also par-boil the peppers, but we prefer roasting for flavor and nutrients.
- You can use any color bell pepper.
- If you don’t like cheese, you can omit the cheese.
- Use a mixture of ground beef and sausage for more flavor.
- To make vegan stuffed peppers, we recommend using impossible foods meat.
Storage and reheating tips:
- Refrigerate: Store any leftover stuffed peppers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Freeze: You can freeze stuffed peppers for 4-6 months.
How to serve stuffed peppers:
We like serving it with extra white rice, a side salad, and vegan garlic bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
We like picking out peppers that stand up well when doubling this recipe. You can level the bottom by cutting it so it’s even to get them to stand if they are unsteady.
While we make these stuffed peppers with rice, you can easily swap the rice out and use quinoa or cauliflower rice.
Stuffed Peppers
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Print Pin SaveIngredients
- 3 bell peppers halved, cored
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 lb ground beef you can also use sausage or even plant-based meat
- 1 large tomato diced
- 2 1/2 cups marinara sauce divided
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella we use Follow Your Heart shredded cheese for dairy free
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
- Place the peppers onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes.
- In a large cast iron pan on medium heat. Add the avocado oil and cook the onions until translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the granulated garlic, basil, and oregano, and cook for another minute.
- Add the ground beef to the pan and cook until browned, around 8-10 minutes.
- Once the beef is just about fully cooked, add in the diced tomatoes, and 1 1/2 cups of the marinara sauce. Bring to a boil and then remove from the heat. Stir in the rice, add salt and pepper to taste, and then set aside.
- Pour 1/2-1 cup of sauce into the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish.
- Remove the peppers from the oven and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F.
- Place the peppers into the casserole dish. Now stuff the peppers with the beef and rice, and then sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
- Cook the peppers for 20 minutes, remove the stuffed peppers from the oven, and allow to cool a few minutes before serving.
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Notes
- Speed up the process: Roasting the peppers before stuffing helps soften the peppers. You could also par-boil the peppers, but we prefer roasting for flavor and nutrients.
- Prep ahead: Wash, cut, and clean out the peppers and ground the meat beforehand to save time later.
- Switch it up: Not a fan of ground beef? You can use ground chicken, ground pork, or ground sausage.
- Vegan option: We recommend using impossible foods meat.
- Storage: Store any leftover stuffed peppers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or freeze for 4-6 months.
Nutrition
The nutritional information is automatically calculated and can vary based ingredients and products used. If the nutrition numbers are important for you we recommend calculating them yourself.
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