I really like these straightforward stuffed bell peppers which are hearty, savory, and meaty. Made with wholesome components: recent bell peppers, white or brown rice, floor beef, shredded cheese, and easy pantry staples. Bonus, this recipe doubles as meal prep while you make freezer stuffed peppers (I’ll share the right way to simply to do that to save lots of time).
What Makes This Recipe So Good
What Readers Say:
“I don’t make stuffed peppers typically, so I find yourself utilizing a unique recipe each time however this one is a keeper! I made it precisely as written and it was undoubtedly the very best we’ve had! Completely flavored. I beloved the thought of reducing the peppers vertically as a substitute of horizontally, simpler to fill and eat that approach.”
Celeste
Once I wish to make a hearty and fast meal for the dinner desk, this recipe is my go-to. I do know, I’m biased, however I feel that is the very best stuffed peppers recipe on the market!
- Wholesome: This basic recipe is made with real-food ingredients and nothing ultra-processed. Wealthy in fiber, wholesome fats, and protein. An awesome recipe to maintain on your meal plan rotation.
- Straightforward to Make: Utilizing leftover rice (or frozen cooked rice) makes the dish come collectively shortly. Brown the bottom beef and spices, then mix with tomato sauce and cooked rice, and bake. Straightforward to make with minimal dishes and straightforward clear up!
- Price range-Pleasant: Each rice and floor beef (which make the filling for the peppers) are budget-friendly actual meals (learn how to stock a budget-friendly, real-food kitchen). And the remainder of the easy components are pantry staples. Nothing fancy or expensive right here.
- A Nice Strategy to Meal Prep: The proper recipe to prep on the weekend and revel in for a meal prep lunch or dinner through the week. Reheat the peppers and serve with fruit or a healthy snack on the side.
- Freezer-Pleasant: This wholesome recipe freezes completely! Brown the bottom beef and spices, mix with rice and tomato sauce, then fill the peppers. Freeze the raw stuffed peppers for as much as 3 months. Whenever you’re able to take pleasure in, defrost within the fridge and bake.
- Straightforward to Customise: Use totally different floor meats, make it low carb with cauliflower rice, or skip the cheese to make it dairy-free. This recipe is a superb base recipe to customise to your liking.
Time-Saving Rice Tip: Use frozen cooked rice. You’ll discover cooked rice within the grocery freezer part. Preserve a bag in your freezer for making meals that decision for leftover rice: fried rice, stuffed peppers, and so on. Or cook dinner your individual rice (the Instant Pot is the best way to cook raw rice, each lengthy grain and brief grain) and freeze it in luggage (in 1-2 cup parts).
Substances Wanted
- 4 bell peppers (any colour of bell pepper)
- 1 TB additional virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lb floor beef (see variations under for different meat choices)
- 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 TB Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese or Cheddar Cheese
Learn how to Make, Step By Step
The stuffed bell peppers come collectively simply and shortly. You’ll additionally discover a printable model of the recipe and full directions within the recipe card.
Step 1: Wash and Minimize the Peppers
Wash the big peppers and slice the tops off, horizontally. Discard the seeds and membranes. Degree the bottoms if obligatory to face up within the baking dish. Alternatively, put together the peppers as pictured, by slicing the peppers in half, vertically, and discarding the seeds and membranes. Slicing the peppers in half vertically makes them simpler to fill and eat.
Step 2: Preheat Oven to 350F.
Place the peppers in a 13×9 baking dish (or casserole dish) with a lid (or use aluminum foil when the lid is required). Put aside. Preheat the oven to 350F.
Step 3: Prepare dinner the Onion and Garlic
Add additional virgin olive oil, avocado oil, or coconut oil to a big skillet over high-medium warmth. When sizzling, saute the onion and garlic till softened and translucent (about 3-4 minutes).
Step 4: Prepare dinner the Floor Beef
Add the bottom beef to the skillet and cook dinner till brown. In the meantime, make the tomato sauce for the peppers (subsequent step).
Step 5: Mix Tomato Sauce and Seasonings
Whereas the meat cooks, add the tomato sauce and all of the seasonings to a bowl. Combine nicely to mix.
Step 6: Mix Rice, Floor Beef, and Tomato Combination
When the meat is cooked by means of (about 5-7 minutes), stir within the sauce and cooked rice to coat all of the components. Observe, if there’s numerous fats within the skillet, drain the additional fats from the skillet earlier than including the tomato combination.
Step 7: Stuff Peppers
Evenly stuff peppers with the meat and rice combination, packing the filling in if obligatory.
Step 8: Bake 30-35 Minutes
Cowl (with foil or the lid) and bake the peppers for 30-35 minutes, till the peppers are cooked to your required texture, testing with a knife inserted within the aspect.
Step 9: Prime with Cheese
And now for the very best half…melty cheese! Sprinkle cheese over the stuffed peppers and return to the oven, uncovered, for 5 minutes to soften. Serve heat. Prime with chopped cilantro or parsley, bitter cream, chopped inexperienced onions, or serve with none further toppings.
What Sort of Floor Beef Ought to You Use? Use lean floor beef (90% lean /10% fats) or an 80% lean/20% fats floor beef. The one distinction is fats content material, which can end in extra fats rendered within the skillet. Drain extra fats leftover within the skillet earlier than including the tomato sauce.
What to Serve With Stuffed Peppers?
Stuffed peppers are a full meal, for my part, and don’t require a aspect dish. If you wish to add a aspect, a number of of my favourite choices are:
Variations
This can be a nice base recipe that permits you to add your individual variations for a low-carb recipe, a unique protein choice, or cooked within the slow-cooker so the stuffed peppers are prepared while you get house from work.
What Readers Say:
“This recipe has SO many doable deviations! I began utilizing cooked Italian sausage because the meat ingredient. The subsequent time, I used air fried popcorn shrimp for a bit crunch! The final time I attempted it with some shaved steak. All had been fabulous! The ONLY factor I do in another way is just not use rice. We’re watching the carbs, so I take advantage of frozen cube/riced cauliflower. When combined with the tomato sauce you actually can’t inform as a result of the feel continues to be there! I do add some additional shakes of spices. Thanks for sharing!”
MaryBeth Raines
- Keto, Paleo, Low-Carb: Use cauliflower rice as a substitute of white or brown rice. Cauliflower rice may be bought frozen or recent and is just finely chopped cauliflower florets that resemble rice.
- Gradual Cooker: For those who’re brief on time within the night and wish the peppers to cook dinner within the sluggish cooker all day, use this recipe as a guide. Prepare dinner the bottom beef, then mix the cooked rice and beef combination with the tomato sauce. Fill the peppers, then add every thing to the sluggish cooker together with water or hen broth to cook dinner and steam the peppers. The sluggish cooker will slowly cook dinner the peppers till they’re tender. Or, cook the peppers in the Instant Pot.
- Use a Completely different Protein: Floor proteins work finest, like floor turkey, floor pork, Italian sausage (floor), or floor hen. Because the reader above famous, you would additionally strive different proteins.
- Use Poblano Peppers: Poblano peppers are a spicy pepper selection with medium warmth. As an alternative of bell peppers, stuff poblano peppers with the filling and bake. Search for massive poblano peppers and lower them in half to simply fill the peppers.
- Vegetarian Bell Peppers: If you wish to make a vegetarian stuffed pepper, I like to recommend making my Tex Mex Vegetarian Peppers, which use rice or quinoa and black beans for a scrumptious, meat-free filling.
Learn how to Freeze Stuffed Peppers
Let’s say that you simply fall in love with this meal. Which I feel you’ll since that is actually the very best stuffed bell pepper recipe. And now you wish to do some meal prep to save lots of time sooner or later. The excellent news: You’ll be able to simply freeze the peppers and bake later! Right here’s how…
- Brown the bottom beef. Then mix the rice, beef, and tomato combination per the recipe card (under).
- Stuff the peppers with the bottom beef combination and freeze in a freezer-safe baking dish (the disposable baking dishes work nice for this because you don’t want to fret about glass breaking within the freezer). Do NOT add cheese earlier than freezing.
- Retailer the peppers, in a freezer container with a lid, for as much as 3 months within the freezer.
Learn how to Prepare dinner Freezer Stuffed Peppers
Right here’s the right way to cook dinner the frozen stuffed bell peppers and switch them into a fast and scrumptious meal…
- Thaw the stuffed peppers within the fridge for twenty-four hours.
- Bake the peppers as soon as thawed.
- Add 5 minutes to the unique cooking time. For crimson, yellow, or orange stuffed peppers, bake for 35 minutes. For inexperienced peppers, bake for 40 minutes.
- Take away the peppers from the oven, prime with cheese and bake, uncovered, for five minutes till the cheese melts.
Learn how to Reheat Leftovers
Leftover cooked bell peppers make nice leftovers for lunch or dinner. The quickest approach to reheat previously- cooked stuffed peppers is within the microwave for a few minutes. Or, reheat within the oven at 350F till heat (about 10 minutes).
Straightforward Stuffed Bell Peppers
Straightforward stuffed bell peppers which are wholesome, hearty, savory and meaty. A easy, real-food meal made with primary, but flavorful components: rice, floor beef, tomato sauce, peppers, and spices.
Price: $15
- 4 bell peppers any colour
- 1 TB additional virgin olive oil or avocado oil or coconut oil
- 1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 lb floor beef
- 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 TB Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese or cheddar cheese
-
Wash the peppers and slice the tops off, horizontally. Discard the seeds and membranes. Degree the bottoms if obligatory to face up in your baking dish. Alternatively, you may put together the peppers as pictured, by slicing the peppers in half, vertically, and discarding the seeds and membranes.
4 bell peppers
-
Place the peppers in a 13×9 baking dish (or casserole dish) with a lid (or use aluminum foil when the lid is required). Put aside. Preheat the oven to 350F.
-
Add oil to a big skillet over high-medium warmth. When sizzling, saute the onion and garlic till softened and translucent (about 3-4 minutes).
1/2 cup finely diced yellow onion, 3 garlic cloves, 1 TB additional virgin olive oil
-
Add the bottom beef to the skillet, sprinkle with a pair pinches of salt, and cook dinner till brown. In the meantime, make the tomato sauce for the pepper filling (subsequent step).
1 lb floor beef
-
Whereas the meat cooks, add the tomato sauce and all of the seasonings to a medium bowl. Combine nicely to mix.
1 15-ounce can tomato sauce, 1 TB Worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp dried basil
-
When the meat is cooked by means of (about 5-7 minutes), stir within the sauce and cooked rice to coat all of the components. Observe, if there’s numerous fats within the skillet, drain the additional fats from the skillet earlier than including the tomato combination.
1 cup cooked rice
-
Evenly stuff peppers with the meat and rice combination, packing the filling in if obligatory. (For those who’re freezing the peppers, cease right here and freeze the peppers for a future meal.)
-
Cowl (with foil or the lid) and bake the peppers for 30-35 minutes, till the peppers are cooked to your required texture, testing with a knife inserted within the aspect. Purple and yellow peppers require about half-hour within the oven. Inexperienced peppers are firmer, so they are going to want about 35 minutes.
-
Sprinkle cheese over the stuffed peppers and return to the oven, uncovered, for five minutes to soften the cheese.
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
-
Serve heat.
Freezer Cooking Directions: Freeze the unbaked stuffed peppers (with out cheese), then thaw them in fridge for twenty-four hours earlier than baking. Bake the peppers as soon as thawed. Add 5 minutes to the cooking time, then add the cheese as described within the recipe directions.
Energy: 501kcalCarbohydrates: 22gProtein: 27gFats: 33gSaturated Fats: 13gLdl cholesterol: 99mgSodium: 1401mgPotassium: 660mgFiber: 2gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 3890IUVitamin C: 154.7mgCalcium: 204mgIron: 3.3mg
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