This stuffed pepper recipe is easy to make. Perfect for meal prepthis recipe freezes and reheats well too!
Stuffed bell peppers are filled with a savory mix of beefsausagericeand marinara. They’re baked with cheese until tender for a classiccozy meal.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Savory ground beeftender veggiesand fluffy rice come together in a rich tomato sauceall topped with goldenmelty cheese.
- Budget Tip: Replace half of the meat with black or kidney beans. You can stretch the filling further by adding extra rice or veggies and filling some extra peppers.
- Prep Note: Depending on the size of your peppersyou might end up with extra filling. It’s great in zucchini boats or as a filling for portobello mushrooms.
- Prep Ahead/Freezer: These can be prepared 2 days ahead or prepared and frozen before baking (freezing instructions below).
Easy Ingredients and Add-Ins
- Bell Peppers: Choose any color of bell peppers. Green peppers are more earthy in flavorwhile redyellowor orange peppers are a bit sweeter. Just cut the tops off and remove the seeds.
- Meat: Ground beef and Italian sausage add a lot of flavor. You can use just oneor any combination of ground meatincluding ground turkey or chickenground porkor turkey sausage.
- Rice: Use uncooked long-grain rice. If using cooked ricesimmer in the sauce for just 5 minutes.
- Sauce: Use a jar of pasta sauceor control the flavors and try homemade marinara sauce.
- Cheese: Optionalbut I love a cheesy topping! Try mozzarella or an Italian blend.
How to Make Stuffed Peppers
- Pre-cook the peppers and brown the meat mixture (recipe below).
- Add the remaining filling ingredients and cook until the rice is tender.
- Fill upright peppers with the meat and rice mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and bake until bubbly.
Save It for Later
- Store leftover stuffed peppers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. Reheat peppers in the microwaveair fryeror stovetop in a pan with a little water at the bottom on medium-low heat.
- To freeze, line the baking dish with parchment paper and assemble the peppers as directed without baking. Ensure the filling is cooled and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake as directedadding 15 minutes to the baking time.
Savory Stuffed Pepper Recipes
Did you make these Stuffed Peppers? Leave a rating and comment below.
Ingredients
- 6 medium bell peppers any color
- 8 ounces lean ground beef
- 8 ounces Italian sausage
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can canned petite diced tomatoes with juice
- 1¼ cups water
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup long grain white rice uncooked
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2½ cups marinara sauce divided
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese or cheddar cheeseoptional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch casserole dish.
- Cut off the tops of the bell peppers. Discard the stemsfinely chop the topsand set aside for the sauce. Core the peppersdiscarding the membranes and seeds.
- To cook the peppersbring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the peppers for 5 minutes and then drain them well. Alternativelyair fry the peppers at 400°F for 5 minutes.
- For the fillingheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beefItalian sausagediced onionand minced garlic. Cookbreaking it up with a spoonuntil no pink remains. Drain the fat.
- Add diced tomatoes with their juiceswaterWorcestershire saucericethe diced pepper topsItalian seasoningand ¼ teaspoon each salt and black pepper.
- Bring the mixture to a boilreduce the heat to a low simmerand cover. Cook until the rice is tenderabout 15 to 20 minutesadding more water if needed. Remove from the heat and stir in ½ cup of the marinara. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if desired.
- Place 1 ½ cups of marinara sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add the pepperscut-side-upand divide the rice mixture evenly into the peppers. Spoon the remaining marinara sauce over the top.
- Cover tightly with foilbake for 35 minutes.
- Carefully remove the foil and spoon the sauce from the bottom of the dish over the peppers. Top with cheese (if using) and bake uncovered for an additional 10 to 12 minutes or until the peppers are tender and the cheese is fully melted.
- Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
Rice: If using cooked riceskip the water and simmer the rice in the sauce for about 5 minutes. Brown rice should be pre-cooked.
Peppers: For firm to tender-crisp peppersskip the boiling step and bake as directed. I prefer the texture when the peppers are softer.
Seasoning: Marinara sauce can vary in salt levels and seasonings. Taste a bit of the filling and add salt to taste.
Additional vegetablessuch as diced zucchini or chopped mushroomscan be added to the filling.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 397 | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 63mg | Sodium: 980mg | Potassium: 1023mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 4384IU | Vitamin C: 168mg | Calcium: 123mg | Iron: 4mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course BeefCasseroleDinnerEntreeMain CoursePork
Cuisine AmericanItalian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
This recipe for stuffed peppers is one of my family’s favorites!
Can you freeze the stuffed pepper filling if you made way too much?
Yes you can! You can also add it to a pasta sauce or even to broth to make a bowl of soup. Depending on how much you have leftyou could stuff more pepperssome zucchini or even large tomatoes for lunches. It would also be great served over zucchini noodles. I hope that helps.
question
can you cook in crockpot?
if soplease give time and setting.
thank you
Hi Sharonyou can try this recipe for crockpot stuffed peppers.
Love this simple & delicious stuffed pepper recipe! It’s one of our staples!
Can I just use 1 lbs. of sausage or beef? I hate containing portions. I would rather use one ? I am going to make this recipe this evening.
You can if you prefer. If you are not using sausageadd ½ teaspoon of extra Italian seasoningor throw in some extra oregano and parsleyred pepper flakesor other spices to keep the flavor.