What is it about the smell of classic stuffed peppers that gets me right in the feels? It’s the best of simple ingredients–fresh beef, onions, tomatoes, and seasonings that come together in their own little portable, edible bowls.
But here’s my secret:
While these classic stuffed peppers are really tasty, I’ve been ruined on them.
I blame my mother.
And her Texas Hash. Good heavens.
As a kid my mom forced me to eat it. It’s basically a deconstructed stuffed pepper made with all the same ingredients–and the first time I made these peppers for Jeremy, we sat down, took a bite and looked at each other–” Texas Hash,” we said.
Even my husband has been subjected to a big plate of it. He’s scarred too.
I was digging deep for you on this recipe.
Now if I’m being totally honest, these peppers are great. They have the basic ingredients, no fuss and no frills, and they really are the best slate for you to experiment with. And I actually like every single ingredient that’s in them, just as long as my mom doesn’t make them.
I know you will enjoy them–if your mom didn’t ruin you with years of Texas Hash.
How to make these classic stuffed peppers
- Make these stuffed peppers with any rice you like. I prefer brown but I only had white on hand so I went with it. It does need to be cooked before you put it in the peppers.
- Ground turkey would also work well in place of the beef if you want a healthier stuffed pepper recipe. They are already fairly healthy, but you can lighten them further by changing the meat you use.
- Remember that if your peppers won’t stand up in the dish, just cut a little bit off the bottom. Try not to cut into the pepper though. You don’t want to lose your filling. I used three very large peppers in this recipe. If your peppers are smaller you can probably fill 5-6 easily.
- Swap the tomato sauce for pasta sauce and some fancy parmesan cheese for an Italian flare.
- If you’re in to Mexican flavors, use salsa and pepper jack cheese mixed in. So many options!
To make these stuffed peppers ahead:
Cook the filling, stuff the peppers and wrap them in plastic wrap. Place them in the fridge till ready to bake, up to 2 days ahead.
You may need to cover them loosely with some foil for the first half of their bake time to keep them from drying out, then uncover them for the last half or until they are hot all the way through.
You could also deconstruct this (aka Texas Hash) and brown the beef, drain and add the remaining ingredients. Dice the peppers and add them to the skillet then bake it up in in the oven. Easy stuff! And it would make ahead like a dream. Even better for busy nights.
Serve yours with a batch of crispy southern cornbread and you’ll have dinner heaven. If you want to learn how to make cornbread, I’ll show you!.
Watch the full recipe on YouTube!!
Classic Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 very large green bell peppers or about 5 small ones
- 15 ounce can tomato sauce
- 1/2 pound ground beef or turkey
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup cooked brown or white rice
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds. Place the peppers in a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a simmer and cook 3 minutes, just until the peppers are slightly soft. Drain, rinse with cool water and set aside on paper towels to drain.
- In a skillet, heat the ground beef and onion and cook until no pink remains. Drain.
- Add the salt, pepper, rice, garlic powder and half of the tomato sauce.
- Stir well and spoon into the peppers.
- Top with the other half of the tomato sauce.
- Bake in an ungreased dish at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm.
Nutrition
Laurie says
Oh, My- all the way back to childhood. Tonight, I was looking for something easy, nutritious that wouldn’t challenge my culinary mind. You can definitely play with the fat content in the meat, but this is one of those places I stayed 80/20. Just enough fat to make sure the onions didn’t burn. My only “change-up” was to put a bit of tomato sauce under the peppers. That’s good, too.
YUM. Made me think of my mother. Sent my hubby back to 10 years old- the first time he ever had something like this, his much-older bother made it. FUN.
You’re correct- rice doesn’t have to be cooked first, but I did put it in with the onions and ground beef. 30 minutes later- PERFECT. Thanks for the memories.
Rachel Ballard says
Oh you’re so welcome Laurie. 🙂 It was the simple food from years ago that’s still so good today! I’m so glad you liked them. –Rachel
Gary Roidt says
Hi Rachel, my wife did all the cooking as I was to busy working all the time. One of the things I looked forward to was her stuffed bell peppers. My wife passed away a couple of years ago and now I am going to attempt to make them myself. Question, is cooking them in water first important? I never knew her to do that. Wish me luck.
Rachel Ballard says
I’m so sorry about your wife’s passing Gary. To answer your question, I don’t know that it is a deal breaker not to boil them first. I just find that if I don’t the peppers are still quite firm when they come out of the oven. If you wanted to skip that step, you could put the cleaned bell peppers in the oven for 5 minutes before adding the filling and then bake them the rest of the way. That might help ensure they are soft enough at the end. –Rachel
Ginny says
In the video you say 3 bell peppers and 1 pound of ground beef. In the written recipe it says 4 large peppers and 1/2 lb of ground beef. Having never made them before notnsure which I should follow or make the pound of beef and fill 4 peppers if there is enough.
Rachel Ballard says
Hey Ginny, go with the written recipe. It depends on the size of your peppers. The ones I was using in my video were HUGE so I adjusted a few things to make those work. I’d say if your peppers are average size that 1/2 pound will be fine. Just stick with the written version. –Rachel
Pam says
Are you supposed to have a sauce based in the stuffed bell peppers or can you leave it out for what we are asking. 1st timers of stuffed bell peppers. Help
Rachel Ballard says
Help me out here Pam so I understand. Are you asking if it’s okay to leave out the tomato sauce? I guess if you want a pepper that’s just stuffed with rice and ground beef, sure. Wouldn’t be nearly as good though. Let me know if I can help clarify the recipe for you. –Rachel
Marne Holstein says
Just made these tonight! They were just delish! I sort I added a little corn and chopped mushrooms sort of combined another recipe! They were awesome! My husband gobbled it up! Terrific!
Rachel Ballard says
Marne that made me laugh. Is it still my recipe if you blended it with another one? 😜 I don’t know, but I’m glad you liked them either way! –Rachel
Nancy futrelle52@gmail.com says
Substituting pasta sauce or salsa is still useing tomatos. The search for stuffed peppers without tomatoes was focused on allergies. Trading one form for another is ludicrous.
Rachel Ballard says
Hey Nancy, I’m not sure what you’re referring to here but certainly if you have an allergy you wouldn’t want pasta sauce or salsa. I’ve never claimed that this recipe was tomato free. If Google presented it in search to you that was on them and not me. You could always leave it out and just have rice and beef with seasonings. –Rachel
Lisa says
You can’t eat tomatoes so you feel you must troll anyone posting a recipe that includes tomatoes.
Eat cake.
Morgan says
What are the rest if the nutrition information? Carbs, fat, protein?
Rachel Ballard says
Morgan I’ve updated the nutrition information but I have say that these numbers are pretty approximate. It will all depend on how much rice you use for the carb numbers and if you use ground beef or turkey. I ran the numbers with regular ground beef FYI. –Rachel
Melissa Jackson says
Hi, I have never made peppers before. I’m gonna try. If salsa is used, do you use it (15 oz) in place of tomato sauce or with sauce? Either way, how much salsa would you use?
Thanks!!
Melissa
Rachel Ballard says
Hey Melissa, I’ve never made them with salsa personally but I think what readers have done is just swap in the salsa for the tomato sauce. So 15 ounces. You won’t mess it up. Just put some in there girl and stir it around till it looks right. 😉 –Rachel
Kay says
Any changes for slow cooker? How long on “hi” or “low”
Rachel Ballard says
Hey Kay, you know I don’t use a slow cooker and this recipe wasn’t written for one, I’m not sure how long to tell you. Since everything is already cooked, it seems so much simpler to me to just put them in the oven for 30 minutes than to wait four hours on it to cook in a slow cooker. I’m zero help! If you try it feel free to report back for anyone who wants to use that method. You can be our tester! –Rachel