Classic Stuffed Peppers
What is it about the smell of classic stuffed peppers that gets you 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.
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But here’s my secret:
While these classic stuffed peppers are really tasty, I’ve been ruined on them.
We ate them alot as a kid but with their basic ingredients, no fuss and no frills, they really are the best slate for you to experiment with.
I know you will enjoy them.
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! I have a great post on how to use leftover taco meat any extra filling would work great in.
Why do you boil stuffed peppers?
Bell peppers are quite firm and may take longer to cook properly if they don’t get a bit of a jump start.
Cut off the tops and remove the seeds and any large ribs but try not to break the pepper. Place the pepper into boiling water for a minute or so then turn upside down to drain before filling.
The goal isn’t to cook them to the point of being totally soft–just softer than what they were so that they will finish cooking in the oven with the filling.
You could also pre-bake the empty peppers for 5 to 7 minutes before adding the stuffed pepper recipe filling, then finish baking for the full time in the recipe.
Save time and skip cooking rice with this trick
Unless you keep cooked rice on hand, waiting 20 minutes or more for a batch to cook can feel like one extra step in your day you just don’t have time for. Instead, cut right to the chase with Thrive Life freeze dried brown or white rice. Simply refresh the cooked rice by pouring over a bit of warm water and in just a few minutes it’s ready to go in your next recipe.
To make these stuffed peppers ahead:
Cook the filling, stuff the peppers and place them in a baking dish. Wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in the fridge till ready to bake, up to 2 days ahead.
A note on freezing: Don’t freeze the peppers stuffed or they will go soggy on you when they thaw. The filling freezes great though!
To reheat: 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.
Can I pack the meat in raw?
I’ve had a few readers who have done this over the years and I just can’t support it. Where is all that grease from the beef going to go? And the cook time is going to be much longer while the dense filling cooks through. This isn’t a method I would recommend.
How to make stuffed peppers in one pan
You could also deconstruct this 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.
What to serve with stuffed peppers
This stuffed pepper recipe is basically a meal in one but try these sides to round out your meal:
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.
Oops!!! I made the beef and rice mixture with the tomato sauce as described…. but I used uncooked rice as I had done in other recipes. Is this ruined now? Will the rice cook. I totally overlooked that important fact ? Is there any way to save this?
Hey Andrea, Oh man! Well, you could add water to your rice and beef and simmer it until the rice softens. That might work. Just simmer until the water reduces and/or is absorbed by the rice and it’s back to it’s normal filling thickness before stuffing your peppers. How does that sound? –Rachel
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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!
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
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.
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
You can’t eat tomatoes so you feel you must troll anyone posting a recipe that includes tomatoes.
Eat cake.
What are the rest if the nutrition information? Carbs, fat, protein?
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
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
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
Any changes for slow cooker? How long on “hi” or “low”
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