Craving a comfort food classic? Make my Stuffed Bell Peppers with Ground Beef using leftover rice, ground beef, spices mixed with tomato sauce, and stuffed into a bell pepper. Top with mozzarella cheese just before serving for a comforting dinner at home.
Growing up, I remember eating these exact stuffed peppers with ground beef and rice at least once a month. Although back then, my mom only used green peppers. I assume that the cost of red, orange and yellow peppers was too expensive for our family’s budget. Or maybe this is the way my mom’s mom, aka my grandma, made it, and my mom never steered from the recipe. I don’t think my mom started making the tri-color variety until I was in high school.
This is one of those recipes that I make a few times each year. It’s a tried and true recipe that goes into my cooking rotation. When I’m not making the ground beef and rice variety I like to make other variations of stuffed peppers like Couscous-Stuffed Peppers with Basil Sauce, Southwestern Chicken And Rice Stuffed Peppers, or Slow Cooker Shredded Chicken Taco Stuffed Peppers.
If you are craving stuffed peppers and not sure how to make them. I’m here to walk you through all the steps. Scroll below for step-by-step instructions. I even sneak in extra veggies that your family will never even realize is mixed into the filling!
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Ingredients
- Bell peppers: You would need 6 for this recipe Any color pepper will work they are the same in taste.
- Meat: I use lean ground beef for this recipe.
- Vegetables: Onion diced, Garlic cloves, Zucchini shredded.
- Seasoning: Kosher Salt, Black Pepper, Garlic Powder, Italian Seasoning.
- Rice: You can make a fresh pot of rice or use leftover white rice. For this recipe, I used leftover rice.
- Tomato sauce: Canned tomato sauce will work perfectly for this recipe.
- Cheese: Shredded mozzarella divided.
Directions
If you ever wondered how to cook stuffed peppers. You are in luck. I’m breaking down the step-by-step process!
Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil. While the water is heating, begin cleaning and hollowing out the bell peppers. Once the water is to a boil, carefully place each bell pepper in the boiling water and boil for 10 minutes.
EXPERT TIP: You want your peppers to be firm, not mushy. Remove the peppers from the boiling pot of water and rinse them under cold water. Set aside.
While the peppers boil, shred the zucchini. I use the handheld mandolin slicer; however, a cheese grater works, too!
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
In a large skillet, begin browning the lean ground beef on medium heat (for about 5 minutes). Halfway through the browning process, as your break up the bits of ground beef, add the diced onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Once the ground beef is cooked, turn off the heat. Add the rice, shredded zucchini (if using) and 3 cups of tomato sauce, and Italian seasoning. Mix well until incorporated.
Carefully spoon the rice/beef mixture into the bell peppers until the pepper is packed full. You may have filling leftover depending on how large your peppers are. Reserve for serving once peppers are done. Add 1 cup of water to the baking dish. Tent a piece of aluminum foil over the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the peppers from the oven. Add more sauce on top and sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered for 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.
FAQs
Yes, the most common way to make stuffed peppers is to cook the meat first and make the filling. The filling should be fully cooked. Only needing to be reheated while baked in the oven to melt the cheese.
Uncooked stuffed peppers will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. At that point, you need to bake them and enjoy them to keep the ingredients as fresh as possible. The longest I’ve ever kept them in the refrigerator is one day.
Some recipes for stuffed peppers with tomato sauce call for boiling the peppers to soften them before filling them. However, it is up to preference. If the peppers are not boiled, they will still soften up from placing them in the oven and will have more of a crunch.
Yes, stuffed peppers are a great make ahead meal because they freeze perfectly. You will want to fully cook the filling and stuff them. Then place in a freezer safe airtight container. They will remain fresh for up to 3 months in the freezer. When you are ready to cook them simply place in the refrigerator the day before to thaw then bake in the oven per directions.
You can pair stuffed peppers with side dishes like salad, cornbread muffins, even roasted broccoli.
If you happen to have leftover filling I will heat it up just before I’m ready to serve the baked peppers and add an extra scoop or two to each plate. My kids actually don’t like bell peppers, so I’ll give them some of the extra filling and they enjoying eat that as dinner.
Tips & Tricks
Here are a few of my favorite tips and tricks I’ve found helpful when making my Classic Stuffed Peppers recipe.
- Rice – I have found that cooked leftover rice works best for stuffed peppers. If the rice is too fresh, it becomes mushy, and we all know–you don’t want mushy rice!
- Substitutions – This recipe is naturally gluten-free. However, to make these dairy-free substitutes, use dairy-free cheese for the mozzarella cheese.
- Zucchini – I love to added shredded zucchini to my stuffed peppers. It blends into the peppers and a great way to add a hidden veggie in for the family (specifically kids who are picky eaters).
- Bell Peppers – Two methods to pre-cooking the bell peppers (I prefer the boiling method as listed in my recipe above). If you don’t want to dirty another pot you can place the peppers cut-side face down in the same baking dish you will bake them in with 1 cup of water. Tightly cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes while you make the filling.
- Leftover Filling – You may have filling leftover depending on how large your peppers are. Reserve for serving once peppers are done.
Bell Pepper Recipes
Do you have a lot of bell peppers to use up? Try a few of my favorite bell pepper recipes.
If you make my homemade stuffed peppers recipe, I would be honored and love for you to take the time to leave a ⭐ star rating and comment! I spend hours developing and testing these recipes, and always love to hear feedback and user experience!
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Stuffed Bell Peppers with Ground Beef
Equipment
- Glass Baking Dish
- Frying Pan
Ingredients
- 6 Bell peppers
- 1 poun d Lean ground beef
- ¼ cup Onion diced
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ⅛ teaspoon Black Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 2 cups Leftover white rice
- 1 Zucchini shredded
- 4 cups Tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- ½ cup Shredded mozzarella divided
Instructions
- Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil.
- While the water is heating begin cleaning and hollowing out the bell peppers. Once the water is to a boil carefully place each bell pepper in the boiling water and boil for 10 minutes. *You want your peppers to be firm not mushy. Remove the peppers from the boiling pot of water and rinse under cold water. Set aside.6 Bell peppers
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
- In a large skillet begin browning the lean ground beef on medium heat (for about 5 minutes). Half way through the browning process as your breaking up the bits of ground beef add the diced onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.1 poun d Lean ground beef, ¼ cup Onion, 2 Garlic cloves, 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt, ⅛ teaspoon Black Pepper, ½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
- Once the ground beef is cooked through turn off the heat. Add the rice, shredded zucchini (if using) and 3 cups of tomato sauce, and Italian seasoning. Mix well until incorporated.2 cups Leftover white rice, 1 Zucchini, 4 cups Tomato sauce, 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- Carefully begin spooning the rice/beef mixture into each of the bell peppers until the pepper is packed full.
- Add 1 cup of water to the baking dish.
- Tent a piece of aluminum foil over the baking dish and bake for 20 minutes.
- Remove the peppers from the oven. Add more sauce on top and sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella cheese. Bake uncovered for 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.½ cup Shredded mozzarella
- Remove from oven, garnish with fresh minced parsley and additional sauce if needed, and serve immediately.
Notes
- Zucchini – I love to added shredded zucchini to my stuffed peppers. It blends into the peppers and a great way to add a hidden veggie in for the family (specifically kids who are picky eaters).
- Bell Peppers – Two methods to pre-cooking the bell peppers (I prefer the boiling method as listed in my recipe above). If you don’t want to dirty another pot you can place the peppers cut-side face down in the same baking dish you will bake them in with 1 cup of water. Tightly cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes while you make the filling.
- Leftover Filling – You may have filling leftover depending on how large your peppers are. Reserve for serving once peppers are done.
peperint patty
I make my peppers almost same, but I cut only some of meaty part of extra thick bacon, and add it to meat mixture, I take the leftover part of bacon and add to tomato cooking broth–then I throw that whole piece out/throw away when serving. I make these in oven or on stove top. We prefer stove top. We also do not use the cheese.My family loves this & bacon adds to flavor.This is something my grandmother did.
Katie
Woah I love the idea of infusing the peppers with bacon flavoring!
michelle @ The Village Cook
YUM! I love stuffed peppers & those pics have just triggered a serious craving… 🙂
Katie
Michelle, I’m glad I could trigger instant cravings! That’s what I aspire to achieve on a daily basis! Thanks for stopping by!
Lee
I also recently started using the red and yellow peppers – boy, are they sweet! I never used zucchini – will try that next time. Otherwise, it’s just how I do stuffed peppers, too.
Katie
Lee–I had extra zucchini in the fridge and wanted to use it up PLUS I wanted to have more than just a pepper as a veggie for dinner, so I decided to chop up the zucchini! It was awesome, and didn’t distract from the traditional pepper!
Jessica@AKitchenAddiction
My husband loves stuffed peppers, so I am always looking for new recipes! I’m jealous that you are able to use ones from your own garden!
Katie
Thanks Jessica for the kind comments! I have 6 more peppers that are mid-size right now. As soon as they get a bit larger they will most likely be turned into stuffed peppers once again!
Wanda
Katie, my mom makes stuff peppers often too. She uses colorful pepers, but she grows them. While living in Boston, I remember seeing her hunt for them @ local stores. This dish brings back so much wonderful memories, thanks Katie!
Katie
Very cool, Wanda. Thanks for sharing the story! Our peppers are suppose to be red, but all we’ve yielded is green–some how I don’t think the red were ever planted! lol.