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This stuffed green peppers recipe makes a crowd-pleasing dinner, starring a hearty filling of rice, tomatoes, and cheese!
Here’s a fun, hearty dinner idea that pleases everyone: stuffed green peppers! We love the retro vibes of this concept. Throw rice, ground beef or plant based crumbles, tomatoes and cheese into a pepper and call it dinner!
This one is so full of flavor, even veggie haters will be converts. The savory Italian-style seasonings of garlic, oregano and fennel make magic with tangy tomatoes and mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. It takes a bit of effort to prepare, but it makes a satisfying dinner that’s well worth it!
Tips for stuffed green peppers
Stuffed peppers are a classic dish in many cuisines, like Spanish, Mexican, Central European, Indian, and more. This stuffed green peppers recipe is classic American-style, filled with beef or plant-based crumbles, rice and cheese. One of the first recipes for the dish was in an 1890’s cookbook! It went on to become very popular in the 1970’s and remains so to this day.
Stuffed green peppers are a simple concept, but they do take some time to put together! Make sure to set aside about 1 hour, with 30 minutes for prep and 30 minutes for baking. Here are a few tips:
- When chopping, choose peppers that stand upright. They need to standing upright in the dish when serving. If they’re a bit wonky, you can slice off part of the base to make a flatter surface.
- Boil the peppers first. This makes sure they’re perfectly tender before stuffing them. (Without pre-boiling, the peppers are much too crunchy after baking.)
- Consider making the rice in advance (or using pre-cooked rice). This speeds up the prep time and decreases complexity.
- Bake with a bit of water in the bottom of the pan. This helps to steam the peppers so they don’t dry out during the bake time.
Vegetarian vs ground beef filling
This stuffed green peppers recipe is easily customizable to a vegetarian or vegan diet. There are lots of great options these days when it comes to plant-based meat substitutes. Here are a few options:
- Use any plant-based crumbles, ground beef or sausage. We like the brands Impossible and Beyond.
- Substitute 2 cups homemade vegan ground beef. Want a homemade version instead? This mixture of mushrooms, walnuts and savory spices remarkably tastes like meat.
- Or, use regular ground beef. If you’re a meat eater, regular sausage works beautifully. Make sure to drain any extra fat before adding the sauce ingredients.
Meal prep and make ahead notes
This stuffed green peppers recipe takes about 1 hour to make, so we typically make it for a weekend or when we have extra time. But want to save time and make it on a weeknight? Here are a few options for meal prep:
- Make rice in advance: It’s helpful to not have to balance yet another component while making the recipe. You can also use pre-cooked packages of rice.
- Make entire filling in advance: Make the entire filling in advance and refrigerate it, then re-warm it before stuffing the peppers.
- Boil the bell peppers in advance: You also can pre-boil the peppers, then fill and bake them day of.
- Or, make the entire stuffed peppers in advance: Make the entire pepper recipe in advance and refrigerate. Add a few minutes to the bake time since you’ll be baking them from cold (not warm).
Dietary notes
This stuffed green peppers recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. For vegan, use your favorite brand of vegan mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, as well as vegan Worcestershire sauce.
Stuffed Green Peppers
This stuffed green peppers recipe makes a crowd-pleasing dinner, starring a hearty filling of rice, tomatoes, and cheese!
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Main dish
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 6 green bell peppers*
- 2 cups cooked rice (1 cup dry)
- 1 pound plant based beef crumbles or regular ground beef
- 2 garlic cloves
- 15-ounces fire roasted crushed tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 6 tablespoons grated or shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
- 1 ¼ cups whole milk mozzarella cheese, divided
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, plus more to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cook the rice (or use precooked rice).
- Boil the bell peppers: Cut off the tops of the peppers, then cut around the seeds and remove them. Boil for 5 minutes until tender when pierced with a knife. Remove from the water and drain upside down on a towel.
- Make the filling: Place the plant based crumbles or ground beef in a medium skillet and cook according to the package instructions, 2 to 3 minutes for plant-based crumbles and 6 to 7 for regular ground beef (for regular beef, drain excess fat after cooking).
- Add the garlic to the pan and cook 30 seconds, then add the crushed tomatoes, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, fennel seed, kosher salt, Worcestershire sauce, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, chopped parsley, and the cooked rice. Heat for 1 to 2 minutes until warmed through.
- Stuff the peppers: Place the peppers in a casserole dish. (If they have trouble standing upright, you can slice off part of the bottom: just try not to pierce into the pepper and make a hole.) Spoon the filling into each pepper.
- Bake the peppers: Top each pepper with a handful of shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan. Add about 1/2-inch water to the bottom of the pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes until the cheese melts and slightly browns, covering loosely with foil after 15 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes before serving.
Notes
*Look for peppers that have flat bottoms so they’ll easily stand up in a pan.
More stuffed recipes
Love stuffing vegetables with tasty fillings? Here are a few more recipes you’ll enjoy:
- Go for fan-favorite stuffed zucchini boats, or delicious stuffed sweet potatoes.
- Make it with mushrooms: try stuffed portobello mushrooms or stuffed mushrooms.
- Opt for our classic stuffed peppers.
- When in season, make stuffed acorn squash.
This is a vegetarian blog!