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Cheesy and savory, easy Stuffed Bell Peppers are made with flavorful ground beef and fluffy brown rice for a wholesome recipe! These stuffed bell peppers are versatile because they can be made with lean ground beef, sausage, turkey, chicken, or vegetarian ingredients.
You may also like my easy homemade beef stew or my easy chicken chili recipe.
Deliciously easy stuffed bell peppers are the best. I like serving these when I have guests over because they always look so fancy. This healthy stuffed pepper recipe is made with tender and well-seasoned ground beef and mixed with fluffy rice to create a hearty, satisfying meal filled with protein! You will enjoy them because they are made with homemade tomato sauce, cheddar cheese, garlic, onions, paprika, and juicy tomatoes. Just so flavorful.
You can easily make this easy stuffed bell peppers recipe keto by substituting brown rice for cauliflower rice–or just make these peppers without rice. It’s that easy! Family-friendly and the perfect mix of fresh veggies mixed with filling ground beef, these healthy stuffed peppers are ideal for dinners at home when you need something prepared in about 30 minutes.
Why I love this dish
- Wholesome: Filled with fiber, this stuffed pepper recipe is a great combination of ingredients that are delicious and nutritious at the same time. Gluten-free and made without artificial ingredients, these Southern-style stuffed peppers are hearty and wholesome.
- Delicious and Filling: Delicious homemade tomato sauce is absorbed into the ground beef and soft rice to create delicious aromatic flavors that taste delicious with garlic and onions. The bell peppers provide just enough crunch to give these peppers texture and fresh flavors.
- Family-Friendly: Most kids love cheesy ground beef with rice! You can serve these beef and rice stuffed bell peppers deconstructed, too, if you need to make them a little more kid-friendly.
- Comforting: Cheddar cheese is melted until perfectly cheesy over the ground beef filling. This recipe has classic comforting flavors. Its seriously the best stuffed pepper recipe ever.
- Easy and Versatile: You can serve them in all sorts of ways. Switch out different types of proteins for the fillings, or leave the meat out altogether.
Ingredients needed
- Bell peppers: You will need seven bell peppers. You can use any colored bell pepper such as green, yellow, red, or orange. Be sure to remove the tops, cores, and seeds from the bell peppers before starting the recipe.
- Cheese: I used shredded cheddar cheese, but feel free to use any other shredded cheese of your choice.
- Parsley: Fresh parsley is used for garnishing the peppers right before serving.
For the ground beef filling
- Olive oil: I used olive oil, but you can use other types of cooking oils like avocado oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil, etc.
- Onion: One medium yellow or white onion.
- Garlic: Freshly minced garlic is pungent and a great way to add a ton of flavor.
- Ground beef: I like to use lean ground beef when cooking with beef because it does not have as much grease. Other ground proteins will work, too, like ground chicken or turkey.
- Cooked rice: I use cooked brown rice, but feel free to use any kind of cooked rice.
- Diced tomatoes: I used canned diced tomatoes but you can make your own.
- Tomato paste: use your favorite kind.
- Seasonings: Oregano, Smoked paprika, and Salt and pepper.
How to make stuffed bell peppers
- Prepare bell peppers: First, cut the top of the peppers off and remove the seeds. Place open face up on a baking dish. Set the dish aside while you preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare the ground beef filling.
- Cook the beef: Next, heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add all the spices, tomatoes, and whatever veggies you would like to add. If you are using rice, then add cooked rice. Want to make stuffed peppers without rice? Skip this part and keep it as healthy and low-carb as you like.
- Simmer the tomato sauce: Cook the tomato sauce until it has thickened in texture. Season with salt and pepper.
- Stuff the peppers: Next, stuff the peppers with the cooked beef. Grate your cheese if you are using homemade grated cheese.
- Bake the peppers: Finally, bake the peppers for ten to twelve minutes. Remove the peppers from the oven, cover with shredded cheese, then bake for about five to seven more minutes. Top with fresh parsley and enjoy!
Frequently asked questions
Not at all! If you avoid cooking the peppers beforehand, then they get a lot more crisp and crunchy! Some people do like it to be more soft and cooked through, so you can pre-bake them for about 10 minutes, allow them to cool enough to handle, and stuff them with your beef and rice stuffing.
I highly recommended cooking the meat before stuffing it into peppers because cooking it beforehand with the spices and seasoning gives it a ton of flavor and ensures it will be fully cooked prior to eating. This is how I prefer to prepare mine even though you technically don’t have to cook the meat and it will cook when you bake it.
It takes around 20-25 for the bell peppers to fully soften in the oven. You can always let it cook for a few more minutes until the peppers are soft enough to your liking.
Be sure to avoid overcooking the bell peppers and add the shredded cheese towards the end of the cooking time.
You do not have to boil the peppers beforehand, but boiling them ensures they are the perfect cross of firm but soft once they have been fully baked since many people like their peppers to be more on the soft side.
Recipe tips
- Instead of ground beef, use ground chicken, ground turkey, lean ground beef bison, or ground pork like sausage.
- Make vegetarian stuffed bell peppers by omitting the meat and adding extra veggies or using soy or veggie-based meatless crumble.
- Use other types of cheese other than cheddar, like mozzarella, Colby jack, Monterey jack, pepper jack, etc.
- Instead of rice, you can use fluffy quinoa or cauliflower rice.
- Store the leftovers in the refrigerator for up to four days. Reheat the leftovers either in the oven or microwave.
- Freeze the peppers by placing them in an airtight container and placing them in the freezer for up to two months. Thaw the peppers in the refrigerator before reheating them in the oven.
- You can use freshly diced tomatoes instead of canned tomatoes. Use premade tomato sauce to save time.
What to serve with stuffed peppers
- Garlic Oven Roasted Mushrooms
- Tomato Bruschetta Bread
- Roasted Broccolini
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes
- Cucumber Avocado Feta Salad
- Spinach Apple Pecan Salad
- Oven Roasted Veggies
Recipes you may also like
- Honey Sesame Chicken
- Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
- Garlic Shrimp Spaghetti
- Maple Glazed Baked Whole Chicken
- Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna Boats
- Asparagus Stuffed Chicken Breast
- Taco Stuffed Zucchini Cups
- Chicken Shawarma Bowls
- Shrimp Fajita Bowls
- Ground Turkey Cauliflower Rice Recipe
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Easy Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Extra-virgin Olive Oil, or avocado oil
- 1 Medium Onion, diced
- 2-3 Garlic Cloves, minced
- 1 pound Lean Ground Beef
- 1½ Cup Cooked Brown Rice
- 14.5 ounces Diced Tomatoes, one can
- 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste
- 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano
- 1 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika, see notes
- Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
- 7 Large Bell Peppers, top and core removed
- 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese
- freshly chopped parsley , for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 F and place the 7 Large Bell Peppers cut side up into a baking dish or a rimmed tray.
- Heat 2 Tablespoons Extra-virgin Olive Oil in a large pan over medium heat. Sauté 1 Medium Onion (diced) until softens, then stir in 2-3 Garlic Cloves (minced) and cook for about 1 minute more.
- Add 1 pound Lean Ground Beef and cook until no longer pink, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon for 5-6 minutes. Stir in 1½ Cup Cooked Brown Rice, 14.5 ounces Diced Tomatoes, 1 Tablespoon Tomato Paste, 1 Teaspoon Dried Oregano, and 1 Tablespoon Smoked Paprika
- Cook until sauce is slightly reduced, about 4-5 minutes. Taste and season with Kosher salt and pepper as needed.
- Stuff each pepper with beef mixture and bake until the peppers are mostly tender. About 10-12 minutes.
- Sprinkle with 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Jack Cheese evenly over each pepper and bake for 5-7 minutes more. Garnish with freshly chopped parsley before serving. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
- Use quinoa instead of rice. For a low-carb option, use cauliflower rice.
- The amount of paprika might be a bit intense for some, use two teaspoons instead
- You may use ground turkey instead of ground beef
- Any other bland or cooking oil in place of olive oil
- Use any other light or fat-free shredded cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Very good with just a couple mods! I added tomato sauce as the small amount of tomato paste did not make enough. The recipe says not to pre cook the peppers but like many other posters I parboiled them for 3 minutes. I really don’t think they would’ve cooked enough otherwise. I also mixed the cheese in with the filling and just used less on the tops. Filled 7 very large peppers. Very tasty!
This recipe was super easy and quick to make. It was very yummy, the only issue I had was the bell peppers weren’t fully cooked and softened. I cooked for the full amount of time. I decided to cook a few minutes longer, and it didn’t help much. I’d recommend pre-cooking the peppers or even boiling them possibly before putting in the oven with the meat mixture. Other wise, super good recipe!
love this easy one- one side note- I always steam or par-boil the peppers b4 hand – for 6 mins , to soften the up-& it works like a charm! Here’s an idea for breakfast – add eggs or (egg whites in my case) instead of the tomatoes & rice- just omit them & add the egg & I use poblano peppers on days where I want some spice- add it to the meat mixture & stuff peppers accordingly. have made many variations of this – thanks so much for the hard work & ideas.
Thanks for the tip! So glad you like it
1 tablespoon of smoked paprika is way too much. Is that a mistake on the recipe? One tablespoon? We couldn’t eat it.
I don’t like the smoke flavor so I used a Tablespoon of taco seasoning instead. They were very good!
Great substitute! Glad you liked it
These were so good. The only thing I did differently was blanched the peppers for 3 minutes in boiling water before assembling. Perfect!
Thanks. Glad you loved it
Are the nutrition facts per stuffed pepper?
one full pepper. So two halfs
Had this for dinner. They were delicious. Will do again.
We used Knorrs Cheese and Broccoli Rice instead if just rice for a little added flavor.
Delicious, takes a little while to prep and cook, but delicious and heaps of it.
Nice. Thanks
Can I put sour cream into the mixture or will it mess the dish up?
To garnish? or add in the stuffing? You can add sour cream to garnish yes.
Made this last night. Husband & daughter really liked. I’ve tried a few other recipes. This one was easy to follow.
so glad they loved it. Thanks for the positive feedback
I used a brown rice/quinoa mix instead of white or brown rice and it was delish! Also poured a small can of tomato sauce on top and then baked them. Put shredded cheese on top before baking the last five minutes! Super good recipe!
Thanks for the tips. Sounds yummy. Glad you liked it.
I find it helpful to steam the peppers for a few minutes before hand, it enhances the flavour of the dish, and helps with texture too. I follow my own recipe and they taste awesome they’re one of my husbands favourites on cold days.
Thanks for the feedback and suggestion.
These were delicious!
I used ground Turkey and substituted the rice with quinoa. I also added some black beans. I took another reviewers advice and layered the filling with cheese. It did take a little bit longer cooking time for the peppers to get softer like we like them. They were so good though!
Thanks! Yes some do like the peppers soft and i love the idea od adding cheese 🙂
Is the calories for just one half of the pepper filled or one whole pepper?
Hi. That would be one whole pepper
I should’ve read the recipe better. Yes. The peppers should be cooked or steamed. I missed that part. Went with cold peppers. Stuffed. Then held for dinner 6 hrs later. Let’s see what 350 does for 16 mins THEN CHEESE till melts
Did you drain the grease from the ground beef before adding the rice/tomatoes/paste spices etc?
You don’t have to but you can certainly drain it.
What a delicious recipe! Just made it this evening w ground turkey and was delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Thanks for the feedback. So glad you liked it!
Made these for dinner with a side of cauliflower/potato mash. So good!!!!! Beat stuffed peppers recipe I’ve made! Thanks!!
Glad you loved it.
I steam my bell peppers first then stuff them and return them to the skillet I cooked the stuffing in, sprinkle cheese and cover. No need for the oven, just simmer for a couple of minutes
We had these for supper last night. Everyone enjoyed them. Just had to cook longer for the peppers. My peppers were large, so I cut them lengthwise. Thanks for sharing. Will definitely be making these again…
Amazing! glad you liked it.
Yummy recipe thanks so much! I made these tonight and my husband loved them too. I didn’t have Jack cheese so I used Cheddar and they were still tasty.
Next time I might pre-cook my peppers a bit first, or increase the cooking time because they weren’t cooked very much after following the temp and time.
Thanks for the feedback Toni