Old Fashioned Stuffed Green Peppers Recipe

Our easy stuffed green peppers recipe made with a few ingredients is great. Inexpensive to make and pretty healthy too. This is how to make stuffed green peppers for dinner where your kids will love them too. We will explain how to blanch bell peppers easily first, add the ground beef and rice mixture so you can enjoy them too.

Old Fashioned stuffed bell peppers recipe

You can use other colors of peppers too, it’s up to you. 😉 I usually buy double so I can make these for dinner and a batch of homemade green pepper jelly to use as a sauce for pork chops. They’re so versatile. For an easy and healthy recipe here I go with this one.

There really are very few ingredients to this one, which I love, and you can alter it according to your own taste along the way or every time you make it just adjust here and there.

We make these quite often so we have adjusted it to the point where it is perfect for us and this is the green peppers recipe I will share with you.

Stuffed Green Peppers

Stuffed Green Peppers with Tomato Sauce

The first step to this stuffed green peppers recipe to start cooking your cup of rice in your rice cooker (or however you cook your rice, I use this one and have for over 10 years, then on to the peppers.

First thing first you cut the tops off, remove seeds, and blanch them. I’m sure you know, but this is how to cut bell peppers if you need some tips.

Then you are going to need to blanch bell peppers to get them a bit more tender before you add all the goodies. I know….when I first made this years ago I was like “what????”

It really is easy and it takes that bitterness out of the peppers and makes them softer as well. Just boil a pot of water, and when it boils submerge the peppers inside for about 10 min. or so. I just do it as long as it takes me to finish making the ground beef.

Stuffed Bell Peppers

While the rice and peppers are blanching, cook the ground beef and put some dehydrated onion, or diced onion, in as well as some Lawry’s or regular salt to taste. If you want lower fat versions you could easily swap out for ground chicken or turkey too. Want a bit of heat, use half beef and half a lb. of spicy ground sausage.

I add mushrooms at this stage and cook all of it together browning them as well. Cook until it is not pink anymore and put in a large bowl. Remember that they will bake again in the oven so you don’t need it all to be completely browned at this point. Shred your cheese and set aside in a separate bowl.

If you do need a dairy free stuffed peppers alternative I have found that Daiya has a wonderful shredded one. My husband needs this so we have tested quite a few.

How to make stuffed green peppers

Stuffed Mini Peppers

If you wanted to make more of a finger food size you could. Bake time would reduce significantly but you’d use the same recipe. Just fit a few in each muffin hole opening. Once your rice is cooked you are ready to fill! I use a large muffin pan because the green peppers fit exactly into the holes and won’t fall over when cooking. 😉

Add your rice, ground beef, and can of tomato sauce into your large bowl and stir together.

Scoop mixture into each green pepper to about the middle, top with cheese, then put another scoop on top of that and top with cheese at the top.

Sausage Stuffed Peppers

I use what is on hand. If I only have a roll of Jimmy dean sausage I would use that instead of beef. The spicy type is great to use half and half if you ask me. There is usually more mixture left than will fill 4 peppers so I fill the last 2 holes of my muffin pan with the mixture, top with cheese and it is a good meal for the next day.

Now just pop the whole pan into the oven at 350 degrees for maybe 15-20 minutes just to melt the cheese and you are ready to eat!! Here is the entire recipe to refer to now and later.

Stuffed green peppers recipe

1. Peppers – and a large pot to blanch the peppers before stuffing to get rid of some bitterness
2. Cooked white Rice – feel free to use cooked brown if you prefer
3. Browned ground beef – use a pan with a little olive oil before filling
4. Cheese
5. Onion
6. Tomato sauce – could use spaghetti sauce, or diced tomatoes but that won’t make it as rich and thick
7. Mushrooms – optional
8. You’ll want a baking dish that fits them snugly

If you love these you should try our air fryer breakfast stuffed peppers too! Want to skip blanching all together? Try crockpot stuffed bell peppers here.

Oven Baked Stuffed Green Peppers

You will need a little prep at the beginning. Precook the beef or ground turkey with diced onions if you want to add those. Quickly boil or blanch peppers and remove from hot water to cool a bit. This will help make sure the peppers are tender, but they will continue to do so once the rice mixture is added.

Cheese is optional but we like it so much I add some in the bottom and on top of the meat and rice too. If you wanted a vegetarian option you could use a meatless alternative without animal products and use our temp and timing other than that. We have instructions here on how long to bake stuffed peppers at 400 F too.