Valentina Ablaev
This stuffed bell peppers recipe is the best comfort meal to make from scratch. Tender bell peppers, loaded with a juicy ground beef, rice and sauteed vegetables filling. The peppers are baked in a flavorful sauce that infuses each bite. Once you introduce your family to this dish, you’ll be making it regularly!
These stuffed bell peppers are so delicious, we have to create the mini version! Our mini stuffed peppers recipe takes everything you love about this dish and makes it into a tiny version.
Best Stuffed Peppers
This stuffed pepper recipe is inspired by our traditional cabbage rolls! The filling is almost exactly the same, but the process is so much easier!
Tools for this Recipe
Shop all of Valentina’s favorite kitchen essentials, gadgets, and kitchen must-haves!
- Use a large grater to get the carrots to the perfect texture.
- Using the right baking dish is crucial for arranging the peppers so they cook evenly and absorb the broth. We use a 9×13 casserole dish, but if you’re using fewer peppers, you may want to use a smaller dish. A Dutch oven is also great to bake the peppers.
Ingredients for Ground Beef Stuffed Peppers
- Bell peppers – Large bell peppers are the perfect vessel for this juicy and delicious filling.
- White rice – Rice bulks up the dish and makes it filling and delicious! You can use jasmine rice, long-grain rice, or brown rice.
- Vegetables – Onions and carrots add so much flavor to the filling, it’s a must!
- Ground meat – We use a combination of lean ground beef and pork for a mix of flavor and extra juiciness.
- Sauce – The star of the meal is that sauce! It has a chicken broth base but is infused with tomatoes, garlic, butter, and made creamy with a touch of sour cream. It’s really the best part of this recipe, so don’t skip it!
See the recipe card below for a complete list of ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Make filling. To a bowl, add parboiled rice, the ground meat, along with the sautéed vegetables, and the remaining filling ingredients. Mix thoroughly until everything is incorporated evenly.
2. Make the sauce. In a saucepan, melt butter, and saute the garlic. Whisk in the flour, ketchup, sour cream, chicken broth, and seasoning. Bring up to a simmer and turn off the heat.
3. Assemble. Cut the tops off the bell peppers and remove the seeds and inside membranes. Fill the peppers with the meat and rice mixture, and arrange them in a casserole dish. Pack the peppers tightly so they don’t tip over.
4. Add sauce. Cover the peppers with the tops and pour the broth over.
Bake. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake at 400°F for 45-55 minutes or until the meat is cooked through. Garnish the peppers with fresh parsley, and enjoy!
Can You Freeze Stuffed Bell Peppers?
Freezing these peppers is a great way to meal prep! Simply add the cooked peppers to a freezer-safe container and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Reheat: Add the frozen pepper to the pan and heat on low-medium and cover with a lid.
Expert Tips:
- Pick the right peppers. For the best stuffed peppers, pick large peppers that are evenly shaped. This way, they can cook evenly and stand upright. We like red, orange and yellow bell peppers over green peppers.
- The perfect casserole dish. For the peppers to sit upright, you want to pick a casserole dish that fits the peppers tightly. This way, they cook evenly and absorb all the sauce.
- Cheese it up! Top the bell pepper filling with your favorite shredded cheese!
Other Cooking Methods
If you’re making a smaller batch, the Dutch oven is a great way to cook these peppers! Simply arrange them upright and cover with the sauce. Cook on low heat with the lid on for 45-55 minutes. Alternatively, you can also put the Dutch oven into the oven and bake from there.
The crockpot is great for setting a dish to cook and leaving it to cook while you’re away or busy. Lucky for you, these stuffed peppers are great to cook up in the slow cooker. Simply arrange the peppers in the crockpot and top with broth. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, and enjoy!
Make Ahead Peppers
The stuffed peppers are great to make ahead; it’s one of my favorite meals to prepare in advance and save time. Here are two options for making the bell peppers in advance:
Option 1: Prep everything per instructions. Assemble peppers and prepare sauce. WAIT for the sauce to cool before pouring it over the peppers. Cover and store in the fridge until ready to use.
Option 2: Prepare the filling and sauce – keep in separate containers. Then, assemble and bake when ready.
Store & Reheat
- Storage. Add stuffed pepper leftovers to an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Reheat. Add the leftover peppers to a pan and reheat over medium heat.
More Comfort Meals Recipes
If you enjoyed this ground beef stuffed pepper recipe, be sure to try our other delicious comfort recipes; here are some of our favorites:
Grains and Pasta
Grains and Pasta
Casseroles
Entree
If you tried this baked stuffed peppers recipe or any other recipe on my website, please leave a star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below – we appreciate it!
Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 6 large bell peppers, any color
stufed peppers filling-
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 large carrot, shredded
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 Tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- 1/3 cup finely diced tomatoes
- 2 Tbsp fresh dill
sauce-
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- 3 Tbsp sour cream
- 2/3 cup chicken broth
- 1 tsp all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
prepare meat filling-
- Boil rice about 12 minutes, until it starts to soften. Don’t overcook. The rice will finish cooking in the oven. Drain water and rinse rice under cold water. Place in large bowl.
- Add the cooled sauteed vegetables to the bowl of rice. Then add the ground beef, ground pork, minced garlic, mayo, salt, pepper, and diced tomatoes and mix until well combined.
prepare the sauce-
stuff peppers-
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Trim the tops of the bell peppers and clean out the peppers, removing the stems, ribs, and seeds and rinse the peppers. Save the tops and discard the rest.
- Fill the bell peppers with the meat filling, divide the filling among the six peppers. Close the peppers with the tops. Add the stuffed peppers to the casserole dish.
- Pour the sauce over the peppers and into the casserole dish. Cover the casserole dish with 3 layers of foil.
- Bake at 400°F for about 45-55 minutes, until the peppers are tender and filling is cooked. Enjoy!
Nutrition
FAQ’s
We prefer using red, orange, and yellow peppers, but you can also use green peppers; they just won’t be as sweet.
This recipe doesn’t require cooking the peppers, as they get fully cooked in the oven.
We love a mixture of ground beef and ground pork for a juicy combination.
For this recipe, we parboil the rice so it can finish cooking in the oven.
Swap out the rice for quinoa, or extra vegetables for a low-carb version.
