Baked Stuffed Bell Peppers

Baked Stuffed Bell Peppers

  • Prep Time: 15 mins
  • Total Time: 2 hrs 15 mins
  • Servings: 4-8

    • About This Recipe

    “There are so many recipes for Baked Stuffed Peppers – each a little different, each bringing something a little different to the dinner table.This is the recipe I learned from my mother.A meal in itself I generally serve 1 stuffed pepper “half” per person along with freshly baked French bread and a tossed salad, for those with healthier appetites you can of course serve 2 “halves” per person.I like to use red and or yellow peppers over the green – I find the red/yellow peppers to be a bit sweeter.These can also be made ahead and frozen for OAMC – when ready to use simply thaw overnight in the fridge and bake as directed.”

    Ingredients

  • 4red peppers, halved, seeds & membranes removed
  • 1lbground beef
  • 1cupcooked rice
  • 1pepper, minced( any color)
  • 1onion, minced
  • 2garlic cloves, minced
  • 1tablespoonItalian spices
  • 1egg, beaten
  • 1/8 cupItalian breadcrumbs
  • salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • plain spaghetti sauce( jarred or homemade)
  • sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

    • Directions

  • Preheat your oven to 350°F.
  • In a large bowl combine ground beef, cooked rice, minced pepper, minced onion, minced garlic, Italian seasonings, beaten egg, breadcrumbs and salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.
  • Use your hands to mix ingredients well.
  • Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup – measure out a 1/2 cup meat mixture for each halved pepper and fill.
  • *At this point, if you are using this recipe for OAMC you can wrap your peppers in saranwrap, then place them in a zip-lock bag and store them in the freezer for later use.*.
  • Place peppers in a baking dish and cover with your favorite jarred or homemade spaghetti sauce (about 1 cup per pepper half).
  • Cover and allow to cook 90 minutes (Please note that I have only ever made 4 halves at one time – so the cooking time could be longer if making 6 or more at the same time.).
  • After 90 minutes, check to see how far along the peppers are cooked; if they are nearly done uncover and baste with some of the spaghetti sauce from the baking dish (as mentioned above, if baking many peppers all at one time there is the possibility that they will not be as far along at this point – please continue to bake covered an additional 30 to 45 minutes and then proceed with the following instructions.).
  • Bake an additional 20 minutes then top each pepper half with shredded cheese and continue baking another 10 to 15 minutes.
  • Serve along side freshly baked bread and a salad, enjoy!

    • Reviews

  • “This was very good.I added a 1/4 cup of grated parm cheese and a couple of shakes of worcestershire sauce.I baked it covered for 1 hour and then checked for doneness with an instant read thermometer, they were done at that point.Then I upped the oven to 425 and topped the peppers with sauce and grated parm, returned it to the oven for about 10 minutes.I didn’t use cheddar because I like my peppers to have an Italian flair to them.”

  • “This recipe is good however to reduce the cooking time I suggest browning the meat first and quickly saute the onions and garlic.You could also reduce the ground beef to 3/4 LB and add 1/4 LB of Italian Sausage for add flavor.Once you brown the meat and saute the onions you will only need to cook the peppers for 45 minutes, you can begin cooking the peppers unstuffed while browning the meat.You could also substitute the chedder cheese for parmigiano reggiano cheese!”

  • “This is an excellent recipe.I seeded the peppers and filled them.My DH loved this. Thanks for a great, easy recipe.”

  • “Definitely want to cook the time listed. I like mine slightly crunchy, so I did it the 90 minutes, added cheese, and cooked 20 minutes. Didn’t cook the last 10-15 minutes. The filling was good but needed something a little more. I might mix the sauce in with the mixture than pouring on top next time.”

  • “Let me start by saying that I don’t like stuffed peppers. But these were fabulous. I made ahead and froze. I wish I would have looked at the directions more carefully, though. I didn’t realize how long they had to cook for so I improvised. Cooked them for 1 hour at 400 and then uncovered and upped the heat to 450 for about 20 minutes. I didn’t have any cheese so I omitted that but I didn’t miss it at all. The peppers were extremely tender and the flavor was amazing (even warmed up the next day). Thanks so much.”

  • “This is a favorite among our family and friends. Very easy to make. We’re not big fans of onion, so I only use about 1/3 of a sweet yellow onion, and we add parmesean cheese at the end instead of the shredded cheddar during the process. Think it requires a bit more salt & garlic than here. Still, very good!”

  • “I made a large amount of these last fall when all sorts of peppers were on sale. My daughter took some away to school and put just one in her little crockpot with some tomato sauce and it was ready for her at the end of the day. We haveenjoyed these at home too and I will definitely be stocking up again this fall. thank you”

  • “This recipe was good. I used green bell peppers instead of red because they were on sale and added chili powder and mozzerella cheese.It turned out great.Thanks for the post.”

  • “This was a wonderful recipe!!Very flavorful!!!!I used orange and red peppers and provel cheese (its a St. Louis thing).My husband loved them!!!Thank you.”

  • “Very easy without having to boil the peppers!Great taste also!I substituted sausage for the meat since I was out of ground beef and the whole family loved it!I spiced it up just a bit also with some crushed red peppers.Definitely will make this again!”

  • “What a delicious recipe. I haven’t had these since I was a kid. I roasted my jalapeno pepper which gave it more of a kick… lol maybe toomuch of a kick. Was a tad spicy to me, but my hubby thought it was perfect. I used a whole bulb of garlic too since we are garlic lovers. Very good indeed and we’re looking forward to eating the next round.”

  • “I did make this OAMC, and froze 8 half peppers. I made 4 of them the other day and put the frozen peppers in the crockpot with some sauce before going to work. I warmed up more sauce and dinner time, and we really enjoyed them. There was even one left over for dh to take to lunch, he beat me to it! I did use spicey spagetti sauce. Looking forward to making the next 4 peppers!”

  • “Dinner guests loved it however I found it to be actually a little bland.Great recipe although it needs a little tweaking just to suit my own taste… I will be making this one again.”

  • “I used ground turkey instead of beef and brown rice and these were just splendid….Even my 4 year old liked them.I agree that the use of red or yellow peppers just make these even that much better.Thank you so very much!!!”

  • “Made stuffed peppers myself for the first time ever using this recipe. Although I was forced to make it with green peppers (the store was all out of red), the resulting meal was excellent. I was asked to make it later in the week again. I had made double the amount of filling to freeze for later. What a time saver! My TOTAL bake time was about 90 mins.”

  • “I made these last night for supper because of the high ratings, but to be honest I don’t think I will make these again. The italian seasoning just did not go good with the peppers.”

  • “Great recipe!Super easy and delicious.”

  • “OHHHHHH CARLA!!!!This was so good.When I was a little girl I had some pasta made by an old family friend who died not long after.I can remember the taste of that pasta and have been trying to duplicate it for almost fifty years.These peppers brought that taste back for me, I almost cried when I realized what it was and why they were so wonderful tasting.Thank you so very much!!! What a fantastic recipe!!!”

  • “really great stuffed pepper recipeI sprinkled a little brown sugar on top of sauce.”

  • “Terrific dinner.I even used jarred sauce…horror…and it was fabulous!For the minced pepper I used one jalapeno which added just the tiniest bit of heat.FYI for others who may try this, be sure the baking dish is plenty big; mine was filled and the sauce bubbled out into the oven.Thanks for posting a keeper.”

    •