Baked Stuffed Bell Peppers

Submitted by Carla C.

"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."

 

• Ready In: 2hrs 15mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Serves: 4-8

ingredients

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

directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
2. 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.
3. Use your hands to mix ingredients well.
4. Using a 1/2 cup measuring cup - measure out a 1/2 cup meat mixture for each halved pepper and fill.
5. *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.*.
6. Place peppers in a baking dish and cover with your favorite jarred or homemade spaghetti sauce (about 1 cup per pepper half).
7. 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.).
8. 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.).
9. Bake an additional 20 minutes then top each pepper half with shredded cheese and continue baking another 10 to 15 minutes.
10. Serve along side freshly baked bread and a salad, enjoy!

Reviews

[Riverside Len]

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.

 

[Chef HMan]

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!

 

[snazzycook]

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

 

[carlamoose]

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.

 

[Bekah49036]

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.