Stuffed peppers are one of those meals that never goes out of style. Tender peppers filled with a tasty mix of seasoned ground beef, rice, tomatoes, and corn, all topped with melty pepper jack cheese. This is one of my go-to recipes for when friends come over and I want to present them with something delicious and filling, that also didn’t take hours to make.
For more bell pepper goodness, try our Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas.
Why Our Recipe
- Bell peppers stuffed with a flavorful mixture of ground beef, rice, and veggies.
- It’s an all-in-one meal. Cook up some rice, brown some ground beef, and combine it all to stuff into peppers.
- Pepper jack cheese gives it that perfect cheesy kick.
Stuffed Bell Peppers are a family favorite in this household. Most often, you’ll find them stuffed with a ground meat and rice mixture. Some of our favorite flavor variations are Tex-Mex and Italian. You can really stuff them with whatever you want—you can beef it up or even go vegetarian and stuff with a mix of veggies and beans.
Ingredient Notes
- Bell Peppers: try to pick out evenly sized bell peppers that are a suitable shape to serve as containers. You can use any color.
- Ground Beef: use a lean option for this one with either 85/15, or 93/7 fat ratios.
- Onion and Garlic: all about that flavor. You can skip onions if you aren’t an onion person.
- Diced Tomatoes: fresh diced tomatoes can also be used.
- Rice: use white or brown rice. Quinoa is a great alternative.
- Corn: Adds a sweet crunch; frozen peas or diced carrots are also great options.
- Worcestershire Sauce: once again, all about that flavor. You could also use soy sauce, but it’s not as flavorful.
- Cheese: try different cheeses like cheddar or mozzarella for variation.
Pepper Options
While all of the colors of bell peppers come from the same plant, there are differences. The biggest difference is taste. Red peppers are the sweetest, followed by orange, then yellow, and green will be the least sweet. All bell peppers have a similar mild heat.
Filling Options
Meat: Our recipe uses ground beef, but you can totally use whatever you like. Some great options are Italian pork sausage, ground turkey or chicken for a leaner option, and you could even use shredded chicken or beef. There are no rules here!
Rice: Use white rice, brown rice, or even quinoa. We use long grain white rice for its neutral flavor, so the rest of the ingredients can shine.
Cheese: This recipe has Tex-Mex flavors, so we use pepper jack. Mozzarella pairs perfectly with Italian spices, and sharp cheddar goes well with practically anything.
Vegetarian: Skip the meat and load your peppers up with veggies and beans. Black beans, mushrooms, onions, and corn are all great options. Add some diced green chiles or jalapeños for a little heat.
Chef Tip
- Choose the Right Peppers: Opt for bell peppers that are large, firm, and have a flat bottom. This ensures they hold more filling and stand upright easily in the baking dish.
- Let the Cheese Crisp Up: For an extra tasty topping, allow the cheese to crisp up slightly in the oven. This can be achieved by broiling the stuffed peppers for the last few minutes of cooking time. Keep an eye on them to prevent burning.
Make-Ahead Instructions
Filling Preparation: The filling can be made a day in advance and stored in the refrigerator.
Partial Baking: Bake the peppers without the cheese topping, cool, and refrigerate. Add cheese and reheat before serving.
Storage & Reheating
Refrigerator: Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Freezer: Freeze individual peppers for up to 3 months. Wrap each pepper in foil and place in a freezer bag.
Reheating: Thaw overnight in the refrigerator if frozen. Reheat in the oven at 350°F until warmed through, about 20 minutes.
More tasty stuffed recipes…
My husband loved these. A Sunday dinner for sure. Easy and reasonable price on a cold winter day here in New England. Get that oven going.
– Sandy
My husband and I didn’t care for them that much. They were lacking in something not sure if it was a spice or what. They tasted a little bland.
I added 2 tsps. dry thyme and 2 tsps. dry basil and that did it!
1/2 pound hamburg and 1/2 pound sausage meat!! Adds extra flavor! I love the Stay at Home Chef!!! She is amazing!!
I also substituted the beef for 1 1/2 lbs. bulk sweet Italian Salsiccia sausage. It was so.. oh, so good!
Try cheddar cheese
I made these stuffed peppers. They were lacking something spice wise, not sure what but I thought they were bland tasting.
I did not have the exact ingredients, had italian sausage, so used that instead of beef, no tomato sauce,so used spaghetti sauce, used uncle bens wild rice, they were the best peppers ever, I just filled 3 peppers so used what was left over and added tomato juice and had stuffed pepper soup with cheese tootsies the next night, also very yummy. 😋
I also used 1 1/2 lbs. bulk sweet Italian Salsiccia sausage for 8 peppers.
I’ve made this several times and it goes great with tator tots. The only thing I added is two cans of tomato soup with one can of water on the bottom of the casserole pan. This prevents the bottom of the peppers burning and gives a little extra flavor.
I made these as written except with ground turkey and they were a huge hit with the family! My hubby requested they go on the rotation!
Love this recipe. They freeze well too
Did you bake them before freezing?
Easy and tasty. Pre-cooked the meat and onions yesterday (1/2 recipe) and finished off this morning before it got too warm (using microwave sticky rice). Cooked in a counter-top air-fryer/oven at 350 on the regular bake setting. After 10 minutes, peppers and cheese were browning well, so reduced to 250 for remaining 20 minutes. 1 large and 2 medium peppers. I had the 2 mediums for breakfast 🙂 and saved the large for a dinner. Thank you.
I used this recipe as it sounded most like the flavors I grew up with. I adapted it for the air fryer. Used Velveeta as it was the only cheese I had. Delicious
Pretty colors, easy to do! I think it looks really nice for dinner!
This is a great recipe which we have made twice. Only difference is that we cooked it
30 minutes covered and 30 minutes
Uncovered. The peppers are done perfect!!
Omitted corn