Classic Stuffed Peppers with Tomato Sauce: Hearty & Tasty

Homestyle stuffed peppers are loaded with seasoned beef, hearty rice, red onions, cheddar & parmesan cheese & topped with a lightly sweetened Italian tomato sauce. No pre-baking the peppers. Just stuff and bake.

Fall has finally arrived here in south Florida & I wanted something comforting. When I say fall, I mean it was 75 degrees here. Stuffed peppers seemed to match up with my fall vibe. Wait, but it’s Meatless Monday. No matter, I was never any good at food trends anyway.

I think this could possibly be one of the best stuffed peppers recipe around. This stuffed pepper recipe will feed two persons with leftovers for lunch the next day.

I’ll warn you now, if you’re not a fan of looking at raw meat or can’t stomach people who eat meat, you’ll likely want to X on outta here. I’d hate to see you go but maybe you can find another recipe that sparks your interest.

Maybe Key Lime Pie is more your thing. Or how about this macaroni and cheese recipe?

How to make classic stuffed peppers in tomato sauce:

To sauce or not to sauce? That is the question. I love my stuffed peppers with lots of lightly sweetened tomato sauce. When baked in the oven, the beef juices run into the sauce and make it gravy-like. I spoon it copiously over my stuffed peppers. Is that bad?

It’s a personal preference really, you can add as much or as little sauce as you’d like. That’s what makes these stuffed peppers so great and versatile.

You can also make substitutions to make stuffed peppers more healthy. Ground turkey stuffed peppers would be a winner for those looking for less fat.

You can stuff peppers with loads of veggies to really kick up the healthiness if you’re vegetarian. Or if you follow Meatless Monday, unlike myself, mushrooms can be a great option to maintain the meat-like texture. The zucchini can be used in place of rice if you’re not a fan or rice intolerant.

You will want to pre-cook your veggies in some extra virgin olive oil, salt & peppered to taste, to extract some of the water out of them before you stuff and bake them in the oven. The peppers are going to release some water as well and some people like to pre-bake the peppers in the oven for 20 minutes before stuffing them.

If you’re going to pre-bake your peppers I recommend putting 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of a baking dish and bake at 350° F for 20 minutes. I don’t pre-bake my peppers and actually prefer a bit of a bite to them.

Did you know rice is gluten-free? That’s a win in my book. Like I give a damn about gluten-free. My body overdoses on gluten on the daily.

You can cater to your own needs and still put a delicious meal on the table even if you don’t follow this recipe exact. I almost always customize a recipe where I’m able. I think most people tend to deviate from recipes just a bit.

Stuffed peppers are part of almost every cuisine and food culture. The possibilities of pepper choices and stuffings are endless. Poblanos, jalapeños, pasilla, cubanelle, & pimento peppers, are some other great choices.

Bell peppers are traditionally used in North American stuffed peppers. And that’s what I usually prefer. If I’m being honest, I’m not a fan of green bell peppers. I find them a bit on the bitter side.

I usually buy a 3 pack of peppers picked at Publix. Say that 5 times fast.

A red pepper, yellow pepper and orange pepper come in a 3 pack. Also, look for bigger peppers. Because the bigger the pepper, the more stuffing! I like to slice my peppers in half and fill them rather than stuff a whole pepper.

I find it much easier to cut into and eat in order to get that perfect pepper to meat ratio.

Do I use cooked or uncooked rice in stuffed peppers?

You’ll want to use cooked rice in this recipe. Using uncooked rice will make your stuffed peppers crunchy and I don’t think that’s the texture you were going for.

I usually cook about 1/2 cup of rice with 1 cup of water lightly salted. I don’t even mess with a rice cooker anymore because my rice always came out sticky and burnt on the bottom. I kicked my rice cooker to the curb. Literally.

I use a heavy bottomed pot and cook the rice according to package instructions. Comes out perfect every time.

On a side note, If you see any pottery pieces you love, my pieces can be purchased in my Etsy shop. I love to use them in my photographs before they go to a new home. Admittedly, I love this spoon and secretly hope it doesn’t sell.

The sauce comes together quickly and there is no pre-cooking involved. Just mix a can of sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar and a few seasonings in one big bowl and spoon over the peppers.

I usually line the bottom of my my baking dish with the sauce first before placing my peppers down, but for the sake of getting appetizing photos, I gently spooned it over and around the peppers.

Wash your peppers, remove the stems, ribs and seeds. You can keep them whole or slice them in half. I don’t pre-bake my peppers. Just stuff em’ and pop em’ in the oven.

Mixing up the meat mixture is a cinch. Start by adding your ground beef to a large bowl and gently breaking up the meat with your fingers. Much like flour, if you overwork the meat, the protein will tend to get touch. So be gentle.

Add, your seasonings, onions, cheese, panko bread crumbs, egg, rice, Worcestershire sauce, and heavy cream.

Then gently combine all the ingredients with a spoon or your hands. I like to use my hands for the most part. It’s just easier to combine and evenly distribute the ingredients.

Preheat the oven to 350° F while you stuff and sauce the peppers. You’ll want a healthy amount of stuffing in each pepper half but not so much that you overstuff it and meat is hanging out. You don’t want a muffin top stuffed pepper. Or maybe you do?

Next spoon over the sauce.

As I said earlier, I’ll usually add a layer of sauce down first but didn’t want my photos to look dumpy so I carefully spooned sauce over and then around the bottom of the baking dish before baking.

Cover the stuffed peppers with tin foil or an oven safe lid and bake on the middle rack in the oven at 350° F for about half an hour. At that point you can remove the foil/cover and top the peppers with more shredded cheddar cheese and finish baking uncovered until the juices run clear or the internal temperature is 160° F with a thermometer.

What Can I serve with Stuffed Peppers?

• You can serve these homestyle stuffed peppers with a side salad.
• Mashed potatoes also are a great side dish.
• You may have some leftover rice and that also is a great side dish with some tomato sauce spooned over.

They really are a meal all on their own and you can just eat them without a side.

I hope you enjoy this classic homestyle stuffed pepper recipe as much as we do.

Classic Stuffed Peppers with Tomato Sauce

November 3, 2021

by Sherri

Cuisine American

Category Dinners

Homestyle stuffed peppers are loaded with seasoned beef, hearty rice, red onions, cheddar & parmesan cheese & topped with a lightly sweetened Italian tomato sauce. No pre-baking the peppers. Just stuff and bake.

Persons

2

Serving Size

1 pepper

Prep Time

25 minutes

Cook Time

1 hour

Total Time

1 hour, 25 minutes

Notes

• You can substitute ground turkey for a leaner recipe.
• You can substitute vegetables for your stuffing rather than meat. I recommend precooking your vegetable to extract some of the water.
• Can substitute cooked brown rice instead of white rice.

Recommended side dishes

• side salad
• mashed potatoes
• left over rice

Ingredients

• 3 Bell Peppers rinsed, stems, ribs, and seeds removed. Slice in half or keep whole
• 1/2 cup uncooked rice white (*see cooking instructions below.)
• FOR THE MEAT FILLING
• 1 lb ground beef (80/20)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley (plus more for garnish)
• 1 teaspoon fresh chopped oregano
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 cup cooked white rice (*can substitute brown rice)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese (*plus extra cheddar cheese for topping)
• 1/4 cup fresh shredded parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs (*optional)
• 1 whole egg
• 1/2 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (*optional)
• 2 Tablespoons heavy cream (or milk substitute)
• FOR THE SAUCE:
• 28 oz can of tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup chicken broth (*can substitute beef broth)
• 1 Tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
• 1/4 teaspoon onion salt
• Lightly salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Prepare you bell peppers by rinsing, remove the stems, ribs, and seeds and slice in half.
2. Cook 1/2 cup of white or brown rice with 1 cup lightly salted water according to rice directions. Let come to room temperature before adding to beef mixture. You will need 1 cup cooked rice total for meat mixture.
3. Prepare the tomato sauce in a large large bowl by adding seasonings, chicken broth, and brown sugar. Stir well and set aside.
4. In a large bowl add ground beef and gently break up with your fingers.
5. Add seasonings, chopped onion, rice, cheeses, panko bread crumbs, Worcestershire sauce, egg, and heavy cream.
6. Mix gently with hands or sturdy spoon until well combined but careful not to overwork the meat mixture as it can become tough.
7. Preheat oven to 350° F.
8. Line a baking pan with 1/2 inch of sauce (*optional)
9. Place your pepper halves on the bottom of the baking dish and stuff with a generous portion of meat mixture.
10. Spoon over tomato sauce on top of peppers.
11. Cover with tin foil or baking cover and bake for 1/2 hour.
12. Remove cover and add more cheddar cheese and continue to bake uncovered until juices run clear or internal temperature reads 160° F.
13. Serve hot as main dish or serve with recommended side dish.
14. Store leftovers in refrigerator up to 3 days. Freezing leftovers is not recommended as peppers can become very soggy after thawing.
15. Any leftover uncooked meat mixture can be placed in a tightly sealed bag or container and froze up to 3 months.

Tags

Best Stuffed Peppers,

Homestyle Stuffed Peppers,

How to make stuffed peppers,

Stuffed Peppers for Two,

Stuffed Peppers with Rice,

Traditional Stuffed Peppers

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