This stuffed pepper recipe is definitely one of my childhood favorite dishes, a comfort dish with so much flavor and deliciousness. Yes, another one of those dishes that I can simply go on and cook on a weekly basis. It is a healthy, nutritious, and versatile dish.
Whenever my mum or my grandmother were cooking these, the whole house smelled amazing.
I really adore the cooked peppers, whether they're baked peppers, boiled, or fried peppers, oh, the fried ones smell absolutely divine.
What can I stuff peppers with?
I was mentioning that this is a truly versatile dish where you can add all sorts of ingredients to your stuffing. You can certainly make them vegan, vegetarian, or this meat version.
This combo of peppers, meat, veggies, and herbs, when cooking, fills my heart with joyful memories. Not only that, they are super, super delicious, healthy, and always make a delightful meal option.
There is such a great marriage between the peppers and the meat mixture with the vegetables that it's really unique and unbelievably tasty.
I know loads of my dear friends will ❤️ be delighted to see this recipe up, as they have enjoyed eating these peppers a good few times at my dinners before and they always love this dish.
This stuffed pepper recipe is a regular in here because it is delicious, quick, and very easy to make and, of course, quite healthy too. Superb stuffed stuff I would say!
The recipe might seem complicated (an extensive wall of text), but in reality, it's nothing but a super easy and quick-to-make dish despite looking a little complicated.
Ways to cook stuffed peppers
This recipe can definitely be made by
- baking the peppers in a deep baking dish ideally one that has a lid to cook covered,
- cooked in a slow cooker for a good 3-4 hours
- cooked in a pressure cooker (the quickest way)
- boiled in a pot on the stove covered with a lid
It is truly delicious whichever way you choose to cook it.
Ingredients needed to make stuffed peppers
- minced/ground beef
- minced/ ground turkey
- bell peppers (whole ones)
- beef tomatoes
- rice
- onions (finely chopped)
- carrots (grated)
- celery or celeriac (grated)
- courgette/zucchini (grated)
- fresh herbs parsley, dill, thyme, bay leaves
- chopped tomatoes (tinned)
Just go to the recipe card to see how easy and uncomplicated this recipe is. I did make sure the recipe is easy and clear to follow and I really hope I have managed to deliver that. Give me a shout if I don't.
Variations
- Ground meat - lamb, chicken, or pork can also be used - I use a mix sometimes;
- Peppers - the stuffed bell peppers can be substituted by cabbage leaves, aubergine, zucchini, squash, and onion;
- Rice - I use long-grain white rice but I have also used cauliflower rice (for a low-carb version), couscous, bulgur, lentils, and crushed chickpeas. wild rice, brown rice
- Chopped canned tomatoes - can be substituted for diced tomatoes or tomato paste;
- Onions - can be substituted for leeks or leeks can be added as well as the onion in a 50:50 proportion;
- Add some smoked cuts like sausages, nitrates-free bacon, or simply some home-smoked chunks of pork. It adds a beautiful flavor to those stuffed peppers and the soup. Amazing!
- Make these stuffed peppers vegetarian - add some feta and couscous, dry herbs, and bake them;
- To make these stuffed peppers vegan, use crushed chickpeas, tofu, or mushrooms.
FAQs
No, absolutely not. Nothing in this stuffed peppers recipe requires any prior cooking. The meat, rice, and peppers are all raw. They have plenty of time to cook.
While peppers can vary in flavor, bell peppers are not spicy, just like most other peppers. They vary in color and flavor depending on the variety of the pepper plant and the stage of ripeness when harvested. Red bell
pepper or orange bell pepper are mature green bell peppers.
More stuffed recipes you may like and definitely enjoy:
- Cabbage rolls ‘sarmale’ stuffed with ground beef, veggies, and rice;
- Spinach and mushrooms stuffed chicken breast;
- Velvety stuffed aubergines (eggplant);
- Buffalo Chicken Bites with spinach and blue cheese
So here it is this yummy stuffed peppers and stuffed tomatoes recipe, let's get cooking!
Bon appetite!
Here are some more dinner recipes to die for
Stuffed peppers and tomatoes
Equipment
- pot
- grater
- glass bowl
- chopping board
- knife
- wooden spoon
Ingredients
- 400 g minced beef (14.11 oz) (I always use a 5% fat content)
- 200 g minced turkey (7.05 oz) (or lean pork)
- 8 medium red peppers (whole)
- 4-6 medium beef tomatoes
- 70 g rice (2.47 oz)
- 2 onions (finely chopped)
- 2 carrots (grated)
- 2 stalks celery (grated)
- 1 courgette/zucchini (grated)
- 2 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper (freshly ground)
- 1 bunch parsley (fresh)
- 10 sprigs dill (fresh)
- 2 cans tomatoes (chopped)
- 2 leaves bay leaves
- 1-2 sprigs thyme (fresh or dry)
Instructions
- Wash the veggies including the tomatoes, the peppers and the fresh herbs.
- Set a deeper frying pan on medium heat, and add the finely chopped onion with 100 ml water or olive oil if you wish. Cook for 5 min with ½ teaspoon salt and one bay leaf.
- Add the grated carrot, courgette, and parsnip along with ½ the dry or fresh thyme. If you use the fresh one chop it very finely. Cook all covered for 5 min.
- Add the rice and cook for a further 3 min.
- Add the chopped tomato can mix it all very well and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
- Turn the heat off and set it aside. This mixture has to be cool when combined with the meat so prepare slightly in advance.
- Meanwhile, prepare the peppers by either cutting the tops about ¾ cm (7-8 mm) or just removing the core by carefully pressing down around the woody/green bit and pulling it out. This can be more difficult if you haven't done it before. This is how my mum is doing it and this is how I've always done it but only recently I have tried cutting its top and keep as a cover, it is easier and a lot quicker I have to say. Do the same with the tomatoes and scoop the inside flesh with a help of a spoon. I chop the tomato flesh and use it in the sauce. I will mention this later when needed to be used exactly.
- Finely chop the herbs. Keep aside 2-3 springs of parsley, 1 of thyme, the bay leaves, and 1-2 sprigs of dill.
- In a larger bowl place the minced meats. Freshly grind some pepper (be generous), and add 1 teaspoon salt, the chopped herbs, and the vegetable mixture when it is totally cooled. If you add it hot, it spoils the meat.
- With the help of a nice wooden spoon/fork or your hand, give the meat and veggies a good old mix until all meat lumps dispersed and totally disappeared into the veg mixture.
- Fill the peppers with the mixture and place them in the cooking dish by adding their tops once filled. Put their hats on. 🙂 arrange/ squeeze them all nicely at the bottom of the pot and if needed go for staking them up on a second layer. Put both peppers and tomatoes together. For the oven cooking, I use a nice big cast-iron casserole dish, a 6 liter so it all fits in well. I nowadays use a 6l stainless steel pressure cooker which is absolutely brilliant. It cuts the cooking time to a quarter.
- In a larger bowl, put the other chopped tomatoes tin, herbs, bay leaves 1 teaspoon salt pepper and another can of water. Mix and pour over the stuffed peppers.
- Cook it for 30 minutes (programmed in the pressure cooker settings) or for about 2.5 hrs in the oven.
- Serve hot with a nice dollop of crème fraiche and a few spoons of juice/soup from cooking the dish.
Maxine says
What a delightful recipe this is! I never thought stuffed peppers can be this easy to make not to mention how tasty they are! Thanks for sharing. I am yet to try the cabbage rolls but will do that soon.
Jessica Formicola says
My family loves stuffed peppers, but we've never tried stuffed tomatoes! Such a great idea and I can't wait to make them!
Ramona says
Stuffed peppers are amazing and stuffed tomatoes are as fabulous, maybe a little fiddlier with scooping the flesh out but well worth it!
Lindsay says
I love stuffed peppers! Thanks for the thorough instructions!
Ramona says
Thanks Lindsay. My pleasure!
Kay says
Love this stuffed pepper and tomato recipe, making it again for the second time today!
Ramona says
Yay!! Thank you Kay, I am so glad you liked them. We do love them too!
Alexandra says
A delicious dish that the whole family enjoyed!
Ramona says
Thanks Alexandra, I am super happy you guys enjoyed these too.
Chef Dennis says
This stuffed peppers recipe will be perfect for our weekend meal!
Ramona says
Thanks, indeed!