Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe

This old fashioned stuffed bell peppers recipe makes an easy one pot dinner. With just a few simple ingredients, you can easily turn bell peppers into a flavorful meal that tastes just like childhood dinners at Grandma’s house.

Why you will love this Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe

I love that these beef and rice stuffed bell peppers are simple enough for brand new home cooks. Ground beef is quickly browned and tossed with minute rice, a premade spice mix, and tomato sauce, before stuffing into halved bell peppers.

By cutting the peppers in half, you get eight servings instead of four. These portions are a bit more manageable for families with kids, who also tend to prefer the texture of the meat being cooked before adding it to the stuffed peppers.

Scroll down for the full Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers measurements and instructions on creating this recipe – including a free printable recipe!

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef

1 large onion, chopped

1 (28 ounce) can tomato sauce, divided

1 1⁄4 cups water, divided

1 (1 ounce) envelope garlic & herb salad dressing mix

1 cup white minute rice, uncooked

4 large green peppers, halved

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

RELATED STUFFED PEPPERS RECIPES

BEEF STUFFED BELL PEPPERS RECIPE: If you want more of a meatloaf texture to your stuffed bell peppers, try this beef recipe. Instead of rice, the ground beef and seasonings are mixed with breadcrumbs before stuffing into the bell peppers.

CHILE RELLENO RECIPE: This traditional Mexican recipe stuffs brined Poblano peppers with cheese, and serves them swimming in a homemade chili sauce.

How to Make Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers

PRO TIP: COOK THE MEAT BEFORE FILLING. By cooking your ground beef before filling the bell peppers, you don’t have to worry about using a meat thermometer for food safety. This will also shorten the cooking time for your stuffed peppers.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Heat a large skillet (or a shallow Dutch oven) on medium heat. Add the ground beef and chopped onion. 
3. Cook, stirring occasionally, until meat is fully cooked with some brown bits (TIP: Those darker brown bits are called caramelization and they add FLAVOR!).
4. Stir in 1 cup of the tomato sauce, 1 cup of the water, and the salad dressing mix.
5. Increase heat to high and bring to boil.
6. Stir in the minute rice, then cover with a lid and remove from the heat.
7. Let stand for 5 minutes.
8. While you wait, slice your bell peppers in half lengthwise. Remove stem and seeds.
9. Mix remaining tomato sauce, water, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste, in the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. (TIP: If you use a shallow Dutch oven like I did, you can make this a one pot meal!)
10. Place peppers in your dish like little boats floating in the tomato sauce.
11. Spoon meat mixture into the peppers, then cover with foil or a lid.
12. Bake at 400F for 35-40 minutes.
13. Spoon the sauce over peppers before serving.

Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers Ingredient Substitutions

Which Meat is Best for Stuffed Peppers?

We typically use ground beef to stuff bell peppers because we buy a local cow every year. But ground turkey, ground pork, ground lamb, or a mix of ground meats can be tasty too.

Seasoning Mix

This Garlic and Herb Salad Dressing Mix is the key flavor ingredient to making Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers like I grew up with. 

If you don’t have the salad dressing mix, or prefer to make everything from scratch, you can whisk the following ingredients into your tomato sauce and water:

• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• ½ teaspoon mustard powder

Gluten Free Stuffed Bell Peppers

The salad dressing mix does contain gluten. To make the old fashioned stuffed bell peppers gluten free, use the seasoning mix substitution above with gluten free soy sauce or tamari.

Do I Need to Use Rice?

Using minute rice is part of the key to the texture of the filling. But you don’t have to be limited by that. If you don’t have minute rice on hand, you can use quinoa for added protein, cooked white or brown rice to use up leftovers, or even cauliflower rice for low carb.

Can I add cheese to these Stuffed Peppers?

While we usually make our old fashioned stuffed bell peppers dairy free, you can definitely add some cheese to up the indulgence.

I suggest removing the lid or foil for the last 10 minutes of cooking, and sprinkling shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese on top.

You can also turn on the broiler for a few minutes to get the cheese nice and bubbly.

What Color Bell Pepper to Use?

Green bell peppers are used to make classic stuffed peppers. But really, you can use any color pepper you want. Red peppers will be a bit sweeter, and using a mix of different colors can really brighten up the presentation.

FAQs

• Do you have to boil peppers before stuffing them? – This stuffed peppers recipe skips the boiling to keep things simple. We also prefer our peppers to still have a bit of firmness to them. If you want your peppers very soft, you can boil them for a few minutes before stuffing.
• How to make stuffed peppers stand up – If you would like to stuff whole peppers, and make them stand upright, simply slice a small amount from the bottom of the peppers. Once each bump on the base is evenly flat, they will stand with no problems.
• How long do You cook stuffed bell peppers? – These old fashioned stuffed bell peppers using precooked meat and rice only need to cook 35-40 minutes. Peppers stuffed with a raw meat mixture will need a longer cooking time.
• How do you know when stuffed peppers are done – Your stuffed peppers are done when the pepper can be pierced with a fork with just slight resistance.  While you can check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer, the meat was precooked so that isn’t necessary for safety.
• How to freeze stuffed peppers – If you don’t eat the full batch of stuffed peppers, you can freeze leftovers by spooning sauce over the top, then wrapping each pepper in plastic wrap once cooled. They keep well for up to six months. Remove from plastic and heat in the microwave or the oven until warmed through.

What to serve with Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers

You can serve these stuffed peppers on their own to get your veggies, protein, and carbs in one dish. But if you’re looking for some side dishes to go with them, here are a few of our favorites.

• Red Potato Salad with Greek Yogurt
• Healthy Vegetable Muffins
• Crispy Baked Potato Wedges
• Paleo Sweet Potato Hash
• Goat Cheese Stuffed Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

PIN TO SAVE FOR LATER

Don’t lose this recipe! Pin the image below to save this post. Then you can leave a photo in the comments of the pin once you’ve made these stuffed peppers yourself. We love seeing your creations! 

We also love hearing from you, so feel free to leave any changes you make in the comments below.

Printable Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe