This easy recipe for Italian Stuffed Peppers is loaded with tender rice, seasoned ground beef in a delicious tomato sauce. They’re finished with Parmesan cheese for a crisp topping that can’t be beat! Serve with warm Garlic Bread for the perfect weeknight meal!
Stuffed Peppers are an American classic. It’s one of those feel-good meals that just satisfies! I make my stuffed peppers Italian style with Italian flavors as well as the classic ingredients of rice and ground beef coated in a flavorful tomato sauce. I also start with oven-roasted peppers instead of the flavorless parboiled ones you see in so many
Why This Recipe Works
- Oven roasting the peppers keeps them from getting overcooked, losing flavor and helps them retain their shape for easy stuffing.
- Seasoning the peppers before roasting adds flavor, keeping them from being a bland shell to the delicious stuffing.
- Starting with Roasted Peppers keeps the baking time minimal keeping the stuffing from drying out.
- Topping with parmesan cheese adds a crunchy topping that’s the perfect Finishing touch!
What Peppers for Stuffed Peppers
Large bell peppers should be used for stuffed peppers. I use red, yellow, and orange because they are sweeter and milder than green, but if green peppers are your thing – go right ahead!
How to Make Italian Stuffed Peppers
Cook the rice until firm and just underdone. You want to stop the cooking process before just before it’s fully cooked to avoid it getting mushy. I do this by rining it with cold water, but you can cook it the day before and place it in the fridge until it’s needed.
To find the right pan, place the peppers in the pan and make sure they can sit snug next to each other. This will keep them from falling over when baking.
Start by preparing the peppers. Start by slicing the top off. Free the stem by cutting around for easy removal.
Place top side up in the pan, coat the inside with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Roast until just undercooked.
While the peppers are roasting, start the stuffing by cooking in olive oil until soft. Add garlic, cook another minute.
Add the meat and cook until browned.
Add the tomatoes, crush them with the spoon, and add the rice.
Add the herbs and taste for seasoning (adding more salt or pepper if needed). Divide evenly by spooning into the roasted peppers. Top with fresh parmesan cheese.
Bake until the tops are golden and crisp.
Serve and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
- Cook the rice until just underdone to avoid it becoming mushy in the stuffing.
- Be sure not to cook the peppers completely when roasting. This can cause them to be overcooked once stuffed and collapse.
- Choose a pan that the peppers fit snug into so they don’t fall over when stuffed.
- Not a fan of beef? you can substitute the beef with ground turkey, chicken, or pork.
- Line the pan with nonstick foil for easy cleanup.
FAQs
Stuffed Peppers can easily be frozen. and a big time saver and an easy way to enjoy make ahead meals. Frozen stuffed peppers will last in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Bread can turn out hard if you use too much flour, overwork your dough, or use the wrong kind of flour. Overbaking can also be the culprit.
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Let’s Make Italian Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup long-grain white rice cooked until just underdone (cooled)
- 6 bell peppers any color (large size)
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves minced or thin sliced
- 1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
- 28 ounce can whole tomatoes with juice
- A good handful fresh parsley chopped
- 6-8 fresh basil leaves chopped
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- salt and pepper
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- To prepare the peppers, trim about 1/4-inch from tops of bell peppers. Snip around the core and then remove it. Place snug into a baking dish just large enough to fit the peppers.
- Brush or spray the inside of each pepper with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the peppers until just undercooked and firm (about 15 minutes).
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion and saute until translucent (around 4-5 minutes). Add the garlic and cook another minute.
- Add beef season with salt and pepper then let cook until browned. Break up the beef and toss it with onions and continue to cook another 2 minutes, Remove from heat, drain off excess fat if necessary.
- Stir in tomatoes and crush them with a spoon or potato masher. Mix in the cooked rice, parsley, basil, and oregano.
- Taste for seasoning and if needed, season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Spoon the mixture evenly into the roasted peppers. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese bake 20-25 minute or until the peppers are tender and the tops are crisp and golden. Serve warm.
Tips + Notes
- Cook the rice until just underdone to avoid it becoming mushy in the stuffing.
- Be sure not to cook the peppers completely when roasting. This can cause them to be overcooked once stuffed and collapse.
- Choose a pan that the peppers fit snug into so they don’t fall over when stuffed.
- Not a fan of beef? you can substitute the beef with ground turkey, chicken or pork.
- Line the pan with nonstick foil for easy cleanup.
Elaine Borowski says
This recipe will go into my favorites book!
Loved the Green Peppers Roasted this way!
Thanks for sharing,
EMB
Erren's Kitchen says
I’m so glad you liked it Elaine 🙂
Mary Ann Niemi says
My family loved this recipe!
Erren Hart says
I love to hear this, I’m so pleased you enjoyed it! 🙂
Christina says
I love that you’ve added the metric measurements too! So useful! Thank you, this recipe looks fab. Planning to make it with Quorn as I’m trying to go veggie. 🙂
Erren Hart says
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for taking the time to comment! 🥰
Darcy says
Great recipe – It was an Italian twist on traditional stuffed peppers and a nice change from my usual stuffed green peppers. I loved how colorful the dish was!
Erren Hart says
I’m delighted to hear you liked it so much! 🙂
Lisa Lou says
I made this recipe tonight with all red peppers and I used veggie ground round crumbles instead of meat as I’m vegetarian. I didn’t have fresh herbs so I used dried and I added a little bit of crushed red pepper. I put some vegetable broth in the pan with a little bit of some marina sauce. I also find if I baste the peppers while cooking with the liquid in the pan it really makes them soft and I like the filling moist. This was an excellent recipe with delicious flavor and will definitely make it again. .
Erren's Kitchen says
Thank you Lisa, so good to know you can adapt it to make it veggie 🙂
Leslie says
Thank you, Lisa! Planning on doing the same thing tonight (substituting veggie crumbles). Will also add 2 or 3 types of cheese throughout and on top (my wife likes an obscene amount of cheese). Thanks for the recipe, Erren, Will let you know how it turns out!
Erren's Kitchen says
Please do let me know, sounds delicious! 🙂
Roseann says
I made this but kept out oregano, had so much meat left over, put in a dish with mozzarella on top and bake it. I also used beef and turkey.
Erren's Kitchen says
That sounds great 🙂
Megan F. says
Thanks, Erren- yes, I agree, it is a personal preference. Currently, I am loving pink Himalayan sea saly, which is not as salty, and more forgiving. Oh, I have an update- I just made your recipe today, even froze a few small pans for quick meals, and it was a Huge hit with my husband and son. Since I was so busy cooking ( I did a double batch, enough for 12), I did t see your reply until now, but I just seasoned as I went along, and it was perfect. Hands down, the best Stuffed Pepper recipe I have found, and I’ve been cooking over 45 years. So happy I found your site, will for sure be trying out some of your other recipes, they all look great! Thanks again.
Erren Hart says
Oh wow, Megan! That’s so lovely to hear! 🙂 Feedback like this makes it all worthwhile! 🙂
Megan F. says
This is a truly great recipe. I was wondering, could you give us at least a starting point for minimum amount of salt and pepper for this recipe? I realize that it’s meant to be individualized, but if you can give us a guideline to start with, it would help so much, especially since you have to keep adding, cooking a sample, adding more, etc, so this would be a huge help, then, each can then add more if they want. Thank you Erren!
Erren Hart says
Hi Megan, Salt is such a personal thing! I have a jar of shaved sea salt next to my stove and grab big pinches at a time and taste as I go. Regular table salt is a lot saltier so it makes it even harder to recommend. What type of salt do you use? Maybe that’s a good starting point to guide you.
Lora Schoelkopf says
I just love this recipe, thank you! Did substitute the hamburger for med spiced Italian sausage. Fabulous. 😊
Erren's Kitchen says
I’m glad you liked it, and Italian sausage sounds like a great idea 🙂
Erren's Kitchen says
Thank you Katy, I love to hear this