Stuffed Peppers are an easy, all-in-one dinner made with colorful bell peppers, a savory beef and sausage filling, and plenty of marinara sauce. They’re make-ahead friendly, freezer-friendly, and perfect for busy weeknights.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights: Stuffed Peppers
- Flavor: Rich, savory, and comforting, every bite is packed with seasoned meat, tender rice, sweet bell peppers, and tangy marinara.
- Why Make It: Cooking the rice right in the tomato mixture helps it soak up the sauce and keeps the filling flavorful.
- Serving Suggestions: These peppers are a complete meal on their own, but they’re delicious served with a crisp green salad and warm garlic bread for soaking up the extra marinara sauce.
Total Time: 1 Hour 20 Minutes Servings: 6 Cooking Method: Oven Baked
Ingredient Notes
- Bell peppers: Any color works. Green peppers have a slightly sharper flavor, while red, yellow, and orange peppers are sweeter.
- Meat: Lean ground beef makes the filling hearty without becoming greasy, while Italian sausage adds richness and plenty of flavor. Use mild, sweet, or hot Italian sausage depending on your preference, and be sure to drain any excess fat after browning the meat.
- Long Grain White Rice: Uncooked long grain white rice simmers in the tomato mixture, absorbing all of the delicious flavors as it cooks. If using cooked rice instead, omit the water and simmer the filling just until everything is heated through and well combined. If using brown rice, make sure it is precooked.
- Marinara Sauce: Choose a marinara sauce you enjoy, as it adds flavor to both the filling and the peppers while they bake. Since some sauces are saltier than others, taste the filling before adding any extra salt.
How to Make Stuffed Peppers
- Cut and clean out the peppers, and then boil.
- Cook the filling in a skillet.
- Fill the peppers.
- Bake (full recipe below).
Stuffed Pepper Pointers
- For Softer Peppers: Boil or air fry them before filling. For tender-crisp peppers, skip that step.
- Drain the Peppers: Draining them well after boiling prevents a watery dish.
- Taste the Filling: Taste before stuffing because marinara sauce and sausage can vary in saltiness.
- Do Not Pack Tightly: Use a spoon to gently press the filling into the peppers, but do not pack it too tightly.
- Spooning the Sauce: Spoon from the bottom of the dish over the peppers before adding cheese for extra moisture and flavor.
Save Every Stuffed Pepper
- Leftovers: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Reheating: Reheat in the microwave, covered loosely, until heated through. For the oven, place peppers in a baking dish with a little marinara or water, cover with foil, and heat at 350°F until warm.
- To Freeze: Assemble the peppers without baking and cool the filling completely first. Cover tightly and freeze. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then bake as directed, adding about 15 minutes if needed.
More Stuffed Pepper Favorites
Did you enjoy the following Stuffed Peppers Recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
Ingredients
- 6 medium bell peppers any color
- 8 ounces lean ground beef
- 8 ounces Italian sausage
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can canned petite diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup long grain white rice uncooked
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 ½ cups marinara sauce divided
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese or cheddar cheese, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13-inch casserole dish.
- Cut off the tops of the bell peppers. Discard the stems, finely chop the tops, and set aside for the sauce. Core the peppers, discarding the membranes and seeds.
- To cook the peppers, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the peppers for 5 minutes and then drain them well. Alternatively, air fry the peppers at 400°F for 5 minutes.
- For the filling, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, Italian sausage, diced onion, and minced garlic. Cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until no pink remains. Drain the fat.
- Add diced tomatoes with their juices, water, Worcestershire sauce, rice, the diced pepper tops, Italian seasoning, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and black pepper.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer, and cover. Cook until the rice is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes, adding more water if needed. Remove from the heat and stir in ½ cup of the marinara. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if desired.
- Place 1 ½ cups of marinara sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add the peppers, cut-side-up, and divide the rice mixture evenly into the peppers. Spoon the remaining marinara sauce over the top.
- Cover tightly with foil, bake for 35 minutes.
- Carefully remove the foil and spoon the sauce from the bottom of the dish over the peppers. Top with cheese (if using) and bake uncovered for an additional 10 to 12 minutes or until the peppers are tender and the cheese is fully melted.
- Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
Rice: If using cooked rice, skip the water and simmer the rice in the sauce for about 5 minutes. Brown rice should be pre-cooked.
Peppers: For firm to tender-crisp peppers, skip the boiling step and bake as directed. I prefer the texture when the peppers are softer.
Seasoning: Marinara sauce can vary in salt levels and seasonings. Taste a bit of the filling and add salt to taste.
Additional vegetables, such as diced zucchini or chopped mushrooms, can be added to the filling.
Leftovers: Keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 397 | Carbohydrates: 32g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.5g | Cholesterol: 63mg | Sodium: 980mg | Potassium: 1023mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 4384IU | Vitamin C: 168mg | Calcium: 123mg | Iron: 4mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Casserole, Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Pork
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
These stuffed peppers were easy to make and “AWESOME”. I made them exactly as the recipe says and even my wife loved them ( she usually does not like stuffed peppers). A keeper for sure.
Thanks so much.
Fabulous recipe! I made over the weekend and family enjoyed. . Thanks for sharing.
II had grown peppers and a friend recommended your recipe. I made these as one of the side dishes for Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone raved about them. Had leftover meat/ rice mixture; in the freezer for later.
Thank you Debbie and Holly.
So glad to hear everyone loved these stuffed peppers Mike!
I made the filling last night and stuffed the peppers this morning. Cooking them for dinner tonight. Do I just take out of fridge and pop in oven same time 350 35min?? Then 10 with cheese. Will that heat them through enough??
If they’re cold from the fridge, you might need to cook them a bit longer. I would suggest taking them out of the fridge while the oven preheats. You can insert a butter knife into the center of one before adding cheese to ensure it’s heated through. Enjoy!
Girl! I have tried so many stuffed pepper recipes and this one is hands down the best! The only thing I had to do differently was use one pound of ground beef as I didn’t have any Italian sausage on hand. My family LOVED it! Thank you so much for sharing this recipe; my search for the perfect stuffed pepper is over!
We are so happy you and your family enjoyed this recipe, Victoria!
These stuffed peppers turned out amazing thanks you for posting the recipe I’m making them for the second time this evening
I really want to make these peppers but I hate worschestire sauce, any idea on a substitution?
You could try soy sauce as a replacement.
What kind of rice did you use in this recipe??
I use long grain white rice.
Making these tonight and there is some stuffing left. Oh what to do.
You can add it to a pasta sauce or even to broth to make a bowl of soup. Depending on how much you have left, you could stuff more peppers, some zucchini or even large tomatoes for lunches. It would also be great served over zucchini noodles. I hope that helps.
I’m glad I read the comment section while waiting for my peppers to bake. I’ll definitely be stuffing my leftover zucchini with the filling tomorrow for lunch!! Tomorrow is grocery day and I’m trying to use up all my leftover (getting sad) veggies. This was perfect for all my peppers and I forgot about and the few zucchini I overbought.
can some type of mushrooms and black beans be used instead of meat is this recipe for stuffed peppers?
Hi Martha, we have only made this recipe as listed but if you give it a try let us know how it turns out! Sounds delicious.
Fabulous. I used grape tomatoes from my garden instead of canned. It was excellent.
Awesome!
If using cauliflower rice, the 90 sec microwave kind, would I still need all the water?
Hi Heather, if you’re using cauliflower rice I would say you could probably omit the water completely, the cauliflower rice should cook in the tomato juice. If your mixture is too thick without the water, add water a bit at a time until you get the desired consistency. I hope that helps!
Used peppers from our garden so on the small side, used my own roasted tomato marinara and the cheddar just didn’t sit right with me plus I didn’t have any so I used provolone instead. Again, peppers were small so I just tucked the leftover filling in around the peppers. This was delicious!
I’m not a good cook and normally don’t like my own cooking. But, this recipe was easy to follow and turned out delicious. It looked just like the photos. I had giant peppers so I basically doubled the ingredients. My boyfriend liked it so much he ate two!
This was an awesome and delicious recipe. I froze the left overs for future dinners. My husband and I really enjoyed it. Yummy!!!!
I made these last week and they were delicious. I did add a little salt (I didn’t see where it called for any in the recipe) and I used the full pound of Italian sausage and 1/2 pound of beef. I’m actually making another dish of them right now. Thanks for the great recipe!!
Way too much marinara sauce. It overwhelmed the flavor. I followed the recipe exactly and used Bertolli brand marinara. Very disappointed in the results.
Looks delicious, can’t wait to make!
I made the recipe last night. It was delicious!! I used a pound of both ground meat and Italian sausage to make more stuffing.
Not sure why I waited so long to make a stuffed pepper recipe but this was delicious. I did not make too many changes. I just used half chicken stock and water for the liquid portion for the rice. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. There are no words to describe how truly easy, not to mention great tasting, these stuffed peppers turned out!!! I loved the idea of boiling the peppers first. Some stuffed pepper recipes on other sites do not do that. I have some rice mixture left. Going out to buy more peppers tomorrow. Thank you for this recipe! It’s in my rotation.
So easy to prepare . In oven right now filling the home with wonderful aromas. We had no shredded cheddar cheese so I substituted with ricotta cheese instead.