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.
Would breakfast sausage work in place of the Italian sausage? My husband doesn’t like it.
I haven’t tried it so I can’t say for sure, but I think it would work. It will alter the flavor so you may wish to add additional seasonings.
Wonderful recipe! Turned out so good!
Delicious! Used a couple small real tomatoes and made a half recipe with cooked rice and ground beef. Took less time and they turned out great, thanks!
Amazing, great recipe! I made them for dinner tonight.
Just average taste. Nothing to rave about.
These are amazing! As close to my mom’s as I have had. I used tomato purée with added onion powder and salt and pepper rather than marinara.
Instead of using marinara, I use tomato soup. I also stuff the peppers with American cheese.
Your recipes never disappoint! I didn’t have any sausages and our local grocery store didn’t have. The filling seemed a little flat without them so I added 1/2 a cup of medium salsa. It amped up the flavour perfectly. I’ve made other stuffed pepper recipes over the years, and yours are by far the BEST I’ve had. For me the key was not as much rice as others and the boiling the peppers for 5 minutes. My husband raved about them, thanks for making me seem like a good cook!
I am so happy to hear you loved this recipe Pam!
This recipe needs salt!
If you feel it needs salt, then add it. That simple!
I’m not a salt person so just used a little Lawry’s Seasoning Salt, along with Ital seasoning, minced garlic diced onion and diced pepper. Then rice, Rotel and some leftover Tomato soup. I use Holly’s basis for stuffed peppers for a few years now though
I’m 74 so been making them for quite some time. Dumb comments are distasteful.
Absolutely delicious. I made this and didn’t change a thing. I read some review that said it needed salt. Oh please I never use measurements for salt or pepper as everyone’s taste is different. Thank you for not over salting, for those who don’t know how to make a recipe their own!
Amazing
I was looking for an easy recipe
This recipe turned out great! I used sausage, no ground beef. did bake the peppers for 15 minutes prior to stuffing and baking.
Excellent! And so easy! I served with mashed potatoes, and my husband says “save the recipe “!
I made the stuffed green peppers, we absolutely loved them, best recipe ever, I would use tomato sauce instead of the marinara sauce next time I make them. My daughters boyfriend said they were delicious.
Spendwithpennies.com has become my most trusted recipe site online. Many many recipes and every one has been a winner. This one too!
Thanks Karen! So glad you have enjoyed the recipes!
Delicious!!! So good. Great recipe. I added a teaspoon of salt with the meat and added 1 cup of cheese.
I used rotell instead of plain diced tomatoes and added salt, ,pepper and garlic seasoning. Turned out yummy! Thanks for the recipe!
Awesome recipe! I’ve made it three times. The first time was done with slavish adherence to the recipe. My kids wanted it to be a little more spicy, so I made some adjustments the next two times. My adjustments were that I used 3/4 pound of ground beef and 3/4 pound of spicy Italian sausage (Premio from Costco). I also used 1.5 tablespoons of Italian seasoning, added half of a jalapeño, and I used RAO’s marinara sauce (also from Costco). I switched out the cheddar for mozzarella. I know it seems like a lot of changes, but my adjusted version wasn’t far off from the original. The real take-home here is the process! Holly’s directions are absolutely perfect and even with the changes, the times and procedures leave you with perfectly cooked stuffed peppers!
Your adjusted version sounds so delicious, Gary! Thanks for sharing.
We never brown the meat ahead of time for stuffed peppers. Cook the rice and mix it into raw hamburger or whatever meat you use. (My wife act like pork sausage is Kyptonite). Add the rice and onions (and garlic if using even some of the tomatoes if desired) to the mix then stuff your peppers and add the rest of tomatoes over top and bake. We don’t put cheese on them either. I think using raw hamburger takes on a whole different flavor.
That sounds great, Loren! Thanks for sharing your alterations.
Recipe turned out so good! Only thing I added was more cheese to the mixture.
I had some leftover meat mixture so I’ll be making the soup!