Classic Stuffed Peppers stuffed with rice, ground beef, tomatoes, and zucchini are a complete meal that can be made ahead.
Why this recipe works:
Classic Stuffed Peppers with ground beef, rice, zucchini, tomatoes, and cheese are one of the most satisfying meals I have ever made!
The rice makes them even more delicious and filling.
Stuffed peppers are a complete meal full of protein, color, and flavor. They are one of those easy, feel good, dinners. They have everything you would want in a meal - meat, a starch, veggies, and cheese!
Ingredients in this recipe:
- Whole bell peppers - you will only discard the stem and seeds and will use everything else
- Ground beef - I always recommend grass fed if available
- Yellow Onion - one ingredient you should never run out of!
- Garlic - pro-tip: buy the big bag of peeled garlic, roast a bunch, and keep it in your refrigerator
- Zucchini - the little ones are best
- Rice - I always use par-cooked (heat and serve) rice in recipes like this
- Canned tomatoes - you can use fresh if they're in season
- Pepper Jack Cheese - it melts oh-so-nice and adds a spicy kick
- Salt - always add salt
How to make them:
Prepare the peppers.
- To cut the tops off of the bell peppers, make one slice that allows the pepper to be the largest bowl or vessel possible (photo 1). Don't throw away any pepper that is attached to the stem! Dice it up and add it to your stuffed pepper filling (photo 2).
- Par cook or steam the peppers by roasting in the oven with water and and a cover (photo 3).
Cook the filling:
- Combine the ground beef with the onion, garlic, and diced bell pepper in a large saute pan (photo 1). Cook until the ground beef is browned and crumbly (photo 2).
- Add the diced zucchini, stir, and allow to cook for a couple minutes. Then add the rice, canned tomatoes, and salt (photo 3) and stir to combine (photo 4).
- Stuff the bell peppers with the filling (photo 5) and top with shredded cheese (photo 6). The assembled stuffed bell pepper recipe should only take a few minutes in the oven. Essentially, since everything is already hot, all you are doing is giving it a final push in the oven at the end to melt the cheese.
Cooking tips:
- You can use any kind of bell peppers when you make stuffed peppers. I'm partial to the red, orange, and yellow ones.
- Since the filling is often already cooked when you stuff them into the pepper cavity, it is important to par bake the peppers so that they are evenly cooked with their stuffed ingredients. To do this you can roast in a covered pot in the oven like I did, blanch the peppers in boiling water and then transfer them to an ice bath, or you can even steam them in the microwave in a covered dish with a bit of water.
- To make this recipe easier, buy frozen pre-cooked rice that only needs to be heated prior to eating.
- Grated cheese from a block always melts better than pre-shredded cheese, but you can use either.
Make ahead instructions:
If you're a planner and like to make things ahead of time, you can par bake the peppers, make the filling, stuff the peppers, and then keep them in the refrigerator until you are ready to cook them.
If this is what you do, you'll want them to come to room temperature before you heat them in the oven. If you don't, the outside will get very hot and the inside will still be cold. By allowing them to come to room temperature first, your stuffed peppers have a better chance of heating all the way through, evenly.
The amount of time this process will take will be completely depended on how close to room temperature you allow them to get, but I would guess 20 minutes would be a sufficient amount of time.
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Step-by-step recipe video below:
Did you make this recipe? Please leave me a comment below to let me know what you think!
Full Recipe Instructions
Classic Stuffed Peppers Recipe
CLICK TO PLAY RECIPE VIDEO
Ingredients
- 6 bell peppers (any color)
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 yellow onion (diced)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 zucchini (diced)
- 2 cups rice (par cooked)
- 15 ounces diced tomatoes (15-ounce can, drained )
- ¼ teaspoon salt (more or less to taste)
- 8 ounces pepper jack cheese (grated)
Instructions
- To prepare the peppers, slice the tops off and remove any veins or seeds inside. Do not discard tops as you will use any remaining pepper attached to the stem.
- Add peppers to a casserole dish, fill with about ½ inch of water, cover with aluminum foil, and bake in a 425o F oven for 20 minutes in order to steam, or parbake, the peppers.
- While the peppers are steaming, cook the ground beef, onion, garlic, and any remaining pepper from the stem piece (diced) in a large saute pan over medium high heat until the meat is crumbly, about 10-15 minutes. Add the diced zucchini and allow to cook for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and add the par cooked rice (frozen microwavable rice works best) and tomatoes. Add salt to taste.
- Once peppers are done, remove from oven, discard water, and return peppers to casserole dish. Fill each pepper cavity with the ground beef and rice filling until all of the peppers have been evenly filled. Top with pepper jack cheese. If making ahead, store in airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to heat and serve.
- Return peppers to oven and cook until heated through and cheese has melted. This should only take a few minutes.
Notes
Cooking tips:
- You can use any kind of bell peppers when you make stuffed peppers. I'm partial to the red, orange, and yellow ones.
- Since the filling is often already cooked when you stuff them into the pepper cavity, it is important to par bake the peppers so that they are evenly cooked with their stuffed ingredients. To do this you can roast in a covered pot in the oven like I did, blanch the peppers in boiling water and then transfer them to an ice bath, or you can even steam them in the microwave in a covered dish with a bit of water.
- To make this recipe easier, buy frozen pre-cooked rice that only needs to be heated prior to eating.
- Grated cheese from a block always melts better than pre-shredded cheese, but you can use either.
NUTRITION INFORMATION
This post was originally created in October 2017 and has been updated with updated photos, helpful information, and cooking tips. Don't worry - I didn't change the recipe!
Lisa
I added a can of enchilada sauce to the meat before stuffing the peppers and my family loved this recipe.
Jo
I’m thinking hash browns leftover stuffing with a soft fried egg on top for breakfast. Great recipe thanks for sharing.
Linda
Have you ever used cauliflower rice to this recipe?
Krissy
I haven't but that would be an outstanding way to add more veggies to your diet! Krissy
Sarah C
I made these stuffed peppers last weekend and they were a huge hit with my family! The zucchini in the filling was a tasty add in. Saving this recipe to make again!
Anthony
Hi! So about how much rice per lb of meet?
Krissy
The recipe calls for 2 cups of par-cooked rice per 1-pound of meat.
Kelly Hilton
I add a tablespoon of Worcestershire to the meat mixture. It gives it a nice zippy flavor! Yum!!
Kathy
Stuffed them with quinoa and brown rice with diced chicken. Deliciousness!!!😊
Carol
Can these be frozen when cooked
Krissy
Hi Carol, Yes - I think you can prepare and freeze. Just allow them to come as close to room temp as possible before reheating, otherwise you'll have frozen-in-the-middle stuffed peppers.
Beth
Do you drain the ground beef?
Krissy
If there's excess grease, yes. I use grassfed/finished, so I never have excess grease.
Patricia
Do you microwave the rice before using it in the recipe? Also, have you used a different cheese other than pepper jack?
Krissy
Hi Patricia, I don't heat the rice before I add it. As long as it's pre-cooked and just needs heating, you can add in frozen, cold, or hot rice. Any way works! I've also made them with cheddar and they were delicious. The type of cheese is totally up to you!
Anonymous
I’m guessing the tomatoes are to be mixed with the cooked beef? It never said where they were to be used.
Krissy
Hey there! Recipe says to add the tomatoes when you add the par-cooked rice. Enjoy!
Bonnie
If, you read the whole recipe, then you know when you know what to do with the tomatoes
Dawn
What temperaturm and time do we use if we are continuing cooking the prepped par-baked peppers?
Krissy
Hi Dawn, I just keep the oven at 425 because that's what I par-bake them at, but the oven temp really doesn't matter as you're just heating them through.
Russ
Krissy,
Have you ever tried Italian turkey sausage in place of ground beef in this recipe? Did you change anything to support the turkey?
Krissy
I haven't but that would work well! You just might need some olive oil to brown the meat since there's less fat.