Stuffed peppers are one of the dishes that used to be on my school lunch menu at least twice a month, it was one of my favorite meals.
These Stuffed Peppers are both delicious and easy to make. I would have never thought that the stuffed pepper of yesterday would make its way off of the today’s lunch room menus. I learned to make this dish for myself many years ago and it’s still a favorite. I think being able to control the ingredients made it an even better dish.
I have seen this dish made on quite a few times on cable cooking shows and every time the beef is precooked. The beef was never pre-cooked back when I was taught how to make beef stuffed peppers.
If you want to produce a thicker tomato sauce just put a couple of holes into the foil cover of leave the top slightly cracked half way thru cooking.
This is a very easy recipe to prep. In this stuffed peppers recipe the peppers were cut lengthwise but they can also be made standing top to tail. The result turns out the same but the presentation is a little different.
In this recipe I don’t precook the beef or boil the peppers, it’s not that complicated. Just cook everything from its raw state and all of the flavors blend better and it is naturally delicious.
Stuffed peppers will keep well in the refrigerator.
Store the peppers in the refrigerator and they will keep for 3 days. Be sure to wrap peppers tightly or store in a food storage container.
This entrée can be frozen.
Stuffed peppers should hold up to 3 months in the freezer. When you are ready to reheat them it is very important not to rush the thawing process, thaw under refrigeration.
One thing I overlooked in this recipe is that these can be made in smaller portions for kids. You can usually purchase smaller peppers and stuff them for the smaller kids. It does not matter if the peppers are green, red or yellow that’s up to you they will taste great either way.
Here is a short video on Stuffed Peppers preparation the full version is near the bottom of the recipe card.
Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
Quick Tomato Sauce
Instructions
For Quick Tomato Sauce
For Stuffing
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Cook rice as directed on package and let cool to room temp or lower.
Combine rice, ground beef, onion, salt, basil, black pepper, and tomato sauce and mix until well blended.
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Stuff peppers with ground beef mixture then cover peppers with tomato sauce.
Cover pan tightly with top or foil line with parchment or wax paper.
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Place into a 375° preheated oven and cook for 40 – 45 minutes.
Remove from oven and check temperature of meat (160°).
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When meat is done top with mozzarella cheese and return to oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
Garnish with chopped parsley or basil.
Serving Size 1ea
Servings 6
- Amount Per Serving
- Calories 438
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 21.1g33%
- Saturated Fat 8.1g41%
- Cholesterol 103mg35%
- Sodium 1031mg43%
- Total Carbohydrate 26.1g9%
- Dietary Fiber 3.7g15%
- Sugars 8.4g
- Protein 35.4g71%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily value may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.