Please tell me I’m not the only one who gets slightly giddy when you see a mound of beautiful peppers at the supermarket?? And when they’re on sale, well let’s just say, my buggy gets quite colorful!
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When I was growing up, we always stuffed the typical green peppers, which I love, but as I’ve grown (((clears throat))) – wiser, I’ve come to really enjoy the sweeter varieties of red, yellow, and orange. Not only is the sweeter taste more palatable (just my opinion) but I found it easier to get the kids on board. When you have a fun looking plate, you’d be surprised at the things you can get kids to eat!
Now I know, there’s no shortage of stuffed bell pepper recipes on the internet. You’ll find all sort of varieties with tomatoes and/or cheese but not in this one. Don’t get me wrong, we are a family of tomato and cheese lovers but for this one, we’ll save that for the salad! Instead, this recipe calls for toasted Italian bread crumbs which gives it a rustic flavor and texture that I think you’ll find quite pleasing. Let’s be honest, the filling of the peppers is the main attraction so let’s keep it that way.
Let’s get started, shall we? First things first, when picking out the peppers, you want them large and round. If they have an odd shape, you’ll end up with peppers that are difficult to fill and may not sit flat when roasting.
Before starting on the filling, you’ll want to address the peppers. Do not cut the tops off, instead cut the peppers in half. Remove the seeds and ribs as best you can with your hands or spoon. Then place the halved peppers on a roasting rack in a pan with a little bit of water. Cover with foil and place in a preheated 450˚ oven for approximately 15 minutes.
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Before 
After, notice the liquid in the peppers. You want to remove that.
Since vegetables are filled with so much water, you’ll see where the cavities have quite a bit of liquid once you remove them from the oven. You’ll want to pour that out before stuffing. Now, you could steam them upside down so the liquid doesn’t pool up, but I have found that the shape doesn’t stay as well. When you remove them from the oven, set them aside and let them cool for easier handling.
Now while those are in the oven doing their thing, you can start on the filling. Prepare your rice however you normally cook it. I boil mine on the stove but you can use a rice cooker if you prefer. I normally cook between 1 to 1 1/4 cup rice which yields roughly 4 – 4 1/2 cups cooked rice. Once the rice is cooked, rinse and set aside until the filling is ready.
While the peppers are in the oven, and the rice is cooking, get a large dutch oven and brown a couple of pounds of ground meat, then strain the rendered fat. To the same pot, saute the onions and celery in a little olive oil. Since you aren’t adding a lot of oil, you can add a splash of beef broth if the onions start sticking.
Once the veggies are tender, return the meat to the dutch oven and add the remaining ingredients. Stir well and cook over a medium-low heat for about 10 minutes then add the cooked rice. I would recommend adding a little rice at a time so you can make sure the rice gets incorporated thoroughly. At this point, let the rice heat through with the meat so it can start absorbing the flavors. Look at the filling, if it’s looking a little ‘dry’, add a little more broth. Do not add too much though, that could turn the rice mushy.
Right now is the last time you can taste for salt and/or pepper. Once you have it where you want it, start stuffing the peppers and place them in your roaster. I use the same roaster that I steamed the peppers in, just remove the rack and drain any water.
My goodness! Y’all look at those beautiful colors! Can we say FALL Y’ALL??!!!
Once they are filled, place in your preheated 450˚ oven for 10 minutes. Carefully remove the pan from the oven and sprinkle the italian bread crumbs over the top of the filling. In order to achieve a toasty topping, the bread crumbs can’t be too thick, so don’t go overboard.
Return the peppers to the oven on a top rack under the broiler for 3 – 5 minutes. Since every oven is different, check your peppers often to insure the bread crumbs are only toasting. My previous oven would do this step a bit too quick! You’d swear the broiler setting was dialed up to the surface of the sun!! So seriously, don’t go anywhere or get distracted!
Wallahhh … that’s it! Easy peezy and oh so delicious!
These make excellent leftovers and freeze quite nicely. To freeze, just wrap each pepper individually with Saran Wrap then in aluminum foil. They should store 2 – 4 months.
Southern Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 14 bell peppers various colors
- 2 lbs beef ground meat browned and drained
- 1/2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil
- 2 medium onions diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 2 tsp cajun seasoning blend
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 4 cups cooked rice (1 ¼ cups uncooked)
- 1 ½ cups beef broth, divided
- Italian bread crumbs for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°
- After rinsing, cut bell peppers lengthwise and remove seeds and as much of the rib as possible.
- Set pepper halves in a roaster on a roasting rack with a small amount of water. Cover with foil and place in preheated oven for approximately 15 minutes or until slightly tender.
- Remove steamed peppers, pouring out any liquid that has accumulated in the cavity of the pepper and set aside to cool for handling.
- In a large dutch oven, brown ground meat then strain.
- In the same dutch oven, heat olive oil then add diced onions and celery and cook until soft. If onions start to stick, add a splash of beef broth.
- Once veggies are tender, return the browned meat to dutch oven and add all seasonings with the exception of the beef broth.
- Stir in 1 cup of beef broth and reserve the rest to use as needed.
- Cook meat mixture for 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend.
- Adding one cup of cooked rice at a time, stir until well incorporated until you reach desired rice to meat ratio.
- Add a little beef broth if needed and heat rice/meat mixture on low for 5 minutes.
- Carefully spoon mixture into pepper cavities and place peppers in a roasting pan.
- Bake stuffed peppers in preheated oven, uncovered for 10 minutes.
- Remove peppers from the oven, sprinkle tops with bread crumbs then return to the oven under the broiler setting for 3-5 minutes. Every oven can be different, watch this step carefully.