Stuffed Bell Peppers

Flavorful ground beef and rice filling, topped with a sweet tomato glaze and melted cheese. Open-faced, easy to serve, and perfect for a comforting dinner.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Southern

Keyword southern-stuffed-bell-peppers, stuffed-bell-peppers, stuffed-peppers

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1 15

Stand time 5

Total Time 1 35

Servings servings

Calories 571kcal

Author Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

3 extra large red, green and yellow bell peppers
Filling:
1/2 cup ketchup
1 Tbsp tomato paste
12 oz extra lean ground beef
8 oz ground Italian sausage
1 1/4 cups cooked long grain rice
1 10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chilies well drained [hot or mild]
1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp barbecue seasoning i.e. McCormick's Smokehouse Maple or similar
1 small sweet onion finely diced
3 cloves garlic minced
2 large eggs lightly beaten
2 cups shredded Colby-Jack cheese divided
2 Tbsp chopped Italian parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/8 tsp cayenne (optional)
Tomato Glaze:
2/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp barbecue seasoning

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray an 13x9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
Prep the Peppers: Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise and remove the stems and seeds. Brush the exterior of the peppers with oil, or spray with cooking spray. Season the interior with a sprinkle of salt and black pepper. Place side by side in the dish.
Make the Filling: In a medium size mixing bowl, mix together the ketchup and tomato paste until smooth. To the bowl add ground beef, Italian sausage, rice, diced tomatoes, barbecue seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, onion, garlic, 1 cup shredded cheese, eggs, parsley, salt black pepper and cayenne. Mix well.
Divide the filling evenly between the bell peppers.
Tomato Glaze: In a small bowl mix together ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar and barbecue seasoning. Drizzle on top of each pepper.
Place into the preheated oven and bake for 1 hour then sprinkle the reserved 1 cup shredded cheese on top.
Return to the oven and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes until the peppers are fork tender and the cheese has melted.
Remove from the baking dish with a slotted spoon and serve. (Drain liquid from pan).

Notes

Peppers - You can use any variety of bell peppers that you enjoy. You can use several colors as I did or you may choose to only use green bell peppers. You could also make these using poblano peppers.
Protein - You can make stuffed peppers with ground turkey, chicken, chorizo sausage, ground pork, Italian sausage or a vegetarian version only using black beans and corn.
Spices - You can replace the barbecue seasoning with taco seasoning for Mexican flavor.
Rice - You can use any cooked rice in these peppers. White regular rice, brown rice or minute rice. It should be cooked rice.
Ketchup - You can use tomato sauce in place of ketchup.
Best Way to Slice Peppers - These easy stuffed peppers are made "open-faced" and I sliced the peppers top to bottom. If you prefer, you can slice a portion from the top removing the stem end and stuff them leaving the peppers whole. When doing so, slice a small piece from the bottom to stabilize them so they’ll remain upright in the oven.
Drain Cooking Liquid Prior to Serving - It’s natural while the stuffed peppers are cooking that they’ll release moisture. This helps to steam and soften the peppers while baking. I recommend removing them from the baking dish to a platter for serving leaving those juices behind, or draining it off from the pan prior to serving.
Cheese - You can use whatever flavor of cheese you enjoy to top these peppers. Sharp cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese, spicy pepper jack cheese or swiss cheese.
Sugar Alternative for the Glaze - I have made the glaze for this stuffed peppers recipe using Truvia brown sugar blend and have found that it works very well for the glaze. Use it in the same amount place of light brown sugar.

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