This is a classic recipe for Beef Stuffed Peppers. It is a perfect recipe for harvest season and a great comfort food dish for fall and winter. Easy to make and so delicious.
Stuffed Peppers Recipe (and other Vegetables)
This beef mixture can be used to stuff peppers or other vegetables. I usually stuff only peppers, but I thought I’d give red onions a try today. Together, they are delicious.
What I love about this recipe:
- the beef mixture is a great base for stuffing lots of different vegetables
- it’s an old-fashioned tried and true recipe
- the ingredients are simple. You can find everything at your local grocery store and most in your garden
FAQs
Make-Ahead and Storage:
How far in advance can I make stuffed peppers?
About 2 days in advance.
Prepare peppers just as you would if you were baking them immediately, except for adding the tomato sauce. Store covered in the refrigerator
When ready, pour the tomato sauce into the bottom of the pan and over the peppers before baking
Storage: Store any leftovers covered in the fridge
Reheating: Try to add fresh tomato sauce to the pan and the top of the peppers for reheating. Reheat leftover stuffed peppers in a covered baking dish for 15-20 minutes or until heated through
Can a Stuffed Pepper be frozen?
Yes! You can freeze stuffed peppers for a few months. They can be frozen cooked or uncooked
Tips for storing in the freezer:
- Use an aluminum baking pan to store peppers in. This will ease the transition from freezer to oven. Just be sure to cover the top of it and remember to cover peppers with foil for baking
Thawing stuffed peppers:
To thaw bake stuffed peppers.
Cooked Frozen Stuffed Peppers – bake cooked stuffed peppers at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes
Uncooked Frozen Stuffed Peppers – be sure to add about 20 minutes to the regular baking time
Does the ground beef need to be pre-cooked before adding it to the peppers?
- I think so. Cooking the vegetables along with the ground beef really melds the flavors together
What goes well with Stuffed Peppers?
- mashed potatoes
- corn on the cob
- a side salad
- baked potato
What are some other vegetables that are good for stuffing with beef?
- tomatoes
- zucchini
- sweet onions
- eggplant
- squash
Tips and Tricks:
- Adding shredded cheese to the top of stuffed vegetables is a way to add more delicious flavor
- Use this beef mixture as a base to stuff all sorts of vegetables. Great vegetables for stuffing include acorn squash, tomatoes, sweet onion, and butternut squash
- Because the tomato sauce tends to dry out a little when baked, add more sauce to the top of the peppers and the bottom of the pan before reheating
If you are ready to make these delicious stuffed vegetables. Then, let’s make sure you have everything you’ll need:
Ingredients:
- Green Peppers – Cored – Try to find some that have some width to them for stuffing
- ground beef – I like to use ground sirloin
- onion – chopped. Try using a sweet onion like a purple onion or Vidalia
- zucchini – peeled and chopped. This is a delicious addition, but if you don’t have zucchini that’s ok
- tomato – a juicy beef steak works well for the tomato
- garlic powder
- salt
- ground black pepper – a couple of twists on the pepper grinder – or – a couple of dashes
- Worcestershire sauce
- tomato sauce – divided
- Cooked white rice – 2 cups of cooked rice
- Butter – I used unsalted butter because that’s all I had on hand, but I really think salted butter would be heavenly
How do you Make Stuffed Peppers?
Instructions:
- Cook rice
- Cut, core, and boil peppers
- Cook beef
- Add vegetables to beef and cook until tender
- Add rice to vegetables and beef
- Pour half of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the pot
- Add the boiled peppers that have been drained
- Stuff them with beef, rice, and vegetable mixture
- Pour more tomato sauce over the peppers and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes
- Serve with bread, salad, and green beans
More Main Dishes
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Stuffed Peppers Recipe
- Total Time: 0 hours
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
An old-fashioned recipe for beef stuffed peppers and other stuffed vegetables.
Ingredients
- 6–8 Green Peppers – Cored (the inside flesh scooped out)
- optional – 2 Red onions with middle layers scooped out by spoon
- 2 pounds of ground beef – I like to use sirloin because it has less fat
- 1 medium onion – chopped
- 1 large tomato
- 1 zucchini – peeled and chopped
- 1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
- 1 tsp. of salt
- ground black pepper – a couple of twists on the pepper grinder – or – a couple of dashes
- 1 Tbsp. of Worcestershire sauce
- 1 large can (about 16 oz.) of tomato sauce – divided
- Cooked Rice – 2 cups of cooked white rice
- 6 Tbsp. Butter (divided) – unsalted or salted
- optional: shredded cheese for topping
Instructions
- In a large pot, place cored peppers (and optional cored onions) in about an inch of water
- Boil the cored peppers until tender (about 10 minutes)
- In a large, nonstick skillet, cook the hamburger
- *I like to drain the hamburger meat (if necessary) and then use a blender to make the hamburger texture super fine
- In the same skillet with the hamburger added back to it, Add the onion, zucchini, tomato, garlic, salt, pepper, 8 oz. of the tomato sauce, and Worcestershire sauce
- Continue to cook until all of the vegetables are tender
- Mix the rice into the beef mixture
- When peppers are tender, drain the water from the peppers and let them cool off a bit
- In another large ovenproof pot – or – crock pot, add half of the tomato sauce to the bottom of the pot
- start spooning the beef and rice mixture into peppers
- Place the peppers, standing up in the oven-proof pot, – or a crock pot – on top of the sauce
- Add a little more tomato sauce to the top of each pepper
- Cover the pot, and if you’re using the oven (bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes) if you’re using a crockpot, place it on low for the day
- Just before serving, add some tomato sauce from the bottom of the pot to the tops of the pepper, and about 1 Tbsp. of butter to the top of each cooked stuffed pepper
- while the peppers are still warm you can add (optional) shredded cheese
Notes
How far in advance can I make stuffed peppers?
About 2 days in advance.
Prepare peppers just as you would if you were baking them immediately, except for adding the tomato sauce. Store covered in the refrigerator
When ready, pour the tomato sauce into the bottom of the pan and over the peppers before baking
Storage: Store any leftovers covered in the fridge
Reheating: Try to add fresh tomato sauce to the pan and the top of the peppers for reheating. Reheat leftover stuffed peppers in a covered baking dish for 15-20 minutes or until heated through
Can Stuffed Peppers be frozen?
Yes! You can freeze stuffed peppers for a few months. They can be frozen cooked or uncooked
Tips for storing in the freezer:
- Use an aluminum baking pan to store peppers in. This will ease the transition from freezer to oven. Just be sure to cover the top of it and remember to cover peppers with foil for baking
Thawing stuffed peppers:
To thaw bake stuffed peppers.
Cooked Frozen Stuffed Peppers – bake cooked stuffed peppers at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes
Uncooked Frozen Stuffed Peppers – be sure to add about 20 minutes to the regular baking time
Does the ground beef need to be pre-cooked before adding it to the peppers?
- I think so. Cooking the vegetables along with the ground beef really melds the flavors together
What goes well with Stuffed Peppers?
- mashed potatoes
- corn on the cob
- a side salad
- baked potato
What are some other vegetables that are good for stuffing with beef?
- tomatoes
- zucchini
- sweet onions
- eggplant
- squash
Tips and Tricks:
- Adding shredded cheese to the top of stuffed vegetables is a way to add more delicious flavor
- Use this beef mixture as a base to stuff all sorts of vegetables. Great vegetables for stuffing include acorn squash, tomatoes, sweet onion, and butternut squash
- Because the tomato sauce tends to dry out a little when baked, add more sauce to the top of the peppers and the bottom of the pan before reheating
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 25-30 minutes
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: baked
- Cuisine: American
~Melissa – KidFriendlyThingsToDo.Com
