Stuffed Pepper Recipe
The other day I sliced a specific number of apples for my afternoon snack. Charlotte walked by and nabbed one, and I totally flipped out on her. I had already entered it into my calorie tracking app, you see. I had basically ALREADY EATEN that apple slice. How dare she just come and take food out of my mouth?? This is what happens when you start dieting, apparently. No one told me. You turn into a heinous witch. How could I have predicted what calorie deficit would do to my ability to be reasonable?! Poor Charlotte. (Don’t worry, I apologized for being hangry. That’s what dieting is, by the way, a constant low level hangry that you don’t get brownies today.) Eric was just telling me last night about how he was a full grown adult before he had any concept of what calories were. He told me that his reasoning as a kid would be something like, “you just take butter and spread it on your toast, and it melts all the way in, so that’s like…no calories, right? You can’t even see it!” … (“Is butter a carb?” Name that movie!!) It just melts in, guys! Good thing the calories you can’t see don’t count, right? Ha! As if. (« name that movie! Wow, I guess dieting makes me revert to only being able to think of quotes from teenage girl movies.)
Stuffed Bell Peppers
If you are hangry dieting too (or even if you’re not), might I suggest the humble stuffed bell pepper for dinner tonight? I feel like stuffed peppers get a bad rap sometimes. I’d never really been super into them until recently. Now I’m obsessed! They are cheap, they are filling, they are healthy, they are easy, they are versatile. What’s not to love here?
Stuffed Bell Peppers Ingredients
Here’s your basic grocery list! Look for bright, waxy peppers that hold their shape. You can use leftover cooked rice if you have it!
How to make Stuffed Peppers
Here are the basics! This recipe is super easy! More details and photos below. Now that you’ve got the idea of it, here are all my tips! First, the low-down on cutting the peppers. To halve or to whole?? Halving the peppers makes them easier to eat, but takes up more room during prep, meaning you might have to soften your bell peppers in batches. Leaving the peppers whole is delightfully showy, but makes for large portions during the meal. Decide if you want to stuff the whole pepper and have it sit upright in the pan, or if you want to cut it in half to lie flat, like this: Either way will work fine. I like cutting them in half, because then I get double the amount of crispy cheese topping, and I’m all about the cheese.
The best stuffed pepper hack: the microwave
Stuffed peppers take kind of a while to bake in the oven, and if you put them in completely raw, your filling will get dried out by the time your peppers are tender. So choose your method of precooking: microwave, par-boiling, or baking. Any way will work just fine! I’m super lazy, so I microwave.
What is the best way to soften bell peppers?
The microwave is best for me, but don’t let some food blogger boss you around. Here are all your options: Microwave: Place the peppers cut-side-up in a microwave safe dish, like a glass 9×13 inch pan. Add 1/2 cup water to the bottom of the pan. The peppers should not be stacked. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Microwave for 5 minutes on high. (You might have to do this in a couple batches if you halved your peppers. 6 whole peppers sitting upright will fit in a 9×13 or even a 2-quart pan, but 12 pepper halves probably won’t. If you halved, transfer your pre-cooked peppers to a large baking sheet after microwaving.) Continue with filling. Boil: Bring a large pot of water to boil. Add the prepared peppers (halved or whole) and boil for 3 minutes. Remove from the pot and place in a pan or on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Continue with filling. Bake: Line up your peppers cut side down in a pan or on a baking sheet. Add 1 cup water to the pan. Bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, discard the water, turn them over and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Continue with filling.
Do you have to boil peppers before stuffing them?
Yes you DO have to soften the peppers. Microwave, boil OR bake. (Not all three. We’re not torturing our poor peppers.)
How do you keep stuffed peppers from getting soggy?
Great news! Your peppers won’t get soggy with this recipe! It’s because of the softening step we took. People used to bake stuffed peppers in a pan of water, meaning that the sometimes if you weren’t careful the filling would get soggy sad. Because we’re softening the peppers in advance rather than trying to boil them while baking, there’s no water pooling at the bottom of the pan. Hence, no chance for a sog fest. Sog fest=sob fest, amiright? Now it’s time to prepare the filling: for this recipe we are using ground beef, canned tomatoes, onion, corn, and cooked rice. You can change these up however you like. Use ground turkey or chicken instead of beef. Replace the corn with peas, or cooked zucchini. Replace the rice with quinoa or brown rice. (Whatever grain you use must be fully cooked when it goes into the filling. Leftover rice is a great option! Now you have something else to make with leftover rice besides Fried Rice!) (Here on the right is what an upright whole stuffed pepper looks like, you could squeeze a whole bunch in a pan together to make them stay upright and not fall over!) As for seasoning the filling, my secret is to add a little smoked paprika and liquid smoke to the mixture. This lends a really delicious smokey element to your stuffed bell peppers that I just love! If you are not into smokey flavors, you can leave them both out. I think it really takes stuffed peppers from ho-hum to delicious though! Top each stuffed pepper with cheese and pop it in the oven! 20 minutes later, your delicious low carb dinner is done. Hallelujah! Serve it with a nice green salad and some crusty bread. Or get a little fancy and serve it with Roasted Potatoes, Green Beans, or a quick Sauteed Zucchini side dish.
Other easy and low carb dinner ideas you will love!
Buffalo Chicken Zucchini Boats « I’ve been obsessed with zucchini boats lately! So good.Greek Pasta with Chicken (and Zoodles) « Zoodles are a great option if you are low-carbing it! I love this meal.Cauliflower Rice Skillet with Zucchini and Kielbasa « If you still have never tried riced cauliflower, you haven’t lived!Oven Baked Greek Chicken with Veggies « This is done in about a half hour. It’s one of my favorite weeknight meals.One Pan Sausage and Veggies with Lemon Aioli « Who can argue with one dirty pan for dinner??Zucchini Pizza Bites « No one can resist these!Red Pepper Soup with Black Bean “Meatballs” « This is a unique and delicious soup!Spicy Stuffed Tomatoes from A Girl Called AdriStuffed Avocados with Chicken and Bacon from DiethoodTurkey Taco Stuffed Sweet Potatoes from Cookin’ Canuck
Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram
