Stuffed peppers are a super simple meal that everyone loves! Red and green bell peppers are seasoned and stuffed with a mixture of rice, Pecorino Romano, ground beef, marinara sauce, and herbs, topped with mozzarella cheese, and baked in more sauce until the cheese is golden. These peppers make the perfect easy weeknight meal and are great leftover too!
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Editor’s Note: Originally published on 12/21/2018. Updated with full process shots and expanded info.
Italian stuffed peppers are one of our family’s favorite meals because they’re easy and since there’s a combination of rice, ground beef, and peppers, they make a great all-in-one meal.
These stuffed bell peppers are perfect to make ahead for busy weeknights and we think they’ll be a regular for you too!
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Preheat the oven to 375f and set the rack to the middle level and bring a pot of water to boil. Slice 6 large bell peppers in half and remove the seeds. Mince 8 cloves of garlic and a 1/4 cup of Italian flat-leaf parsley. Chop a 1/4 cup of basil and grate 1 cup of Pecorino Romano and shred 1 cup of block mozzarella cheese.
- Boil the peppers for 7-8 minutes or until fork tender. Remove and drain the peppers and set them aside to cool.
- Heat a large pan to a touch higher than medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, spread out the ground chuck and let it brown.
- Break up the meat with a wooden spoon or meat masher and continue to cook until well browned. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes or until very fragrant. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the burner.
- Add the Pecorino Romano, 2 cups of cooked white rice, 1 cup of low-sodium beef broth, 2 teaspoons of dried oregano, 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper, 1 cup of marinara sauce, and the parsley and basil. Mix well and taste the stuffing, adjusting any salt and pepper to taste. Note: You want this stuffing to taste really flavorful. Don’t be shy with the salt. If it seems bland, add more salt and/or Pecorino.
- Arrange the peppers on a baking sheet and season the interior of each pepper with a generous sprinkle of salt. Peppers are bland on their own so salting at this step is important.
- Spoon the stuffing into the pepper cavity until full and place them in a baking dish deep enough to hold the peppers and the marinara sauce.
- Add the remaining 3 cups of marinara sauce and 3/4 cup of water into the dish. The sauce should cover the bottom 1-2 inches of the peppers. Sprinkle the tops with the mozzarella cheese and drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top of the peppers.
- Cover the peppers with parchment paper, then tightly with foil, and bake for 25 minutes. Note: The layer of parchment prevents the cheese from sticking while the foil wrapped tightly helps the peppers steam and cook more quickly.
- Remove the covering and bake for 15 minutes longer or until the cheese is melted and golden. For a more golden top, broil for 1-2 minutes but watch carefully to prevent burning. Spoon the pan sauce onto the peppers and serve with more grated Pecorino Romano cheese. Enjoy!
Top Tips
- Peppers. We used red and green bell peppers for this recipe but you can use any color of bell pepper you’d like. You can use other peppers as well, but depending on the size and shape you may have more stuffing than you need. If you’re looking for a recipe with frying or cubanelle peppers, check out these sausage stuffed cubanelles.
- The meat. We used 80/20 ground chuck for this recipe. If you’d like to use leaner chopped meat, bulk sausage, or ground chicken/turkey you definitely can.
- Seasoning. Peppers can be quite bland on their own so seasoning the inside of the cavity with salt is very important. Be sure to taste your stuffing prior to filling the peppers and make any adjustments there as well.
- Marinara. We used our simple marinara sauce for this recipe. It’s a great way to use up leftover marinara! Alternatively, you can use crushed tomatoes that have been seasoned with a little salt and minced garlic.
- Baking. We recommend covering the peppers first with parchment paper to prevent the cheese from sticking to the foil, then foiling and sealing tightly. This helps to keep the peppers moist and allows them to steam in the oven. Stuffed bell peppers are much better when they are very soft. The initial par-boiling significantly helps with speeding up the softening, otherwise, the peppers could take as long as 90 minutes to cook. But use the cooking time as a general number and if the peppers need a bit more time, let them resume baking until they are very soft.
More stuffed veggie recipes
Vegetables are wonderful to stuff and we do it often! Here are some of our favorite stuffed veg recipes.
- Sausage stuffed zucchini boats
- Greek stuffed onions
- Sausage stuffed mushrooms
- Sausage and apple stuffed acorn squash
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Italian Stuffed Peppers
Italian stuffed peppers with rice, ground beef, and Pecorino Romano in a marinara sauce topped with mozzarella and baked until golden.
Ingredients
- 6 large bell peppers cut in half and seeds removed
- 1/4 cup olive oil divided
- 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
- 2 cups cooked white rice
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 1 cup low sodium beef stock
- 1 cup Pecorino Romano grated
- 1/4 cup parsley minced
- 1/4 cup basil chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 4 cups marinara sauce divided, see notes below
- 3/4 cup water
- 1 cup mozzarella grated
- 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt divided, plus more to taste
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375f and set rack to the middle level. Bring a pot of water to boil.
- Slice peppers in half and remove the seeds. Boil peppers for 7-8 minutes or until fork tender. Remove and drain the peppers. Spread the peppers out on a baking tray to cool.
- Heat a large pan to a touch higher than medium heat and add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Once hot, spread out the ground chuck and let it brown.
- Break up the meat with a wooden spoon or meat masher and continue to cook until well browned. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes or until very fragrant. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the burner.
- Add the Pecorino Romano, cooked rice, beef broth, parsley, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, and 1 cup of marinara sauce. Mix thoroughly and taste the stuffing. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. You want this stuffing to taste great!
- Season the interior of each pepper with a generous sprinkle of salt. Stuff the peppers and place them into the baking dish. Pour the remaining 3 cups of marinara sauce and the 3/4 cup of water into the dish. The sauce should come up about 1-2 inches on the sides of the peppers.
- Sprinkle the mozzarella on top of each pepper and drizzle each with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cover peppers with parchment paper then tightly with foil (this prevents sticking) and bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove the covering and bake for 15 more minutes or until golden. For a more golden top broil for 1-2 minutes but watch carefully! Spoon the pan sauce on the peppers and serve with more grated cheese. Enjoy!
Notes
- Use this 15-minute marinara sauce or your own.
- Parboiling the peppers will significantly speed up the cooking time.
- Salting the interior of the peppers is a very important step to having well-flavored stuffed peppers.
- Leftovers can be saved for up to 3 days and reheated in the microwave.
Nutrition
Calories: 573kcal | Carbohydrates: 49.9g | Protein: 44.9g | Fat: 20.3g | Saturated Fat: 6.4g | Cholesterol: 113mg | Sodium: 279mg | Potassium: 528mg | Fiber: 0.8g | Sugar: 0.1g | Calcium: 140mg | Iron: 24mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe was originally published on December 21, 2018. It was completely updated on January 9, 2023.
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Really good recipe, thank you for sharing!!!
Thanks, Amy!
Sounds delicious 😋
Very good recipes love them
Happy to hear that, Pamela!
I like how you say “there’s no superior way”. I literally learned how to cook ( Italian )watching this channel and always go here for recipes/ideas. I have my own personal way I learned watching your videos (& some others but mostly sip and feast). I also had (FBI) full blood Italian grandparents, but when Grandma was in kitchen making meatballs or making lasagna or rigatoni with sauce etc I was in other room with Grandpa watching Hee Haw or Andre the Giant….lol. Thank Goodness for James who paid attention and passed on our cultural secrets to guys like me so I could also pass to my kids. God bless you guys
We’re so happy you’ve been enjoying the recipes and truly appreciate the comment!
These look exactly like my moms. She would sometimes stuff fryer peppers too because that’s what we had in the garden.
One thing I learned this year after many many years is to microwave the peppers to par cook them. I don’t usually cook in my m/w but just heat dishes. But this method works beautifully and no hot pot of water to deal with. It’s just a thought.
We’re glad you enjoyed the recipe!
This recipe is now a family favourite. It is the only stuffed pepper recipe I make. It is delicious. Well done and thanks for sharing it. I also love watching your YouTube channel and make your lentil soup on a regular basis too. 🙂
We are so happy to hear that, Cindy!
We had this for dinner and lunch for 2 days, Fabulous recipe and will be on our regular repeat schedule. I have never before had a stuffed pepper I liked, till now. Thank you thank you, thank you. Followed recipe and instructions carefully, but didn’t have enough beef. Supplemented with mild italian sausage, which I almost always have in the freezer. My daughter said, I will only want one mom. Mom said, don’t think you can eat just one of these darlin! She couldn’t! Keep up the good work James and Tara.
We’re so happy you and your daughter enjoyed this one, Maureen! Thanks for the comment!
Could I deep freeze them before the oven step and save for for a later date?
Yes, you can.
Can I reheat in the oven
Yes, absolutely. Reheat at 350°F until warmed through.
Your recipes are so amazing and very easy to follow and do….thank you!!
So happy to hear that, Symantha!
Hi, in the stuffed peppers can I use the pin salt ? Or Mrs. Dash? Have to be careful w salt , or no salt . Thanks
Hi Donna, you can use any salt you’d like, but you may need to reduce the amount of salt if not using the kosher salt Jim uses.