Easy weeknight meals are a MUST in our household. We try to keep things as easy as possible, while trying not to sacrifice health or quality of our meals. We eat relatively early, around 6 pm and always as a family. I usually start cooking around 5, so it’s really important for me to be able to make things efficiently, while still factoring in clean up time! Stuffed peppers are a great meal option because not only are they relatively simple, they are packed with flavor and they are even BETTER as leftovers the next day!
As I mentioned in my Instagram stories, I am so fortunate that my mom lives close by and we cook together often. She is an amazing chef, and I have learned so much from her in the kitchen (haven’t perfected her meatballs just yet!). So I love being able to make the same meals for my kids that she made for me when I was little! Stuffed peppers is one of those recipes.
I usually head to Costco quite often, and when I do I love to pick up their 6 pack of bell peppers. It’s usually around $6.50 for the whole pack of peppers. You can easily buy them loose in the grocery store or in a three pack at Trader Joe’s. You can’t go wrong with any color bell pepper (I prefer red because I think they are a bit sweeter than the rest) but any one will do. Here’s how we make them:
Ingredients:
- Bell Peppers
- 1 lb Ground Beef (we always use at least 93% lean)
- 1 cup of Rice (we like jasmine rice, but you can pick any grain – even quinoa!)
- Onion
- Garlic
- Tomato Sauce (we use Rao’s 24 oz marinara sauce)
- Fresh Parsley
- Parmesan Cheese
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Salt + pepper
- First, chop your onions and garlic. Next, drizzle olive oil in a pan and sauté your onions. Wait a few minutes and then add in garlic ((you don’t want to burn the garlic) and sauté until golden brown. Separately, prepare your rice (we sometimes do boil-in-a-bag or microwave rice for Trader Joe’s – there is no wrong way to make rice!) and set it all aside.
- Start boiling water for peppers. Blanche your peppers for about 5 minutes. Fit as many peppers in your pot as you can (mine holds about 4). Try not to do longer than 5 minutes. Set aside.
- In a separate frying pan, cook your ground beef until it’s well done. Then add salt, pepper and a sprinkle of parm cheese. Next, add in your fresh parsley (or dried if that’s what you have). Then, add in your tomato sauce. Lastly, add in your rice, onions and garlic. Mix together.
- Cut your peppers in half and remove the seeds. Using a spoon, add the meat mixture to each pepper. Sprinkle some parm cheese on top of good measure. We also drizzle some olive oil on top just because, well, we’re Italian and love that EVOO.
- Place peppers in an oven safe dish and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Enjoy!
*This recipe makes about 12 pepper halves. You can easily modify with less meat (maybe half of pound of meat), but we really like to make more so we can eat it for multiple days. Again, you really can’t mess these up!
Modifications: You can easily make this dish into a vegetarian one by eliminating the ground beef, doubling up on the rice and adding in a protein such as black beans. You can even swap rice for quinoa and skip the cheese altogether. The truth is, you really can’t go wrong with anything because the peppers are so flavorful that it makes any mixture you add absolutely delicious!
Bonus Recipe!
As a side dish, I made these delicious zucchini chips in my air fryer and I’m officially OBSESSED! I cut the zucchini into small circle pieces, drizzled them with EVOO, salt + pepper and lemon juice. Threw them in the air fryer at 400 degrees (preheated it for about 5 mins prior) for about 20 minutes (turning them over every 4 minutes give or take) and they turned out amazing. I can’t get enough of my air fryer! This is the one I have and I can’t recommend it enough!
