Recipe: Stuffed Bell Peppers – Makes Enough To Freeze Some For Later!

37 Replies

Hby Tammy Taylor

I love bell peppers and usually plant several bell pepper plants in my garden. I love to use bell peppers in a steamed veggie medley, dehydrate them for winter use and of course you have to have chopped bell peppers in meatloaf and many other recipes.  But one of my favorite meals with bell peppers is making stuffed peppers.  Since I utilize the cook-once-eat-twice method of cooking, I’ll fill the oven full of stuffed peppers so that I can freeze them and enjoy them later as a quick heat-n-eat supper.

Recipe: Stuffed Peppers. Delicious and makes enough to freeze for later meals too - Cook Once, Eat Twice. Enjoy Those Garden Peppers! #TexasHomesteader

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Here are the simple ingredients I use to make stuffed bell peppers:  Onion, Garlic, Rice, Italian Stewed Tomatoes, Worcestershire Sauce and Italian Seasoning along with my ground meat and broth. I like to use brown rice instead of white. And since I have a talented hunter husband I typically use ground pork instead of purchased meats.

Recipe: Stuffed Peppers. Delicious and makes enough to freeze for later meals too - Cook Once, Eat Twice. Enjoy Those Garden Peppers! #TexasHomesteader

Cooked Rice Is Planned Leftovers

I usually make the brown rice first, oftentimes by making twice as much as I needed for a recipe the day before so it’ll already be in the morning to streamline things at supper time.  (remember I like to use the cook-once-eat-twice method of cooking)

But if I’m starting fresh I’ll saute the onions and peppers and the brown rice in a little olive oil until the onions are translucent. Then I’ll add the water or broth and bring to a boil.  After it comes to a boil I’ll stir it only once, cover the pan and simmer the rice for 20 minutes.  Then without lifting the lid I’ll turn off the heat and allow the rice to absorb the rest of the liquid for another 20-25 minutes.  After that time I can fluff the rice with a fork and it’s ready to go.

Now on to the meat filling.  I brown the meat with chopped onion, pepper, italian seasonings and stewed tomatoes.  When the meat is browned I drain the fat from the meat, if I’m using wild hog it’s already very lean so there’s not much fat to drain.

Then I mix the meat mixture with the rice until I get the ratio that I like.  Typically for me it’s 2 parts meat mixture to 1 part rice, but if you want more protein and less grain, or vice versa, do what works best for you.  (The recipe calls for me to add cheese at this point and sometimes I do, but tonight I skipped the cheese in the filling and opted instead to just add a little mozzarella on top when they came out of the oven.)

Partially Cooking The Bell Peppers

Now I prepare the peppers.  I like to slice them in half longways, de-seed them and microwave them for 3 minutes.  Then I place them in my favorite casserole dish, a vintage set of Corning Ware that belonged to my grandmother.

Recipe: Stuffed Peppers. Delicious and makes enough to freeze for later meals too - Cook Once, Eat Twice. Enjoy Those Garden Peppers! #TexasHomesteader

Making Stuffed Bell Peppers

After I get the peppers into the dishes I fill each half with the meat/rice filling, place them in the oven and bake them at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

As I mentioned, I’m making enough stuffed peppers to fill that oven up so it’s not pumping heat into the house this summer when I’m in the mood for this delicious main dish. Since each half is a serving for us I’m making 12 servings here. After supper tonight I’ll freeze the others.

Recipe: Stuffed Peppers. Delicious and makes enough to freeze for later meals too - Cook Once, Eat Twice. Enjoy Those Garden Peppers! #TexasHomesteader

When they’re cooked I sprinkle a little shredded mozzarella cheese on top and allow the cheese to melt and they’re ready to go.  I’ll pair them with a couple of veggie sides and dinner is served.

If I make the rice the day before, making this dish is simply browning the meat, adding the tomatoes, microwaving the peppers & stuffing them and putting them in the oven.  While they’re baking I’ll steam a couple of veggies and dinner comes together in a snap.  If you think you’d like to try this recipe for yourself, I’m including the recipe below.  Enjoy!

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Stuffed Bell Pepper - uses 6 peppers for 12 servings

Author www.TexasHomesteader.com

Ingredients

  • 6 green bell peppers, cut in half lengthways & seeds removed
  • 1 pound ground meat
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
  • 2 14.5 oz cans Italian seasoned diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 cup brown rice
  • 3 cups water or broth
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 pinch ground black pepper
  • 1.5 cup shredded cheese

Instructions

  1. Chop enough reserved green pepper to equal about 1/4 cup; Set chopped pepper aside.
  2. In a pan combine 1 cup brown rice with 3 cups water (or broth) - bring to boiling, stir once and cover pot. Simmer without stirring for 20 minutes, then without lifting lid turn off heat and leave covered 20 minutes. Then fluff with a fork and set aside.
  3. Cook ground meat in a skillet with reserved chopped pepper, minced garlic and chopped onion over medium heat stirring until meat is browned, the juices run clear, and the onion is translucent, about 10 minutes; drain excess grease. Pour in drained diced tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, italian seasoning, salt, and black pepper; bring to a boil and turn off heat. Stir in enough cooked rice to get the rice/meat mixture you desire. Stir cheese into ground meat/rice mixture
  4. Place hollowed-out green peppers in a microwave-safe dish; cover and cook in microwave until bright green and steaming, about 3 minutes. Set peppers upright in a baking dish and spoon meat/rice mixture into precooked peppers.
  5. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Bake peppers until cheese is melted and the peppers are tender, about 30 minutes.

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37 thoughts on “Recipe: Stuffed Bell Peppers – Makes Enough To Freeze Some For Later!”

  8. Pingback: A Day At the Ranch

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  10. Jenny

    I like to make these with Italian sausage. I’ve often wondered about canning them for a meal in a jar. Thanks for sharing this recipe at the HomeAcre Hop! Look forward to seeing you again tomorrow: http://wp.me/p2urYY-16c

    Reply ↓
  16. Carol J. Alexander

    My mom made stuffed peppers a lot. I would always eat the filling and leave the pepper. 😉 Thank you for linking to the HomeAcre Hop. I hope to see you back this week: http://everythinghomewithcarol.com/the-self-sufficient-homeacre-hop-5/

    Reply ↓
  18. Mary@Back to the Basics!

    LOVE stuffed bell peppers! We have a friend who won’t eat green bells so I make her RED bells. Me, I’ll eat either!

    I finally made it back from my trip so my comments are late…
    Thanks for sharing at Tuesdays with a Twist! Looking forward to seeing what you share this week!

    http://back2basichealth.blogspot.com/2013/06/tuesdays-with-twist-12-with-more-guests.html

    Reply ↓
  22. PoorCollegeKid

    I make this in a similar fashion, but to save myself some dishes I usually make the filling in one pot. I brown the meat with the onions, add in the rice, saute it around until the rice starts to toast.. Then I add beef broth and undrained tomatoes to it, making sure the liquid is what’s needed to cook the rice. Bring to a boil, and cover until rice is done. I also think this makes it more flavorful because the rice is cooked in broth instead of water.

    Reply ↓
    1. PoorCollegeKid

      Also, sometimes I don’t have enough green peppers to actually stuff them (feeding a crowd, peppers weren’t on sale, etc) so I chop those up and cook it as well, making a casserole type dish.

      Reply ↓
    2. Texas Homesteader Post author

      Hummm… A one-pot method sounds awesome – what a great idea. And to make into a casserole instead of stuffing the peppers themselves if you have fewer peppers sounds delicious! ~TMR~

      Reply ↓
  23. Rachel @ day2dayjoys

    Ooh, I love stuffed peppers!

    What beautiful photos you take! This recipe looks so good and so healthy! I’d love for you to link up to healthy 2day Wednesdays this week and every week you have a healthy post!

    Reply ↓
  24. sharon d

    Just tried this recipe, love it. First time to ever make them because I thought they would be to time consuming to do. Awesome…Thanks for sharing your recipes.
    I love your blog, I check each day to see whats new in your part of Texas…

    Just a Stalker
    Sharon

    Reply ↓
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      Well thank you Sharon!! I’m so glad it worked so well for you. When the garden is pumping out bell peppers I usually make quite a few of these and pop them in the freezer for easy meals later. And like I said, if you make the rice the day before the actual stuffed pepper recipe comes together in a snap! Thanks for your sweet comment. ~TMR~

      Reply ↓
  25. Angela

    We love stuffed peppers too! And I’m exactly like you, I stick as many things in the oven while it’s going as I can. Get double duty out of it. Your page is lovely & your cows are just beautiful!

    Reply ↓
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      Oh, thanks for your kind words Angela! I love that your oven gets double-duty as well, it sure makes a difference in having plenty of freezer meals handy so cooking is not a hot, sticky, every-day chore! ~TMR~

      Reply ↓
  26. sue

    The peppers are starting to come in, in our garden just in time for this recipe!! Thanks for sharen with us at One Sharendipity Pl. this weekend!

    sue @the2women.com

    Reply ↓
  28. Candy C.

    Stuffed peppers are one of our favorites too! I never think about making a bunch and freezing them though, I’ll have to remember that! I like using red bell peppers sometimes too. 🙂

    Reply ↓
    1. Texas Homesteader Post author

      I never put just a single item in the oven, it’s always the cook-once-eat-twice method. I’ll make 4 meatloaves, two pans of lasagne or an oven full of stuffed peppers and freeze in serving sizes. I love stuffed peppers & if I make the rice earlier in the week this main dish is a snap, and they freeze well. ~TMR~

      Reply ↓

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