Stuffed Bell Pepper

Stuffed bell pepper is a savory dish made by stuffing bell peppers with meat and/or vegetable mix. The meat and/or vegetables are combined with various other ingredients like onions, mushrooms, corn, green chilies, several seasonings, spices, and sauces to make a spicy bell pepper stuffing. A few recipes also suggest combining rice with the meat mix to prepare the stuffing. The stuffed bell peppers are often baked in oven after pouring over tomato sauce. It is also suggested by some of the recipes to sprinkle cheese on the top of the bell peppers before baking them. Though stuffed bell peppers are commonly baked in oven, however, a few recipes suggest baking them in Crockpot.

Any kind of bell pepper, viz. yellow bell peppers, green bell peppers, or red bell peppers can be used for preparing the stuffed bell peppers dish. The meat used as one of the stuffing ingredients may consist of pork, beef, or turkey. The cap and the seeds of the bell peppers are removed before they are stuffed. Further, the bell peppers are boiled in water for a couple of minutes before stuffing them.

Commonly Used Ingredients and Preparation Overview of Stuffed Bell Peppers

A popular stuffed bell pepper recipe suggests using green bell peppers (whole and chopped), yellow onions, vegetable oil, ground pork, ground beef, minced garlic, parsley leaves, salt, pepper, cooked long grain white rice, tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, and water as the ingredients.

Stuffed bell peppers are prepared by filling bell peppers with beef and pork mix and then baking them in oven until peppers get tender. The stuffing is filled in only after getting rid of the top and seeds of the bell peppers. Further, the peppers are boiled in water for a few minutes before stuffing them. The beef and pork mix which is used as the bell pepper stuffing is prepared by sautéing chopped green bell peppers and onions in some oil, before stirring in pork, beef, salt, parsley, black pepper, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Thereafter, tomato sauce and rice are added and the mix is cooked for some time before using it is stuffing for bell peppers.

Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipe Variations

A few popular variations of stuffed bell pepper have been discussed below:

• Vegetarian stuffed bell peppers- The recipe for this stuffed bell pepper suggests baking the dish in Crockpot. The bell peppers (top and seeds removed) are filled with a mix of cheese, beans, rice salsa, green chilies, cumin, hot sauce, corn and chili powder, and cooked in Crockpot for a number of hours (around 4-6 hours). These stuffed peppers are popularly served with salsa, hot sauce, or sour cream. Corn and black bean salad is a perfect accompaniment.

• American style stuffed bell pepper- the American style dish is prepared by stuffing bell peppers with rice and beef mixture, and bake them in oven after pouring over tomato sauce mix prepared by combining honey with tomato sauce. The bell pepper stuffing is prepared by sautéing onions and beef until brown, and then stirring in cooked rice, and tomato sauce and honey mix.

• Healthy stuffed bell peppers- use of low-fat meat product as the bell pepper stuffing would help in making the dish healthy. The bell pepper stuffing used in this case consists of ground turkey, onions, mushrooms, celery, garlic powder, egg, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.  The stuffed peppers are baked after pouring over tomato sauce, and sprinkling Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese on top. The Italian seasoning used in this dish is a blend of basil, marjoram, oregano, thyme, and rosemary.    

Serving Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed bell pepper goes well along with crisp salad. Corn salad is a nice accompaniment.