Although kids adore gummy vitamins, many of them contain artificial colors, flavors, or other dubious chemicals. The costly vitamin bottles also don’t last very long if you have multiple children. This homemade version is simple to create and enjoyable for your children.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr 20 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 40 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 6 bell peppers
- 3 cups chunky tomato sauce, divided
- ½ onion, very thinly sliced
- 1 cup beef broth
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
- 1 ½ cups cooked rice
- ½ cup freshly shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- ¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Slice peppers 1/2-inch from the top; cut out stems and set aside tops. Cut core from the inside of peppers and strip away any seeds. Cut off a thin slice from the bottoms so peppers can stand upright. Poke about 4 tiny holes in the bottoms to let juices drain.
- Pour 2 1/2 cups tomato sauce into a 9×13-inch baking dish. Add onion, beef broth, and red pepper flakes; spread out mixture evenly over the bottom. Set bell peppers upright in the dish.
- Combine ground beef, cooked rice, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 2 tablespoons tomato sauce, 1/4 cup parsley, garlic, salt, and black pepper in a large mixing bowl.
- Lightly stuff peppers with meat mixture. Spread 1 tablespoon tomato sauce on top of each portion of stuffing; place reserved tops onto peppers. Lay a piece of parchment paper loosely on top of peppers and cover the dish tightly with foil. Place the dish on top of a baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven until peppers have softened slightly, about 1 hour. Remove foil and parchment paper. Continue baking until meat filling is cooked through and peppers are tender, 20 to 30 more minutes.
- Sprinkle each pepper with 1/2 teaspoon parsley and drizzle with a spoonful of pan juices.
- I use parchment paper in this recipe because I don’t like foil touching acidic things while they bake.
- If you don’t use the baking sheet, your peppers will bake faster.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 376 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 26 g |
| Cholesterol | 82 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Protein | 30 g |
| Saturated Fat | 7 g |
| Sodium | 1724 mg |
| Sugars | 9 g |
| Fat | 17 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Delicious. I liked the fact that the tomatoes were separate from the filling. Tasted great!
These were delicious and easy to make!
I expected the ground beef mixture to be more like meatloaf. It wasn’t. I brown the ground beef & add all other ingredients except cheese until mixed & hot. Flavor is all through the meat. I used half the beef broth (didn’t need it as rice is cooked) & added 1t kitchen bouquet, decreased garlic to 2 crushed cloves. Everything else the same. Sometimes I’m in a hurry. Baking time is king because of the peppers. I steam them until barely getting tender, drain well, put one pepper per Jumbo Muffin Pan slot & fill. Baking time is cut in half. I cover to keep cheese on top from over- browning. Or adding cheese closer to the end of baking time.
Thank you Chef John! Exactly how my Mom made and I loved to eat the tops which she leaved intact on top and became so sweet and delish! Great memory. I will be making very soon with green peppers as she did
Made exact recipe with no changes and it was the best I have ever had for stuffed peppers.
I combined this recipe with another one and it was perfect. The braising liquid at the bottom is what I used from this recipe and it was perfect. I used seasoning salt instead of regular.
The peppers were absolutely delicious! I made two adjustments to expedite the baking time & the other was just a personal choice of peppers. 1. Parboiled the peppers, JUST UNTIL they started turning a lighter shade! 2. My husband is not a big fan of bell peppers, so I use Cubanelle Peppers, just cut in half and fill.
I added Italian sausage, minced garlic, beef base and substituted tomato paste for tomato sauce in my mix. I also added onion soup mix and cut the salt intake to 1/2 tsp. And used spaghetti sauce for my pan base. It was so good!
I’ve ALWAYS made these with uncooked meat and cooked Minute Rice, done in salted water with garlic paste and “Italian herbs” .. my/our preference is 1/2 lean beef, 1/2 turkey .. but you cannot pack the meat or they’re a “lump” and dry .. the eggs and broth in the mix, loosely mixed and loosely packed, let the flavors mix, they’re not just tender they’re juicy and flavorful .. We top them (before serving) with Chihuahua cheese and some cracked red pepper I bake them covered snugly, on 325oF for 2 hours .. then uncovered, basted with pan sauce, for another 20 minutes
Delicious! I used ground turkey and veggie bouillon instead of beef broth. The pan sauce with crushed red peppers is spicy, so I wiped it off the outside of the bell pepper before giving it to my 1-year-old. She loved it!
Best stuffed pepper recipe. Made no changes.
I usually use a Cook’s Illustrated recipe for stuffed peppers but I’m in the process of packing up for a move and my cookbooks are boxed already. This is very close to that recipe. I followed the measurements of this recipe and the techniques of my tried and true by sautéing the onions and garlic, browning the ground beef, and mixing as per this recipe. I stuffed my peppers as much as I could, topped off with tomato sauce, and baking for half an hour covered. Topped with more parmesan and a bit of mozzarella and returned to the oven for another ten minutes. I only used the beef broth in the bottom of the baking dish. Anyway, this is a great recipe for this dish and can be altered here and there to suit the tastes of your family. Great job, Chef!
This is a recipe to hang onto! So I took the advice of another commenter and I boiled the bell peppers while I browned the meat. I let my oven preheat at 375 and cooked one pound of burger and a half pound of turkey sausage with olive oil, garlic, a can of mushrooms ,and part of a couple green onion. While I let the grease drain off to the same pot I added a can of diced tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce, garlic from a jar, and the rest of the green onions. I seasoned with dried tyme, parsley, chili flakes, crushed bay leaves, and pepper. I added the meat back to the sauce along with my jasmine rice (rice cooker is a life saver). As you can see I used a Dutch oven (and posted three times because I didn’t know what I was doing) there was no need for me to cut the bottoms because they all fit in the bottom nicely and could’ve fit a seventh. I used cooking spray on the bottom then assembled, mozzarella, filling, mozzarella, top of peppers. There was filling left over I just piled it into the middle and covered it with cheese too. After I let the whole thing cook for 10 minutes I broiled the top so the cheese got brown. So much fun to make and very very tasty.
Delicious and hearty! Had to cut them in half, they were huge and very filling. Really beautiful on the plate, and the sauce at the bottom of the pan was fantastic; Probably my favorite part.
Really tasty! Just what I was looking for. I used 3 red peppers and 3 green peppers just to compare–like both of them. Really didn’t know what “chunky tomato sauce” was. So I combined canned tomato sauce and canned crushed peeled tomatoes in puree sauce about half and half. I also baked the peppers first for 15 minutes to get them soft. I also did not use the baking sheet. I kept the specified cooking times. Next time, I think I’ll up the amount of Parmesan cheese.
Added hot Italian sausage and a lot more red pepper flakes. More salt, pepper and Italian spice. Put some sauce inside peppers. Topped with mozzarella. Precooked all but peppers. Cooked at 375’ for 35-45 minutes.
Made these for the guys who were doing some work on the house for me… they certainly earned a nice home cooked meal, and these didn’t disappoint. EVERYONE loved them.
Delicious. Finally a recipe that doesn’t cook the ground beef before stuffing the peppers. Thank you very much for this recipe.
Great stuffed peppers I changed to red peppers because I do not like green
It was just ok. I will not make it again.
Delicious