Easy Stuffed Peppers without rice

Make this easy stuffed peppers without rice recipe with just a few ingredients and 4 steps. Perfect for family dinner or to feed a crowd.

There is one thing we have an abundance of in our garden here at Duke Manor Farm…. particularly green peppers. If you have never grown peppers in your garden, they are one of the easiest fruits to grow. Notice I said fruit and not veggie. Did you know that technically since the pepper has seeds, it is considered a fruit although it is quite often referred to as a vegetable?

Peppers are low maintenance, fast growers, and not an attention seeker in the garden. If you do grow a variety of peppers as we do,  you are constantly wondering how many different ways you can eat a pepper.  Admittedly, sometimes it’s hard to be creative.

So I try to be creative with dishes that I regularly cook for the family, like stuffed peppers.  We love stuffed peppers and have always made them the pretty traditional way. Nothing fancy just rice, burger, and tomato sauce. Lately, I have made them by forgoing the rice and tomato sauce for salsa.

Easy Stuffed Peppers without rice…in 4 steps

The classic recipe uses a filling of seasoned ground beef, salsa, and cheese. This is a super easy dish to make and is great when feeding a crowd.

Instructions

1. Core out your peppers removing all the seeds and such, and boil for about 5-7 mins. Boiling is optional.
2. Cook your ground beef or ground turkey. Stir in a can of salsa, mixing completely. Season with salt and pepper or any other seasoning you want to spice it up with.
3. Take your beef and salsa mixture and spoon it into the peppers, filling each pepper completely.
4. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of your peppers and heat in a covered baking dish at 350 degrees for 30 mins. If cheese is not completely melted, cook for an additional 10-15 mins uncovered.

From garden to table, the dish takes about 40 mins.

Ingredient Notes

• Bell peppers – I use a combination of green and red peppers or whatever is growing in the garden. Don’t rule out using yellow and orange bell peppers as well.
• Ground beef – Use ground beef with that contains 15 percent fat so your meat mixture isn’t greasy or drain the grease from your cooked meat before adding salsa. The label will state 85/15. You can also use ground turkey.
• Salsa – Grab a can from the pantry or try this simple homemade salsa recipe.
• Seasonings – To season the beef I use salt, pepper, and onion salt.
• Toppings – You can add chopped cilantro, and cheese on top. I like a Mexican blend.

I also like to serve some yellow rice with stuffed peppers, along with chips and leftover salsa.

Recipe FAQ

Do you have to cover stuffed peppers while baking? Cover your peppers and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake the peppers until they are soft and the cheese is melted and lightly browned, another 15 to 20 minutes

Can you freeze stuffed peppers?
This is a great make-ahead meal. If you want to freeze stuffed peppers, you’ll need to cook them first. Allow them to cool to room temperature and wrap or store them in an airtight container before freezing them.
For easy reheating, freeze them in a disposable aluminum pan or freezer-friendly casserole dish. This way, they can go straight into the oven.

Should peppers be blanched or boiled before stuffing? You do not need to boil or blanch your peppers before stuffing them with the meat and salsa mixture. Sometimes I will boil for 5 mins just to soften them up.

Occasionally, I will throw in my perfect margarita or two for good measure.

Try out these other ‘stuffed’ recipes

Stuffed French Toast

Chocolate Chip Stuffed Pancakes

Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cheers!

PS- Got any favorite pepper recipes? I want them. Leave them for me in the comments.