Easy Stuffed Peppers Recipe (Without Rice)

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. It rained all weekend in Jersey, and looks like it will continue throughout this week due to Hurricane Florence. But, rainy days are perfect for trying new things, like a new recipe! So, yesterday I decided to give stuffed peppers a try.

I opened my freezer last week to put away groceries to realize we had three pounds of ground beef. So, clearly, we needed to eat it. Ground beef is very versatile and there are so many dishes you can make with it. But, I admit I’m low on ground beef recipes (although it’s partly because, in an effort to eat healthier, we eat more chicken and seafood). A quick Google search gave me the idea to make stuffed peppers. After checking out some recipes, I came up with my own.

I decided to leave the rice out to lower the carb count. Some recipes use cauliflower rice, which is a healthy alternative. For super healthy stuffed peppers,  use ground turkey instead of beef and add vegetables instead of cheese (or use low fat shredded cheese)

Here’s my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 6 bell peppers of your choice (red, green, orange, or yellow)
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Prep time: 20 minutes; cooking time: approx.  1 hour 

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• Rinse peppers and cut off tops. Remove the seeds and membrane.
• Brown ground beef and chopped onion on medium-high heat.
• Drain fat.
• Reduce heat. Sprinkle approximately 3/4 cup of the shredded mozzarella and add garlic powder and black pepper. Mix well.
• Pour in 1 cup tomato sauce and mix.
• Place meat in stuffed peppers and top with remaining tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.
• Arrange peppers upright in an 8×8-inch baking dish and keep them close so they don’t fall over.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 15-20 minutes or until the peppers are soft and the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

Once cooled, enjoy! What I love about stuffed peppers is you can freeze them to eat later, just make sure they’re completely cooled before freezing.