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stuffed bell peppers

(11)
gabbiegirl avatar
Blue Ribbon Recipe by
Donna Brown
@gabbiegirl
West TN, TN

This is a good way to use an abundant supply of fresh veggies in the summer months. We love fresh basil and tomatoes together and have quite a bit of both in the summertime. This dish freezes well for a wintertime treat.

Blue Ribbon Recipe

A simple and basic recipe for stuffed bell peppers just like mom used to make. The pepper is par-boiled so they're super tender after baking. Inside of the peppers is a yummy rice and meat mixture. Once baked, the cheese on top is a tasty final touch. A great weeknight meal because it comes together in a snap.

— The Test Kitchen @kitchencrew
(11)
prep time 1 Hr
method Bake

Ingredients For stuffed bell peppers

  • 4
    medium bell peppers
  • 1 lb
    ground chuck
  • 1 c
    instant rice, cooked (or 1 box beef and mushroom Rice-a-Roni)
  • 1
    finely chopped onion
  • 1 tsp
    olive oil
  • 1/2 c
    chopped celery, optional
  • 1 can
    diced tomatoes (or use fresh summertime tomatoes if you have them) (16 oz)
  • 1 Tbsp
    sugar (or sugar substitute)
  • 1/2 tsp
    dried basil or 2 tsp. fresh basil, chopped (or more if you wish)
  • shredded cheese of your choice
  • salt to boiling water

How To Make stuffed bell peppers

Test Kitchen Tips
We baked these for 45 minutes. Once the cheese is added, we baked for another 10-15 minutes.
  • Oven set to preheat.
    1
    Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Boiling the cut and cleaned bell peppers.
    2
    Fill a large pot with water, add salt and sugar. Boil and add bell pepper that insides have been removed. You can cut the tops off and stuff whole pepper or cut the pepper in half lengthwise. Boil gently until pepper changes color and is tender (about 4-5 minutes).
  • Onions, tomatoes, and seasonings added to browned beef.
    3
    In a skillet, brown ground chuck in oil with onion and celery until meat is no longer pink and onion and celery are tender and opaque, drain well. Add tomatoes and seasoning.
  • Mixing in the cooked rice.
    4
    Mix in the cooked rice.
  • Mixture added to the stuffed peppers.
    5
    Stuff peppers with meat mixture. If any meat mixture is left spoon around peppers casserole style. Bake until bubbly and tender.
  • Shredded cheese on top of the bell peppers.
    6
    In the last few minutes of cooking, top with shredded cheese and cook until melted.
  • Baked Stuffed Bell Peppers.
    7
    They freeze really well. However, leave off cheese until ready to cook.

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