The Most Delicious Stuffed Peppers!

I'm pretty sure it was my Grandma Fay's irresistible Russian stuffed cabbage rolls that sparked a strong desire in me to stuff every kind of vegetable.

I've created recipes for stuffed onions (with lamb), stuffed squash (with roasted veggies), stuffed peppadews (with tuna), just to name a few. But I have to say, these stuffed peppers are my very favorite, because they are very easy to prepare and they taste amazing!

Stuffed Peppers

There are many ways to make stuffed peppers. Some recipes have you roast the peppers before stuffing them. Some have you cook the stuffing first. Others start with cooked stuffing packed into raw peppers.

I've tried many stuffed peppers recipes over the years with mixed results and some fails. The worst is when the peppers came out of the oven with tasty stuffing encased in a hard (undercooked) flavorless shell. Not a happy outcome.

But even when the peppers were cooked properly, I never quite fell in love with the stuffing. Virtually every stuffed peppers recipe I found uses the same basic stuffing ingredients: ground beef, rice, tomato sauce, dried spices and melted cheese on top. Hearty and satisfying for sure, but I always kept searching for something more.

The Best Stuffed Peppers

Finally, I tried a stuffed peppers recipe from British chef and food writer Nigel Slater and my search was over. I've been making these amazing stuffed peppers ever since. And with a few tweaks over the years to make them even better, I can truly say these are the best stuffed peppers!

How to Make Stuffed Peppers

Start by gathering these ingredients:

• Red Bell Peppers
• Ground Pork (or beef)
• Aromatics: onions and garlic
• Herbs and Spices: fresh rosemary, salt, pepper, Aleppo pepper (or crushed red pepper flakes)
• Panko: for gluten-free use an equal amount of cooked rice or quinoa
• Tomatoes: chopped fresh ripe tomatoes (or canned chopped tomatoes) and tomato paste
• Parmesan Cheese: a good quality parmesan such as parmigiana reggiano

Here's a walkthrough of this stuffed peppers recipe, with photos. For the full ingredients list and step-by-step instructions, scroll down to the recipe card below.

• Slice the peppers in half and carefully cut out the seeds and membranes. You may need to pull off some of the membranes by hand.

• Toss the trimmed peppers into a big pot of salted boiling water and let them soften up for about 6 minutes.
• Then drain them in a colander and set them aside while you prepare the filling.

• To make the filling, sauté the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook for another minute or so, until fragrant. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Then add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for a minute or so.
• Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl (or, if cooled, mix in the pot) and add the raw ground pork, panko breadcrumbs, salt and red pepper flakes. Mix the stuffing until thoroughly combined.

• Place the drained pepper halves skin-side-down in a lightly oiled baking pan (or two pans, if need be) and season them with a little salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• Divide pork mixture evenly between the peppers, brush or drizzle on a little olive oil, top with parmesan cheese, and bake for 35 minutes until the filling is hot and sizzling.

Enjoy these stuffed peppers hot from the oven!

5 Tips for Making the Best Stuffed Peppers

1. Parboil The Peppers: If you start with raw peppers, you run the risk of hard, undercooked pepper shells. The secret to ensuring a sweet and tender pepper is to briefly cook the bell pepper halves in boiling water before stuffing them. This crucial step gives the peppers a head start at tenderizing. Then, when you stuff and bake them, they will get that incredibly tender and tasty roasted red pepper quality without losing their shape.
2. Choose The Right Meat: A great way to avoid dry stuffing is to use meat that contains flavorful fat. We prefer ground pork here, but if you choose ground beef, use 80/20 (or a blend with similar fat content) to ensure the stuffing stays juicy.
3. Don't Precook The Meat: We cook the aromatic base (onions, herbs, and tomatoes) first, but we add the ground pork to the mixture raw. Cooking the meat twice risks dry, overcooked stuffing. When the meat cooks inside the pepper shell, you get perfectly-cooked meat. In addition, as the stuffed peppers cook, the melting fat drips down and acts as a natural self-baster, making the filling juicy and flavoring the pepper shell.
4. Spice it up: The sweetness of roasted peppers calls out for a highly-seasoned savory stuffing. This pork stuffing packs that flavor in with plenty of garlic, fresh rosemary, parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes!
5. Don't Overstuff: While some stuffed peppers recipes have you cut the lid off the peppers and stuff them to the brim, we recommend that you use halved peppers for stuffing. This method keeps the portions elegant (two or three halves make one serving) and ensures the most delicious outcome: you get a substantial amount of sweet, tender roasted pepper for every bite of the flavorful filling!

How To Serve Stuffed Peppers

You really don't need to serve anything with these stuffed peppers. They've got the protein, the veg and the carbs all in one. With only 1 pound of meat and 12 stuffed pepper halves, this recipe is designed so that everyone can have 2 (or even 3) stuffed peppers, depending on how hungry they are.

If you do want to round out the meal with a side dish, I recommend a leafy salad. Try this classic Italian tricolore salad or this Kale Salad with Honey lemon Parmesan dressing. Either one will make a great accompaniment.

If you try this Stuffed Peppers Recipe, I hope you'll come back to leave a star rating and a comment. I'd love to know what you think! 

Recipe

Stuffed Peppers Recipe

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5 from 5 reviews

• Author: Lisa Goldfinger
• Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
• Yield: 12 stuffed pepper halves (serves 4 to 6 people) 1x

Print Recipe

Description

Sweet, tender red bell peppers filled with a highly-seasoned pork (or beef), rosemary, and parmesan stuffing. Stuffed peppers never tasted so good! Get ready for an instant family favorite. (Easily made gluten-free—see notes)

Adapted from a recipe in the Guardian in a post entitled "Nigel Slater's 10 Most Popular Recipes."

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 6 small red bell peppers
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 large yellow onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper flakes (or ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes)
• 2 large ripe tomatoes, diced (or canned chopped tomatoes, see notes)
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 pound of ground pork (or beef, see notes)
• ¾ cup Panko bread crumbs (see notes for gluten-free options)
• ½ cup good quality finely grated parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400ºF and bring a large pot of water with 1 tablespoon of salt to a boil.
2. Slice each pepper in half lengthwise (through the stem), and carefully cut out the membranes and remove the seeds.
3. Drop pepper halves into the boiling water and cook for 6 minutes so they soften but still hold their shape. Drain them in a colander, cut-side-down, and leave them to cool while you prepare the filling.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet. Sauté the onion on medium-low heat for about 4 minutes, until translucent (do not brown).
5. Add the garlic, rosemary and Aleppo (or red pepper flakes). Cook, stirring, for 1 minute, until fragrant.
6. Add the chopped tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes until the tomatoes soften into a sauce. Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
7. Remove the pan from heat. Transfer the tomato mixture to a large bowl and add the raw ground pork, breadcrumbs, 1 teaspoon of salt, and several grinds of black pepper. Mix thoroughly but gently.
8. Arrange halved peppers, cut side up, in a large baking dish (or two) and season the inside of each pepper with a pinch of salt and pepper. 
9. Scoop about ⅓ cup of pork stuffing into each pepper half, patting it down gently to fill the pepper. Brush the remaining 2 tablespoon of olive oil over the tops and sprinkle with the parmesan cheese.
10. Bake peppers for 35 minutes, until hot and sizzling. Serve hot with extra parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Notes

1. Canned chopped tomatoes: You can substitute the chopped fresh tomatoes for canned diced tomatoes. Use one 14.5-ounce can, drained. For the best consistency in the filling, transfer the drained tomatoes to a cutting board and chop them finely before adding them.
2. Ground Pork Substitute: You can substitute the ground pork with an equal amount of ground beef. For the juiciest results, be sure to use ground beef with some fat, such as 80/20.
3. Gluten-Free Option: To make this recipe gluten-free, substitute the ¾ cup of Panko bread crumbs with an equal amount of cooked rice or quinoa.
4. Nutrition Information: The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator and is not a substitute for a the advice of a professional nutritionist.

• Prep Time: 35
• Cook Time: 35
• Category: Main Dish, Dinner
• Method: Oven
• Cuisine: British