Stuffed Bell Peppers With Rice

Looking for a delicious and easy dinner option? Try these stuffed bell peppers! They’re loaded with flavorful ingredients like rice, Italian sausage, ground beef, onion, garlic, parmesan cheese, and tomato sauce.

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

What Are Stuffed Bell Peppers?  

Bell peppers are the perfect containers for, well, just about anything. People have been stuffing them with all sorts of ingredients and cooking them for hundreds of years.

In this Italian-inspired recipe, those ingredients include ground beef, Italian sausages, seasonings, and white rice in a spicy tomato sauce. The results are something deliciously unique. 

What Makes This the Recipe For Stuffed Green Bell Peppers the One You Must Try?

You can find a lot of vintage stuffed pepper recipes online, but none of those comes close to these stuffed bell peppers. This dish takes a somewhat bland old fashioned stuffed bell peppers recipe and pumps up the flavor with Italian sausage and bold seasonings.

These Italian stuffed bell peppers with rice are easy to prepare as a weekday meal and tasty enough to become one of your family’s favorites. 

Ingredients For Easy Stuffed Peppers

To make these Italian stuffed peppers, you’ll need:

• Italian sausage, bulk
• Ground chuck or Lean Ground Beef
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• White onion, finely chopped
• Garlic, minced
• Italian seasoning
• Red pepper flakes
• Cooked long-grain white rice
• Parmesan cheese, shredded
• Tomato-based pasta sauce
• Chopped tomatoes, canned
• Bell peppers (red, yellow, or green peppers)

Ingredient Notes

Use either sweet or hot bulk Italian sausage for these easy stuffed bell peppers. If you can’t find bulk Italian sausage, just remove the casing and rough chop your favorite type of sausage. Or you can make homemade Italian Sausage.

This recipe makes enough stuffing for four large bell peppers or six smaller ones. Green, red, or yellow peppers all work in this recipe, although they have slightly different flavors. Choose which ones you use according to your preferences.

How To Make Stuffed Bell Peppers 

To prepare the stuffing:

1. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Add the sausage meat and ground beef to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. 

3. When the meat is cooked halfway, add the chopped onions and minced garlic to the skillet.
4. Continue to saute until the meat is cooked through and the onions are translucent.

5. Drain the meat and stir in the Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes.
6. Dump the contents of the skillet into a large mixing bowl.
7. Add a third of the pasta sauce, all the canned chopped tomatoes and cooked rice, and half the cheese to the large mixing bowl. 

8. Stir well to combine. Cover the rice mixture and set it aside for later. 

To prepare the peppers:

1. Slice off the top half-inch of the bell peppers and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. 
2. For very large peppers, poke the tip of a knife a couple of times through the pepper an inch from the bottom. These slits let steam escape and prevent the pepper from breaking in the oven. 

To stuff the peppers: 

1. Use a spoon to fill the peppers with the stuffing. Be sure not to pack the peppers too tightly.
2. Top the stuffed pepper with the remaining cheese. 

To cook stuffed peppers:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Spread the remaining pasta sauce on the bottom of a baking dish and place peppers on top of the sauce. 

3. Bake for 25 minutes.
4. Let the peppers cool slightly before serving. Garnish with a sprinkle of chopped fresh parsley if desired.

Recipe Variations

There are almost endless creative possibilities when making the stuffing for these peppers. Try these changes, or come up with some new ones:

• Use different meat. Opt for ground turkey or ground chicken to replace ground beef and/or Italian sausage. 
• Swap out the white rice. Go with quinoa, cauliflower rice, or even cooked lentils.  
• Use your favorite type of cheese. If you prefer a more cheesy stuffed pepper, use your favorite Italian cheese, such as mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese, or even ricotta. 

Cooking Variations

Although most people find it easiest to cook sausage stuffed bell peppers in the oven, you can use other cooking methods as well:

Stuffed Bell Peppers in Air Fryer

1. Prepare the stuffed peppers as above, but don’t top them with cheese. 
2. Preheat the air fryer to 350°F.
3. Cook the peppers in the air fryer for 10 minutes.
4. Top the peppers with cheese and cook until the cheese melts. 

Stuffed Bell Peppers on the Grill

1. Prepare the stuffed peppers as above. 
2. Preheat the grill to medium.
3. Grill the peppers directly on the grate for 25 to 30 minutes with the cover closed.

Stuffed Bell Peppers Crockpot Slow Cooker

1. Prepare the stuffed peppers as above, but don’t top them with cheese. 
2. Spread the remaining pasta sauce on the bottom of the slow cooker.
3. Put the stuffed pepper in the slow cooker cover, and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours. 
4. Top the peppers with cheese, cover, and cook until the cheese melts. 

What Goes With Stuffed Bell Peppers 

Stuffed green bell peppers are delicious on their own, but adding a side or two makes them a more substantial meal. This recipe will pair nicely with a cup of soup, side salad, or a hunk of crusty bread. 

How To Store Italian Stuffed Bell Peppers 

Cooling the peppers and putting them in an airtight container in the refrigerator will keep them fresh for up to three days. For keeping stuffed peppers fresh for longer than three days, try freezing them. 

How to Freeze Stuffed Peppers After They Have Been Cooked 

You can freeze cooked stuffed peppers for up to three months, and they reheat wonderfully. To freeze stuffed bell peppers with rice and ground beef:

1. Let the peppers cool entirely. Stuffed peppers can retain heat for a long time, and freezing them when they are still warm will cause freezer burn.
2. Wrap each cooled stuffed pepper individually in plastic and place them together in an airtight container. 
3. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer. 

What’s the Best Way to Reheat Sausage Stuffed Bell Peppers

You can reheat leftover stuffed bell peppers with rice and ground beef in the oven:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Place the stuffed pepper on a baking tray. You can reheat frozen peppers, but you must increase the reheating time. To reduce the reheating time, try cutting the peppers in half from the top down and lay them out with the stuffing side facing up. 
3. Cover the peppers with aluminum foil. 
4. Heat for 15 to 20 minutes or until the peppers are warm. 
5. Remove the aluminum foil. At this point, you can add more cheese if you want. Heat for another 5 minutes. 

Love Peppers? Try These Recipes

• Air Fryer Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
• Baked Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers
• Roasted Red Pepper Dip
• Smoked Sausage and Peppers
• Stuffed Hatch Peppers

Favorite Main Dish Recipes

• Baked Chicken Leg Quarters
• Baked Chicken Parmesan
• Baked Ziti with Ground Beef and Sausage
• Beef Short Ribs
• Hamburger Steak and Gravy
• Pork Chops and Gravy
• Ritz Cracker Chicken
• Stove Top Pot Roast

Check out more of my easy dinner recipes and the best comfort food recipes on CopyKat!