Bell peppers stuffed with ground meat, rice, and Italian style tomatoes, all topped with tomato sauce and lots of parmesan cheese, yes please! This classic dish with an Italian twist is very delicious, and it will be a huge hit for any family dinner or gathering.

When making Italian stuffed bell peppers there are many different options on what you can use to fill your bell peppers with. For instance, you can use any ground meat you have on hand, such as ground beef or ground turkey. You can substitute the ground meat and use shredded chicken, or make it vegetarian and use canned beans. Since we always have a freezer full of deer meat on hand, I like to incorporate deer meat into any recipe that calls for ground meat. For this recipe I used half ground beef (73% lean) and half ground deer meat.

For this recipe blog I doubled the recipe and made two pans of stuffed bell peppers. One pan for dinner and the second pan for a freezer meal. Preparing meals and then freezing them for later is especially handy when you don’t have time to cook, or when you want to gift a home cooked meal to a friend or loved one.

I like to serve Italian stuffed bell peppers with a Caesar salad and Italian garlic bread. And of course, a bottle of your favorite red wine certainly pairs well too.

Let’s get to cookin’! Here’s what you’ll need…

Ingredients:

• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 ½ tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 4 green bell peppers
• ½ cup dry white rice
• 1 cup bell pepper water, reserved
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 lb. ground meat
• 14.5 oz. can Italian style diced tomatoes
• ½ tsp. Cajun seasoning
• 15 oz. can tomato sauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 2 tsp. Worcestershire Sauce
• 1/8 tsp. hot sauce
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• ½ cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• ¼ cup water, if needed
• 2 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped (optional)

For ground meat you can use ground beef, ground pork, and/or ground turkey. Since we always have a freezer full of deer meat on hand, I like to incorporate deer meat into any recipe that calls for ground meat. For this recipe I used ½ ground deer and ½ ground beef (73% lean).

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Boiling the Peppers

2. In a large pot, fill with water and boil over high heat.

3.Slice the bell peppers in half from top to bottom and remove the stems, seeds, and membranes.

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4. Once the water has come to a boil, add salt, ½ tbsp. olive oil, and peppers to boiling water. Use a spoon to keep the peppers completely submerged.

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5. Return to a boil and boil peppers until their flesh is slightly softened, for about 5-8 minutes.

6. When the bell peppers are done boiling, drain the peppers out of the water with a slotted spoon and arrange cut side up in prepared baking dish. Set aside to cool.

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Preparing the Filling

7. Reserve 1 cup of bell pepper water from pot. Set aside.

8. Cook the rice according to package instructions, using the reserved bell pepper water in Step 7. Set aside.

9. Heat a large skillet over medium heat.

10. Coat the bottom of the skillet with 1 tbsp. olive oil.

11. Add onion and garlic to skillet. Sauté over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, until soft.

12. Then add ground meat and cook until ground meat is cooked all the way through and no longer pink.

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13. Add diced tomatoes and Cajun seasoning. Stir.

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14. Then add the cooked rice and stir.

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Stuffing, Topping, and Baking the Peppers

15. Mound the rice and meat filling inside of the peppers.

16. In a small bowl, mix tomato sauce, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and hot sauce until well combined. Spoon over stuffed bell peppers and top with mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.

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If you have any leftover sauce, heat it up in a saucepan or in the microwave. Then pour it into a gravy boat and serve it on the side in case anyone wants extra tomato sauce on their stuffed bell pepper.

17. Add ¼ cup of water to baking dish, if needed. It may already have enough water from any water drippings after boiling the bell peppers.

18. Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes, until heated through and cheese is melted.

19. Top with fresh basil and enjoy!