Stuffed Bell Peppers were a dinner request from my new husband so, long before the internet I had to figure it out. Remember those newlywed meals? Cooking for myself was the norm, cooking for this new person in my life was a little daunting. We didn’t have the internet to look up recipes and stuffed bell peppers were a new concept to me. As a result I sort of winged it with some instructions from him. We were living in a small one bedroom, adorably condo with a tiny kitchen. We both worked all the time, fortunately we had a small grocery store across the street, literally, so I ran across the street for my ingredients.
Fast and Easy Stuffed Bell Peppers
If you are in a rush, this is such a fast and easy dinner. Since you can put just about anything into these stuffed bell peppers, there is a good chance you have all you need already in your refrigerator. You can see below what I put into my stuffed bell peppers. Honestly you can put just about anything into you stuffing so go for it.
Make stuffed bell peppers with your favorites
Throw any of your favorites into this. I will share with you what I do and you can take it from there to make it your own. As a newlywed I always used ground veal. Lean ground veal goes with everything. First, I browned the ground veal and then add my new husband’s favorite things. Secondly, I mixed in the meat and vegetable stuffing with cooked wild rice. For starving newlyweds I was looking to stretch our food anyway I could. Add ins make the stuffing go further.

In need of a quick meal I revisited the stuffed bell peppers
Recently, after one of those days, we all have them, I needed a quick, tasty, filling dinner. After a quick look through the fridge I pulled out everything and used it. I found ground turkey, spinach, carrots and peas, therefore stuffed peppers it was. After I browned the turkey I drained it and set aside. Sauteing shallots and garlic in extra virgin olive oil is standard for most meals at our house so of course I made sure that I did that. Once the shallots and garlic are ready in go carrots, tomatoes. After about 5 minutes I add back in the browned ground turkey, everything is seasoned. Lastly I mixed in some spinach and parmesan cheese. Cooking just long enough to barely wilt the spinach.
Once all the fixings are ready, I reach for my bell peppers. I had already cut off the tops and cleaned out the seeds. I had blanched the bell peppers and they were sitting over to the side drying.

Stuff those bell peppers!
To get my bell peppers to stand up, I have used aluminum foil around the bottom of them. I suddenly had a brilliant idea! I pulled out my trusty muffin pans because they looked like a great solution. The bell peppers were a perfect fit! My bell peppers stood proudly in the muffin pan.
Let the stuffing begin! Place each stuffed bell pepper into the muffin pan and into the oven. Put the extra stuffing in a small casserole dish to avoid wasting any. Bake the extra stuffing mixture along with the stuffed bell peppers.
Don’t forget to top your peppers with some parmesan cheese
Finally with about 5 minutes to go, I removed the muffin pan and the casserole dish and topped each bell pepper with more parmesan cheese. Additionally, I made sure to topped the casserole pan with more cheese. Back in the over they both went just long enough to melt the cheese, about 5 minutes.

Beautiful Results for dinner
Your beautiful stuffed bell peppers can really serve as a meal by itself. My husband likes to use the extra from the casserole pan for a little second serving so I don’t worry if I have too much stuffing.
Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 Bell Peppers green , red of your choice
- 1 pound Ground veal, ground turkey or ground beef really your choice
- 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3 shallots finely chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 1 cup Wild rice cooked, (I use boil in a bag and use 1 bag)
- ½ cup Julienned carrots
- ½ cup Sliced cherry tomatoes
- 2 cups Loosely packed cups of fresh spinach
- ¼ cup Green peas
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasonings
- 1 teaspoon Smoke Paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut tops off of bell peppers and rinse and clean out the insides. Boil water in a large pot with a pinch of salt, drop bell pepper shells in and submerge to cook for 1 minute(basically blanching the bell peppers), take out of water with tongs, careful to not burn yourself and set out to dry out.
- Brown your meat and set aside. Saute in a tablespoon of olive oil, shallots until softened, add garlic for one minute then carrots, tomatoes and peas for three minutes and then add meat back to heat. Once heated add spinach and toss to wilt slightly. Salt and pepper to taste. Stuff pepper shells with the meat mixture and bake in oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes. Take out and top with fresh parmesan cheese and heat until cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Remove from oven and serve.
- Note you can place foil around the base to keep pepper shell upright or instead of cutting off top you can slice pepper shell from top to bottom like a boat and fill that way. I have also used a muffin pan to put the bell peppers in while cooking. This worked great!
Notes
Melissa
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