Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers with Rice and Beef - Restless Chipotle (2024)

This classic recipe has been a family favorite for decades! No tomato sauce; V-8 juice is used instead. You won't believe the difference in flavor!!

🗝️ Key takeaways

• Stuffed bell peppers are a hearty, inexpensive meal that can easily be made ahead or frozen for another time.
• This easy recipe is great for making on the weekends and warming up as needed during those weeks when everyone is on a different time schedule.
• Stuffed peppers freeze like a charm. Be sure to read the storage section for details.

The ground meat and rice mixture is stuffed inside of the colorful veggie. You get every food group in one simple dish—no sides required!

Wondering what to serve with your peppers? Check out these 49 ideas for what to serve with cabbage rolls. They'll all work here, too!

🧾 Ingredients

This is an overview of the ingredients. You'll find the full measurements and instructions in the green recipe card (printable) at the bottom of the page.

🍅 What can I substitute for the tomato sauce?

Although this is a stuffed pepper recipe with no tomato sauce, the classic recipe (when cooked the original way) does call for it.

Here are some tomato sauce substitutes:

• Condensed tomato soup
• Tomato juice
• Plain or lightly seasoned spaghetti sauce
• Marinara sauce
• Tomato puree
• Stewed tomatoes - try my homemade recipe!
• A mixture of one part tomato paste to one part water
• Pizza sauce

The best substitute for a fresh and flavorful stuffed bell pepper is V-8 juice!

That's what we'll use in today's recipe. The whole family will love this subtle, modern upgrade.

📖Variations

The best part about this easy stuffed peppers recipe is how you can customize it! These ideas are only the beginning—adjust according to your personal preferences.

• Mix up your meat. Try ground turkey, ground pork, ground chicken, lamb, venison, game, or Italian sausage. Alternatively, go meat-free with a vegetarian option like Beyond Beef.
• Swap the starch. Classic white rice is great, but you can also try Minute rice, brown rice, quinoa, or go low-carb with cauliflower rice.
• Have fun with flavor. If you like it, add some red or black pepper, a pinch of Italian seasoning, garlic powder, a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, or a dash of hot sauce. Some families love to add a small spoonful of brown sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes (helpful for picky eaters!) Taste test the cooked ground beef mixture before filling the peppers and adjust as you'd like.
• Cook in the Crockpot. Prepare stuffed peppers as directed. Place them upright in the crockpot and add ¼ cup of V-8 around the peppers. Set the slow cooker to low for 5-6 hours.
• Simmer on the stove. Halve the peppers, then fill them open-face style. Next, place the peppers in a large pan and add the V-8 juice to cover the bottom by about an inch. Cover tightly and simmer for 45 minutes. Add more juice if needed.
• Keep it classic. If you want to try stuffed bell peppers the way I grew up eating them, replace the tomatoes and V-8 with ½ of a can of condensed tomato soup. Then, mix the remaining ½ can of soup with one teaspoon Worcestershire sauce and spoon it over the peppers with about ten minutes of cook time to go.
• Cheese it. I don't care for cheese on my stuffed peppers but lots of people do. If that's you just add your favorite shredded cheese to the top about 10 minutes before the peppers are done.

Try this super easy stuffed pepper casserole!

🔪 Instructions

This is an overview of the instructions. Full instructions are in the green recipe card at the bottom of the page.

1. Brown lean ground beef with onion in a large skillet.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the meat, rice, tomatoes, and seasonings.
3. Fill each of the red bell peppers and pour V-8 juice into the bottom of the baking dish.
4. Bake and enjoy.

🥫 How to store stuffed peppers

When it comes to storage this recipe is one of the best for family meal prep!

Refrigerate

You can store leftover stuffed bell peppers in the refrigerator for three to five days. Cover with plastic wrap or put in an airtight container.

Freeze

You can freeze stuffed peppers for up to 6 months. This makes them great for meal prepping.

Uncooked

1. Cut the peppers as instructed in the recipe card.
2. Stuff.
3. Add to a casserole dish and cover with plastic wrap, then aluminum foil.
4. Label and date.

Pull them out the night before you're ready to bake them. Thaw in the refrigerator until it's time to bake. Uncover, and continue with steps 10- 13.

Cooked

Have leftovers? Here's what to do.

1. Let the stuffed peppers cool to room temperature.
2. Wrap individual peppers in plastic wrap then carefully place in an airtight container or larger freezer bag like a Ziploc.
3. Label and date.
4. Freeze.

Reheat

Thaw peppers in the refrigerator overnight before you reheat them.

Place refrigerated bell peppers into an oven-safe casserole dish. Then, heat at 350 degrees F until warmed through (165F).

Check the center of the pepper with an instant-read thermometer for accurate temperature. It should be 165F degrees.

For a quick option, you can reheat individual peppers in the microwave.

💭 Things to know

Expert Tip: To keep the peppers upright during baking, try to buy the kind with four points on the bottom. If you have a stubborn pepper that just won't stay standing up, you can make a tin foil ball and use it to prop up the pepper. You can take a thin slice off the bottom.

• Spray the casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray so the peppers don't stick.
• Be sure to use cooked rice in this recipe! Raw rice won't work.
• If you like your peppers very soft (rather than crisp-tender) parboil them in the microwave. Place the peppers in a microwave-safe dish, sprinkle with a bit of salt, and fill the dish with no more than a cup of water. Heat for four to five minutes. Then, stuff peppers and bake as directed.
• I use lean beef (90/10) in this recipe. If you are using a fattier blend of ground beef then be sure to drain off the extra fat and pat with paper towels.
• Don't waste a thing! Chop the tops of the peppers (the part you removed) and add to the meat while cooking. Extra flavor!

👩‍🍳 FAQs

• How do you make anything better? Bacon. These Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf Stuffed Peppers combine everyone's favorite comfort foods.
• When you're craving stuffed peppers but don't want any prep, just throw all the ingredients in your slow cooker for yummy Stuffed Pepper Soup!

🍽️ Serve with...

This really is a complete meal in one dish but a crispy side salad or some southern green beans work really well to round it out. I like this rustic bread served alongside it to help get all of the tomato-y goodness.

My family loves sweets so we have dessert often. My pick for this meal is an easy banana pudding pie!

📞 The last word

Stuffed peppers are high on my list of comfort foods. A tomato-y beef and rice mixture is stuffed into green peppers.

Bake in the oven until the house smells like you want to chew on the walls and your stomach is turning somersaults in anticipation.

It's a gloriously easy meal that your wallet will thank you for.

If you click on the number of servings in the recipe card you can adjust the measurements up or down for the exact number of servings you need.

If you love this recipe please give it 5 stars!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📖 Recipe

Originally published August 7, 2012. Last updated October 20, 2023, for editorial improvements.

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