Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers is a simple stuffed pepper recipe with cooked rice and ground beef. With only five ingredients, including a simple tomato sauce, this basic recipe is anything but simple in flavor.
Am I the only one that feels like keeping up with summer produce is a full time job? I can easily spend an entire morning or day making recipes to use up zucchini, tomatoes, green beans, etc.
I’m not complaining, just saying it can be somewhat exhausting in a good way.
Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers
I just can’t pass up the box of beautiful green bell peppers at the farmers market for only a couple dollars. My little Sam, who is getting ready to turn five, eats one to two bell peppers by himself on the days he is home with me.
So I stock up, but I still have too many green peppers on hand.
To remedy the situation, I searched for a quick and easy stuffed green pepper recipe in my cookbooks. I hit the jackpot when I opened up my Amish Cook Book.
Simple Stuffed Pepper Recipe
What I love about Amish cooking is that the recipes are all fairly simple. For example, this Stuffed Pepper recipe with ground beef, rice and tomato sauce only has 5 ingredients in total.
This simple stuffed green pepper recipe has multiple aspects that point to its simplicity and easiness to make.
- The hamburger does not get cooked before stuffing the pepper; keep it raw.
- White rice is cooked before stuffing which means you can use leftover white rice.
- The green peppers do not get boiled before stuffing like some recipes call for.
- Canned tomato sauce makes the perfect, easy sauce.
Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers Ingredient List
Green Peppers, tops removed with seeds discarded
Hamburger, raw
Onions, diced (optional)
White Rice, cooked
Egg
Salt and Pepper
Tomato Sauce
Optional Ingredients
Here are a few additions that could be added to the stuffing if desired.
Shredded Cheese
Worcestershire sauce
Garlic Powder
Dried herbs (parsley, oregano, basil, etc.)
How to Make Stuffed Peppers with Ground Beef, Rice and Tomato Sauce:
For the full ingredient amounts instructions for quick stuffed peppers, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking dish that fits the stuffed peppers with nonstick cooking spray.
- Remove the tops and insides of the bell peppers. Wash and dry.
- In a bowl, combine raw hamburger, cooked rice, egg, diced onions and salt and pepper.
- Stuff bell peppers with hamburger mixture leaving room at the top for sauce.
- Place in prepared dish.
- Pour tomato sauce into the top of each bell pepper.
- Bake for 1 hour.
Notes About Quick Stuffed Pepper Recipe:
- I used green peppers but any color bell peppers would work.
- There’s no need to boil the peppers; instead, just cut off the top, remove the seeds and wash and dry the pepper.
- Use cooked rice; go ahead and use leftover cooked rice if you have it.
- The ground beef is raw; do not precook.
- Pick out a baking dish that allows the peppers to stand upright without too much extra room. I like to use a tall, round dish. If needed, slice off a tiny bit of the bottom of the pepper to allow the pepper to sit upright.
- Depending on the size of the bell peppers, you may need 3 to 4. I had extra large ones, so I had enough filling for 3.
- Leave a little room at the top of the pepper after filling with the ground beef mixture for the sauce.
- Have a large family? Double this recipe.
- Check out our Amazon Store for our favorite items, including a rice cooker…we LOVE it!
Garden Recipes with Ground Beef
Ground Beef Stuffed Yellow Squash
Bacon Cheeseburger Squash Casserole
Layered Garden Casserole with Zucchini and Tomatoes
Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers - A Stuffed Pepper with Cooked Rice and Ground Beef
Ingredients
- 3 - 4 bell peppers
- 1/2 pound raw ground beef
- 1/2 cup cooked white rice
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F; spray a baking dish large enough to hold peppers upright with nonstick cooking spray. (I like to use a round dish.)
- Cut the tops off the peppers, remove seeds and wash and dry peppers.
- Combine raw hamburger, cooked rice, diced onions, egg, and pinch of salt and pepper.
- Stuff peppers with hamburger mixture, leaving a little room at the top for sauce.
- Place peppers in prepared dish; pour tomato sauce into the top of each pepper.
- Bake for 1 hour.
Notes
- I used green peppers but any color bell peppers would work.
- There's no need to boil the peppers; instead, just cut off the top, remove the seeds and wash and dry the pepper.
- Cooked rice is used; go ahead and use leftover cooked rice if you have it.
- The ground beef is raw; do not precook.
- Depending on the size of the bell peppers, you may need 3 to 4. I had extra large ones, so I had enough filling for 3.
- Pick out a baking dish that allows the peppers to stand upright without too much extra room. I like to use a tall, round dish. If needed, slice off a tiny bit of the bottom of the pepper to allow the pepper to sit upright.
- Leave a little room at the top of the pepper after filling with the ground beef mixture for the sauce.
- Love peppers? Try this easy dinner recipe featuring bell peppers, Southern Sausage and Pintos.
Linking up to Weekend Potluck.
THANK YOU! HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS RECIPE FOR A FEW YEARS. ALL THE RECIPES SAY BOIL THE PEPPERS AND BROWN THE GROUND BEEF. THAT IS NOT HOW MY MOM DID IT. YOURS IS PERFECT!!!!
Glad you found us!
The best ever! I always like garlic and onion, just a bit. I always chop up the little bit of pepper I remove from the cut off top and add to the meat mix. I always add 1tsp. Sugar To the tomato sauce to cut the acid a tad. All soooo good.
Your tips sound great. Thanks!
This is PERFECT! Thank you so much for sharing! As the above review stated, all of the recipes were cooking the beef first and my Mom never did it that way. I am using her recipe(exactly like yours) but needed the timing and everything of that sort. Thank you again! ❤
Thank you for the nice comment! Enjoy.
This is the way my Mom made stuffed peppers. but would pour tomato juice in the bottom of the pan. Also a trick I learned from her if you use instant rice just soak it in a bowl of water while you are prepping the peppers and add the rice to the meat mixture when you are ready to stuff.
when baking do i need to cover dish with foil?
We don’t cover it.
There are so many ads popping up on this page I can’t find all of the recipe.
You can click the “print recipe” button and it should bring up the recipe with no ads!
Thank u! I needed time and temp for raw. I grew up on these. The only difference is we don’t like rice in ours. I make mine like I do my meat loaf with tomato sauce, egg and a few crackers. I add onion Green pepper and mushrooms.salt and pepper. I put ketchup on top! Thanks again!!!
You are welcome!
This is how my mom always made stuffed peppers except she adds parm cheese and some other spices. I added some flavor with spices and put a tiny amount of sauce in the meat mix. Was so freaking good! I dislike the meat cooked first because we didn’t grow up with it like that. I lost her recipe so this helped remind me of the cooking time and temp. Ty!
I want to do 6 peppers instead of 4
How much of the ingredients do I use. Do I double?
We suggest you either double the recipe or go with 3/4 lb ground beef, 3/4 cup cooked rice, same amount of onion, 1-2 eggs depending on the consistency of the mixture and 15 oz can of tomato sauce. Hope this helps!
I’m making these right now for supper.i looove stuffed peppers but my husband doesn’t but he said he would try um again.he rends to like the filling but not the pepper so we shall see.im doing it a lil different though cause I’m short on a couple ingredients.im going to cut my peppers in half long ways,I also didn’t have any tomato sauce so…I put a can of diced tomatoes..a big can in the food processor n got um thin as I can then I put um on the stove with t a lil onion garlic powder salt pepper Italian seasoning oregano and a beef bullion cubes n a lil water n simmered. I’m going to use that instead of the tomato sauce.tgen I’ll stuff the peppers with the mixture of meat cooked rice onion salt pepper and garlic and egg…then top with the sauce… hopefully it’ll turn out well…thank u for sharing it reminds me of when I was little…now just have to figure out what to make with it…