Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers – A Stuffed Pepper with Cooked Rice and Ground Beef
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Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers recipe 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 son Sam 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 (lean ground beef), raw
- Onions, diced (optional)
- White Rice, cooked
- Large Egg
- Salt and Black Pepper
- Tomato Sauce
Optional Ingredients
Here are a few additions that could be added to the stuffing if desired.
- Shredded Cheese (shredded mozzarella cheese or shredded cheddar cheese)
- Worcestershire sauce
- Garlic Powder
- Chili Powder or Cumin
- Dried herbs (parsley, oregano, basil, etc.)
How to Make Stuffed Peppers with Ground Beef, Rice and Tomato Sauce
Step by Step Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a baking dish that fits the stuffed peppers with nonstick cooking spray.
- Remove the tops and inside membranes of the bell peppers. Wash and dry.
- In a large bowl, stir together 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. The peppers should be tender and the meat cooked through.
Equipment
Gather your pantry ingredients and kitchen tools to make these old-fashioned stuffed green peppers. I personally love using a rice cooker to make this step fail-proof.
Storage Instructions
Let leftovers cool completely. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
For the full ingredient amounts instructions for quick stuffed peppers, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Recipe FAQs
- 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!
Recipe Variations
- Use ground turkey or ground chicken instead of ground beef.
- Try any large bell peppers you can find including red bell pepper or orange bell peppers.
- Make these classic stuffed peppers Italian by added herbs such as oregano and basil or an Italian seasoning blend.
- Instead of rice, try cooked quinoa or any other cooked grain.
- Disassemble all the ingredients to make a pepper soup instead.
- Top with a thin slice of mozzarella, and broil for a couple minutes right before serving.
Garden Recipes with Ground Beef
We love combining our fresh garden produce with a pound of ground beef to create a quick, easy and healthy dinner.
- 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.
- The nutritional information below is auto-calculated and can vary depending on the products used.
Nutrition
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!
YES! This is how I remember my mom making them and freaked out before I found this recipe because all the new style peppers call for cooking it first!
Exactly!! I am now 78 years okd, and always make my peppers with uncooked meat and peppers! That’s the classic way, both in taste and texture! Ready to do a big batch of them next week, some to take over to my brother’s home after my sister-in-law of 63 years is recovery from an injury. I also put potatoes and carrots along the sides of my peppers as they are all cooking together in the oven. I used a deep sided SS roasting, so no spillage into my oven.
My mom made her peppers this way except she used uncooked rice. the rice picks up the flavor of the dish better. A cover is needed for the dish to cook the rice. she made hers on the stove top but I use the oven.
Thanks for sharing!
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!
I’ve made this keto with cauliflower rice instead of rice. It’s perfect and I don’t feel deprived. I use a different color pepper for me and cook with the family’s (who have rice). It’s nice to have dinner in one pot.
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing.
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…
My daughter didn’t like the pepper either so I just made her big meatballs like” porcupine meatballs” sauce on top baked right along with the,peppers.
This is the same receipt that my mom made…. I watched her make it at least at least a couple times a month and after making peppers for dinner tonight, I looked on the internet and to my surprise it’s exactly the same… Great minds think alike!!!
How wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
Like everyone else on here my Grandma used raw meat and thank you because I couldn’t remember exactly how to make it and now I do.
Thank you, I knew how to make it; I’ve seen it made but I needed to see the actual recipe to attempt it myself and I know it’s right. Every recipe says brown the beef but I knew in my heart that was not flavor I was trying to revisit.
Turned out just like Grandma’s!
Thanks …
Hi, was so glad to find this recipe. Mine our in the oven right now baking and I can’t wait to eat one. My mom used to once in awhile instead of putting that mixture into the stuffed pepper she rolled it into a meatball and we called them rice meatballs and sometimes she would add potatoes to it sliced up and add the tomato sauce, it was always yummy either way.
I have cooked mine the same way for years…I use more ground beef and less rice then I add fresh grated parm cheese and some ranch seasoning (just a pinch) and add a small amt of Italian sauce to my mixture before I stuff. I add a small amount of different seasonings and worch sauce. The parm cheese gives it a nutty flavor and adding just a bit of sauce makes them more tender. It so bomb. I used to make it your way but over the years I have perfected it to my families tastes but you can’t go wrong with your recipe.
Love the additions! Thanks for sharing!!
THANK YOU!!!
This is the exact way we make our stuffed peppers. Although, I could not remember the oven temp and baking time. My parents have long since past, so asking them wasn’t an option. Almost EVERY online recipe stated to fry the ground beef first… as if I wanted to stuff my pepper with what is basically a dirty rice mix??
Yay! Glad it’s like the one you remember.
can you cook these on a lower heat for a longer time?
We haven’t tried it. You want to be sure the ground beef comes to 160 degrees F for food safety reasons so if you go lower temp for longer, keep that in mind.
I have always used raw ground beef but forgot how long to bake in the oven. My mom made this recipe for years on the stove, with the same prep. I have changed to using red peppers as they repeat less, and make either in a crock pot, or on the stove depending on time. Thank you for the good old fashioned “best” recipe.
SO glad to find your recipe – As so many others shared, stuffed peppers were always a simple meal with no par-boiled peppers or pre-cooked hamburger — DELIGHTED to find your take on a FAVORITE (that I had forgotten how to prep)!!
Thanks for the note!
can you use impossible meat instead of ground beef
We haven’t tried it with impossible meat but it should work…just not sure about timing! Good luck.
As a child I remember my mom using the uncooked peppers, the raw hamburger, rice and ketchup. Simple yes, delicious, absolutely ! She would also add chopped onions and mushrooms pieces to the raw mixture. Very happy to have found this recipe because I needed the temp/time to cook.
Right now, my masterpiece is baking in the oven and I can’t wait for dinner.
My wife wanted to make stuffed peppers for the first time today but didn’t have a recipe. I explained how my Mom made it for us as kids in the 60s in very general terms. Just found your recipe which is the same as Mom’s so she’s making it now.Thank you for the memories.
I am so glad you posted this recipe. I have been looking for one that is similar to how my Gramma made them. This is not just similar I truly think it is the same recipe she used. I made them tonight and as soon as I tasted them it was like I was 12 and back in grams kitchen again. They came out perfectly.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Mine are in the oven. Thank you for a simple old fashioned recipe. I doubled the recipe and cut 3 peppers in half. Perfectly filled all the peppers. I also added Worcestershire and a little of the sauce to the meat mixture. Can’t wait for dinner.