Have you ever had stuffed peppers? That delicious recipe is the inspiration for today’s Stuffed Pepper Rice Bake, which takes the classic “scoop and stuff” routine and transforms it into something so delicious and simple to make that you’ll wonder why you’ve never made it before!
Stuffed Pepper Casserole is like the cousin of traditional stuffed peppers — it has all of the flavor minus the hassle of scooping and stuffing. We’re kind of obsessed with this recipe, and hope you’ll fall head over heels for it, too!
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What makes Stuffed Pepper Casserole special
Stuffed Pepper Casserole is a casserole version of a super fun dish that involves stuffing peppers full of delicious goodies and baking them. In this recipe, we’re taking all the ingredients and mixing them together in a casserole dish, which we think makes it so much easier to prep and then cook.
It’s a super-simple, super-delicious recipe that is chock-full of vegetables and other nutrient-rich ingredients. We think your whole family is going to love it as much as ours do!
How Stuffed Pepper Casserole got its name
To answer this question, we’ve got to go back to the original! Stuffed peppers got their name pretty simply — it’s a description of what you’re eating. Then we added “casserole” because that’s what type of dish this recipe is.
A casserole is a common dish that colloquially just means something baked slowly in an oven. But the name itself apparently comes from the name of the dish that it’s cooked in. Kyathos is a Greek word for “cup” while casse is an old French word for “ladle.” And there’s the history of the word casserole!
How to make Stuffed Pepper Casserole
- Cook ground beef and season with your favorite seasonings. (We use 3 cloves fresh garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp oregano, and 1/2 tsp paprika.)
- Chop the red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and red onion.
- Rinse the rice until the water is clear.
- In a 12×8 baking dish add the rice, diced tomatoes with chilis, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and onions.
- Mix in paprika, chili powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, olive oil, low sodium broth, and garlic.
- Give everything a good mix to make sure it is combined.
- Cover and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.
- Remove dish, add shredded cheese, and bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is nicely melted.
- Garnish with fresh cilantro or Italian parsley. Serve immediately or cover and let sit until ready to serve.
Stuffed Pepper Rice Bake
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 4 cloves grated garlic, divided
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt divided, to taste
- 1 teaspoon black pepper divided, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons paprika divided
- 1 cup washed long grain or jasmine rice
- 10 ounces diced tomatoes with chilis
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 cup yellow bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 small red onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups low sodium broth
- 10 ounces shredded Colby jack cheese
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro or Italian flat leaf parsley for garnish
Instructions
- In a pan on medium-high heat cook ground beef until no longer pink. Drain the fat and add 2 cloves minced fresh garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika.1 pound lean ground beef, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 4 cloves grated garlic, divided, 2 teaspoons paprika
- Chop the red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and red onion.1/2 cup red bell pepper, 1/2 cup yellow bell pepper, 1/2 small red onion
- Rinse the rice until the water is clear.1 cup washed long grain or jasmine rice
- In a 12×8 baking dish add the rice, diced tomatoes with chilis, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and onions.10 ounces diced tomatoes with chilis
- Mix in paprika, chili powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, olive oil, low sodium broth, and garlic.1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon onion powder, 2 Tablespoons olive oil, 1 1/2 cups low sodium broth
- Give everything a good mix to make sure it is combined.
- Cover and bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes.
- Remove dish, add shredded cheese, and bake uncovered for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is nicely melted.10 ounces shredded Colby jack cheese
- Garnish with fresh cilantro or Italian parsley. Serve immediately or cover and let sit until ready to serve.1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro or Italian flat leaf parsley
Equipment
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This tasted great and I loved the concept, HOWEVER, the rice was a big problem. It look nearly 2 hours and an additional cup of broth to fully cook the rice – next time I will likely cook the rice beforehand and then add, or at least try adding 2.5-3 cups of broth right off the bat and plan to cook for 60 minutes. But I will make it again! Also we added sour cream to serve, yummmm :o)
Thank you for the feedback, Rebecca! We will revisit the recipe but are so glad you were able to make it work and enjoyed it. 😊
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
This is a family FAVE! Very heavy in the rotation!
Yayyy! We’re so happy to hear it! 😊
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
Followed the recipe exactly and the rice was not tender after 45 mins 🥲 anyone else have this issue?
Question… Do you cook your rice before you add everything to the baking dish? I’m an awful rice cooker so I just wanted to know before I added this to my weekly menu for dinner!
Hi! No, we just rinse and drain it and add it to the dish uncooked. It should turn tender in the oven. 😊
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
This is such a fun variation to stuffed bell pepper boats.
I haven’t tried it this way yet but definitely plan to soon!!
Let us know how it goes! 😊
Xo,
Alia & Radwa
Excellent recipe! However, you may want to make it clear in the steps at what point to add the meat mixture to the baking dish, as It’s not even mentioned in the recipe, as it could be confusing for some people.
Love this recipe! For dieting purposes, what is one serving size in cups?
Amazing! Serving size is 1 cup.
I make this all the time ! It’s my favorite! So easy and fast to make ! Thank you Food Dolls ❤️
This makes us so happy! xo, Alia & Radwa
This was so delicious! I am trying to eat cleaner ingredients and this recipe allowed me to do that!
So glad to hear!
This was so delicious and full of flavor. Definitely a keeper! I will point out however, that in the recipe there is a part that is skipped out–you don’t mention when to add the meat to the mixture of the the rice, diced tomatoes with chilis, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, onions, paprika, chili powder, onion powder, salt, black pepper, olive oil, low sodium broth, and garlic in the 12×8 dish.
Ohh good catch! We will adjust, glad it was a hit!
Can you use riced cauliflower instead of the rice?
You can, however, you will need to reduce the broth by a lot as it will not absorb that much liquid!
Hi, there! If I wanted to prep this ahead of time and freeze, would I bake it according to your recipe then let it cool before freezing? And how long would I reheat it for once thawed?
We recommend baking it, let it cool, then freeze. You can rebake in the oven at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until heated through!
If I wanted to make the meat and pepper mixture separate from the rice so I can just spoon the mixture over the rice for serving, how should I adjust the broth in the meat mixture and cook time in the oven? Thank you.
We have not tried this recipe without the meat/pepper mixture. If you’d like to give it a try, try reducing the broth to 1 cup! Let us know how it turns out!
What would be some side dish ideas for this recipe?
You can pair it with this Chicken Kofta
Chicken Shawarma
Vegan Roasted Eggplant Salad
Egyptian Tomato and Cucumber Salad
What kind of broth did you use? chicken, vegetable, beef?
We use vegetable, but feel free to use beef or chicken!
So excited to try this…can you use brown rice?
Thanks 😊
Yes, you definitely can, you may have to adjust the baking time and/or liquid quantity. If you do try it with brown rice, we recommend long grain brown rice. Let us know how it turns out!