Stuffed Pepper Casserole
Stuffed Pepper Casserole is a one pan dish, bringing the classic flavours of stuffed peppers — without the fuss! This easy meal features ground beef, bell peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, and rice, and baked with cheese for a comforting dinner.
This Stuffed Pepper Casserole is easy to meal prep in the morning, so it’s ready to put in the oven for dinner time. It takes about 45 minutes to bake, covered, and then a final 15 minutes uncovered to melt and brown the cheese until it’s bubbling.
The casserole is easy to customize according to your preferences! See below for some ideas.
Can I Make Substitutions for the Stuffed Pepper Casserole?
Ground beef – You can substitute ground turkey or chicken.
Bell peppers – The star of the dish, so I would not leave out the peppers! You can use whatever bell peppers you have on hand. For this dish, I used one green and one yellow bell pepper. You can use a mix of other coloured peppers, or throw in a hotter pepper like an Anaheim if you like.
Tomatoes — Instead of the canned diced tomatoes & pepper mix, you can use whatever combination of diced tomatoes, peppers, or even crushed tomatoes or tomato sauce! Using what you have on hand is a great way to learn how to adapt recipes to your liking.
Cheese – I used a mix of pre-shredded mozzarella and other Italian cheeses, but you can use whatever grated or shredded cheese you like. It doesn’t matter if you buy it pre-shredded or if you shred it yourself. What kind of cheese do you like?
Spices – I only used my homemade Taco Seasoning, without needing to add additional salt & pepper. If you want less spice, use a mix of garlic powder, onion powder, and sweet paprika for less heat. Like more heat? Add some cayenne pepper in there!
Rice — For this dish, I used long grain white rice. I haven’t tested the recipe with other kinds of rice, so your mileage may vary if you substitute. The rice definitely gives this dish the classic Stuffed Pepper texture!
Can Stuffed Pepper Casserole be Gluten-Free?
Yes! I make my own Taco Seasoning, so I know that it’s definitely gluten-free. Make sure whatever seasoning you use is safe for your restriction.
To make the Stuffed Pepper Casserole to be dairy-free, use a dairy-free shredded cheese.
For a Vegan Stuffed Pepper Casserole, substitute TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) or tofu crumbles for the ground beef, use a vegetable stock, add some nutritional yeast in with the vegetables, and use a vegan cheese shred on top. If you try making it this way, let me know how you like it! I think it would be just as tasty.
The Stuffed Pepper Casserole Method
As I mentioned earlier in the article, you can “meal prep” the beginning stages of this recipe. First, chop up all your vegetables. Since you’re cutting everything into bite-size chunks, you could use a vegetable chopper to make this step really fast. (See note in recipe about Meal Prep).
Next you brown your ground beef and add the veggies and aromatics (onion and garlic).
When the peppers start to soften, add whatever canned tomatoes you’re using, spices, salt & pepper if using, stock, and rice and stir it all together.
Up to this point, it took about 15 minutes. You could set this aside to bake later, or bake right away in a 375°F oven.
Bake covered for 45 minutes, then remove from the oven, remove the lid, and cover the surface of the casserole with your shredded cheese.
Return to the oven for another 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted, bubbling, and starting to slightly brown.
Let sit for about 5-10 minutes before digging in!
Optional garnishes: Chopped cilantro, dollops of sour cream, or lime wedges would be fantastic.
Based on this recipe from All Recipes, modified.
Stuffed Pepper Casserole
Equipment
- Large skillet Oven safe, with lid
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 green bell pepper chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper chopped
- ½ sweet onion chopped
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 10- oz can diced tomatoes such as Ro-Tel
- 1 14- oz can diced tomatoes or crushed tomatoes, or tomato sauce, about 2 cups
- 3 tbsp Taco Seasoning* (see note)
- Salt & pepper
- 8 oz shredded cheese
Optional garnishes
- Fresh cilantro chopped
- Fresh lime wedges
- Sour cream
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 375°F. Rinse your rice well until water runs clear and set aside.
- Chop peppers into bite-size pieces, roughly chop onion, and crush garlic. Set aside.
- In a large skillet (that has a lid), heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and cook until crumbled.
- Add peppers, onions, and garlic. Cook, stirring constantly, until peppers start to soften, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add stock, and scrape the bottom of the pan to release the browned bits. Then add the rice, tomatoes, taco seasoning, and salt & pepper. Turn off heat and stir until completely mixed.
- Cover with lid and put in the oven for 45 minutes.
- After 45 minutes, remove from oven, take off the lid and cover the surface of the casserole with the shredded cheese. Return to the oven (without the lid) and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted, bubbling, and starting to brown. Watch it carefully, as the cheese time will depend on what kind of cheese you’re using!
- Remove from oven and let sit for about 5 mintues before serving, scooping casserole into 6 bowls.
- Optionally, you can garnish with chopped cilantro, or squeeze lime wedges over the casserole, or add dollops of sour cream. Or all three!
- Enjoy!