This Stuffed Pepper Casserole recipe is packed with all the flavor of your classic stuffed pepper, undone into a crowd pleasing casserole. It is healthy, full of flavor, simple ingredients and is quick to assemble with only 5 minutes needed to throw it all together.
Oven Baked Stuffed Pepper Casserole – The EASY Way!
It’s no secret that we love a good casserole dish. We have shared many popular casseroles with millions of people over the years, like our viral Chicken Cobbler, our super fast Mexican Chicken Casserole, our classic Chicken Tetrazzini, and our Cozy Chicken Broccoli Cheese Casserole. You can see all of our casserole recipes here!
With this recipe, I’ve taken the comfort of a casserole and married it with the classic flavor of stuffed peppers. Together, this recipe gets an A+ and everyone will be asking for you to make it again.
Why I LOVE this recipe!
- This can be prepped in advance – brown the ground beef ahead of time.
- Great for meal planners because you can make this a freezer meal.
- Simple ingredients that you probably already have in your pantry.
- Quick to make and easy to clean up
Recipe Notes
This stuffed pepper casserole recipe is as simple as promised! Just a few staple ingredients for a family friendly meal.
In this section I am going to go through a few tips and tricks I use when making this recipe to get the absolute best and most delicious results.
Make sure to scroll to the bottom for the FULL recipe card.
Ingredients + Substitutions
- Ground beef – Ground beef is traditional for stuffed peppers, but any type of ground protein will work as a substitution – ground turkey, chicken, or a mild ground Italian sausage.
- Green bell peppers – you can use red bell peppers for a sweeter tasting pepper.
- Minute white rice uncooked – You can use white or brown instant rice. Make sure to not use a regular, long grained rice or you will have rice that is crunchy in your casserole.
- Beef broth – You can use canned, boxed, or prepare broth from bullion.
- Tomato sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- Italian seasoning – this is delicious and so easy to have on hand in your spice cabinet!
- Garlic powder, salt and ground pepper
- Shredded Italian blend cheese – Any type of shredded cheese will work.
Recipe Step by Step
Mix the ground beef, rice, bell peppers, seasonings, sauce, and broth together. You can do this in a bowl, or very carefully right in the casserole dish.
If you mixed the casserole in a bowl, transfer the beef mixture to a casserole dish.
Cover the top of the stuffed pepper mixture with cheese.
Bake covered for about 40 minutes, or until the rice is cooked through.
Recipe Tips
- Ground beef – I usually use lean beef in my recipes, but a higher fat content will be ok to use in this because you will drain it.
- Instant Rice or Minute Rice (white is suggested, but brown will also be ok) is VERY important to use instant or minute rice. You do not want crunchy rice bites.
- Dice the green peppers up really well so that they are nice and soft in your casserole. If they are cut too big it will take them longer to soften.
- To ensure extra soft pepper bites, you can pre-cook them with your ground beef.
- For extra cheesy flavor, you can add up to a cup INTO your mixture of beef, sauce, spices and rice. Then, top your casserole with the suggested 1 cup of shredded cheese.
Recipe Short Cuts
If you need to make this recipe, but are extra short on time, here are a few ideas that can help make this recipe even faster!
- Prep Veggies ahead – Remove all of the seeds and membranes, then cut up your bell peppers and store in an airtight container in the fridge
- Pre-cook your ground beef – The beef can be cooked in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days ahead of making the recipe.
- Preassemble– You can make this casserole the night before, or the morning of and leave it in the refrigerator until ready to cook. It may take an extra 5-10 minutes of cooking time straight from the fridge.
Recipe Variations
If you love this recipe as much as we do and want some quick ways to change it up for variety, these little tips will do the trick!
- Mexican Stuffed Pepper Casserole – Use red bell peppers for a sweeter flavor. Instead of using Italian seasoning, try 1 tablespoon of taco seasoning instead. For the cheese topping, use shredded Mexican cheese. To give it a kick you can also stir in some red pepper flakes.
- Cheesy Stuffed Pepper Casserole – Mix an additional cup of shredded mozzarella cheese into the rice mixture. Then, top with 1/2 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup parmesan for an extra cheesy version of this Stuffed Pepper Casserole.
- Stuffed Pepper Casserole with Cauliflower Rice – For a healthier, more lean version of this casserole reduce your broth to just 1/2 a cup and replace the instant rice with 3 cups of cauliflower rice.
- Protein Variations – substitute ground beef for another ground protein such as pork, turkey, chicken, or even mild or spicy Italian sausage.
- Cheese – If you prefer a crunchy cheese topping, put the cheese on top before baking for the full amount of time.
Optional add ins:
Here are some other things that can be mixed into the casserole to bulk it up or add a new flavor twist:
- Diced onions- cooked or raw yellow onion
- Diced tomatoes
- Fresh parsley – I use this to garnish, but it gives a fresh flavor when stirred in
- Shredded carrots
- Mushrooms- cooked or raw
- Spinach
Freezer Meal Instructions
Making this Stuffed Pepper Casserole recipe into a freezer meal is simple! Follow the steps below and you can store this recipe in the freezer for up to 6 months. There are two easy ways to make this a freezer meal.
Freezing before cooking
- Prepare your mixture minus the rice – meat, peppers, broth, sauce and spices.
- Cool and then freeze your mixture.
- The day you are ready to cook, thaw your freezer meal.
- Once thawed, mix in the uncooked rice and evenly distribute into your pan and continue to step 4.
Freezing after Cooking
- To prepare this meal fully in advance complete steps 2 and 3.
- Place everything into an airtight container and freeze.
- 24-48 hours before you are ready to cook, thaw your mixture completely and bake as directed in step 4..
What to Serve with Stuffed Pepper Casserole
This stuffed pepper casserole is a complete meal in itself. You can easily just serve more veggies on the side. Since this dish has the classic Italian flavor though, it will pair well with many of your favorite Italian side dishes. There are both classic options and some healthy options to keep it light.
Side Dish Ideas
- Best EVER Garlic Bread – This is a family favorite!
- Pesto Roasted Veggies More vegetables never hurt anyone and pesto is perfect to compliment the Italian flavors of the stuffed pepper casserole.
- Garlic Smashed Potatoes These will make your mouth water!
- Side salad with Creamy Italian Dressing – Making the dressing from scratch only takes 5 minutes and is amazingly delicious!!
- Tomato Basil Salad – a caprese style side is perfect to compliment this stuffed pepper casserole!
You can choose one or add a few sides to make a wholesome, well rounded dinner.
Stuffed Pepper Casserole Leftovers
If you have leftovers after making this Stuffed Pepper Casserole, then it is your lucky day! They save and reheat well, and can make the start of another delicious dish.
To save leftovers, separate into meal sized portions and then place in an airtight container and store:
- in the refrigerator for 3-4 days
- in the freezer up to a month
More EASY Recipes
If you enjoyed this recipe, I really hope you will take a moment to grab a few more easy recipes for another busy night!
You can check out all of my easy dinner recipes recipes here, or see a few of our readers favorite recipes below.
- Million Dollar Chicken Casserole – After the first bite, you’ll know why it’s called this.
- Perfectly Baked Chicken Breast – Tender, juicy, and flavorful chicken every time!
- Smoked Sausage Pesto Penne with Roasted Vegetables – This sheet pan meal is so quick and easy.
- Chicken Tetrazzini – A comfort meal that is easy enough to make any day of the week.
Stuffed Pepper Casserole
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 medium green bell peppers, diced into bite sized pieces
- 1 cup minute white rice, uncooked
- 1 cup beef broth
- 16 ounces tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350˚F.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef over medium heat, breaking it apart as you cook. Once it is no longer pink, drain the grease and transfer the meat to a 2 quart casserole dish.
- Add the green pepper, rice, beef broth, tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to the casserole dish.Mix until everything is evenly distributed throughout.
- Bake covered for 40 minutes. Then remove the cover, spread the cheese evenly over the top, and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the edges of the casserole are bubbling.
Recipe Notes
- Ground beef – any type of ground protein will work – ground turkey, chicken, or a mild ground Italian sausage.
- Green bell peppers – you can use red bell peppers for a sweeter tasting pepper.
- Minute white rice uncooked – You can use white or brown instant rice.
- Beef broth – You can use canned or Better than Boullion Beef.
- Shredded Italian blend cheese – Any type of shredded cheese will work.
- in the refrigerator for 3-4 days
- in the freezer up to a month
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