Healthy Stuffed Peppers with Ground Beef and Rice
A classic stuffed peppers recipe made with ground beef, rice, tomato sauce, and cheese. They make for an easy great weekday dinner and are wonderful as leftovers as well.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 shallot minced ( or 1/2 of an onion)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
- 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups marinara any tomato basil sauce will do, or strained tomatoes
- 1/2 cup uncooked white rice
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Cook rice according to instructions. For me this means cooking 1/2 cup white rice in 1 cup water and cooking until the water is absorbed.
- Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise. Remove the seeds inside the peppers and throw them away. Place them open side up in a 9” x13" pan.
- Put the diced garlic, diced onion and olive oil into a large sauté pan. Heat over medium heat. Mix and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the ground beef and break it up into small pieces. Then add the dried basil, dried oregano, salt, ground black pepper, paprika, and parsley and mix into the meat. Cook the meat until it has browned, about 7- 10 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste to the pan and mix. Then, add 2 cups of marina sauce to the pan. Mix again. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes. Add the cooked rice to the mixture.
- Spoon the meat and rice mixture into each pepper. Top each pepper with shredded Parmesan.
- Cover the pan with aluminum, then bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes. ( Note if any cheese comes off on the foil, sprinkle a little more on top of the peppers)
- Optional- broil for one minute at the end.
Notes
- Instead of shallots, you can use regular onions.
- Instead of ground beef, you can use ground turkey.
- Instead of marinara sauce, you can use strained tomatoes or any type of tomato sauce of your choice ( like arrabiata sauce).
- Instead of white rice, you can use brown rice or quinoa.
- Instead of Parmesan, you can shredded cheddar or Swiss.
Nutrition
Calories: 534kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 14g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 89mg | Sodium: 1541mg | Potassium: 1133mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 4668IU | Vitamin C: 165mg | Calcium: 224mg | Iron: 5mg