Filled with protein, ooey-gooey cheesy goodness, and some extra, secret hidden veggies, these Italian Stuffed Peppers are a family favorite! An easy to make lunch or dinner recipe that’s perfect for meal prep!
When it comes to meal prep, I love easy to assemble comfort food dishes that I can throw together, place in the refrigerator, then pull out and bake on a busy weeknight. These easy Italian Stuffed Peppers are exactly that kind of recipe. Made with classic Italian flavors, lean ground beef, some sneaky hidden veggies and lots of melted mozzarella cheese, this is a healthy dinner your whole family will love.
Eating healthy doesn’t have to mean salads all day, friend. Stick with me – I’ve got you.
More Reasons to Love this Stuffed Pepper Recipe
- A fresh twist on a classic – these Italian Style peppers are a nice change from the traditional Mexican stuffed peppers
- Simple prep – no need to par boil the peppers – they will steam right in the oven.
- Customizable – swap out proteins, change up the veggies, add in rice or enjoy with pasta – this is a meal you can make your own.
- Easy to double and freezer friendly – I love making a double batch of Stuffed Peppers or even the meat filling for quick and easy lunches or to throw in the freezer for later for busy weeknights.
Ingredients
Full ingredient list with exact can be found in the recipe card below.
For this stuffed peppers recipe, you will need:
- Large bell peppers – We used green bell peppers, but it’s also delicious with orange or red bell peppers
- Extra lean ground beef
- Homemade tomato sauce or your favorite jarred marinara sauce – I like Rao’s
- Fresh Garlic cloves and onion
- Shredded zucchini or zucchini noodles – shredded zucchini adds extra veggies and bulk and is a great low card substitute for rice
- Shredded Italian cheese blend – look for a blend of parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheese. I also love pecorino romano cheese with these.
- Fresh herbs – Italian herbs like fresh basil or oregano are my favorites here. You can use dried Italian seasoning if you don’t have fresh.
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
Substitutions and Variations
- Swap ground chicken, ground turkey, spicy Italian sausage, or ground pork for the ground beef. This chicken sausage recipe would be amazing!
- To make this recipe meatless, swap ground meat for beans – chickpeas, white beans, or black beans would all be delicious.
- Swap cauliflower rice, white rice, or brown rice for the shredded zucchini.
- Top with fresh mozzarella for an elevated version or ricotta cheese for Lasagna Stuffed Peppers!
- Add red pepper flakes for a spicier stuffed pepper.
Step By Step Instructions
Step One: In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the onions until meat is cooked through. Add minced garlic and cook for an additional minute.
Step Two: Add in the zucchini, 1 cup of the tomato sauce, 2/3 cup of the shredded cheese and simmer for 2-3 minutes on medium low heat. Taste filling and sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired.
Step three: Spray an 8×8 casserole dish with olive oil cooking spray. Add 1/2 cup of sauce to the bottom of the pan, then place peppers in the baking dish, standing upright. Alternatively, you can cut peppers in half and lay them flat in the pan. This is helpful if you plan to freeze peppers.
Step four: Fill peppers with the veggie and meat mixture and top each with remaining tomato sauce. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes, then uncover peppers and top with the remaining cheese. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly and peppers are tender.
Step 6: Garnish with fresh basil or fresh parsley and enjoy.
Tips
- If you plan to batch these Italian peppers for the freezer, instead of cutting the tops off and filling the inside, you can cut the peppers in half and diving the filling and cheese amongst the halves instead. They are easier to lay flat and freeze this way.
- If you have picky kids who don’t like green peppers, serve the filling over rice or noodles with some extra sauce for an easy variation that doesn’t make you feel like a short order cook.
Recipe FAQs
Yes! You can freeze the whole tray by covering it in aluminum foil, then double wrapping it with plastic wrap. You can also freeze each pepper individually by allowing them to cool, then wrapping them in plastic wrap. I put them in freezer safe gallon sized ziplocks.
Most stuffed pepper recipes are gluten free, including this one! Always be sure to check ingredient labels though to make sure your food is safe.
You could! I choose not to, as it’s easier for me to just assemble the stuffed peppers and bake them.
What to Serve with Stuffed Peppers
For us, this is a complete meal, but you can serve this with a side of pasta or my Kale Caesar Salad. You could also bulk it up with Instant Pot Brown Rice on the side or stuffed right into the peppers! Since you are already using zucchini, you could add a side of my Air Fryer Zucchini or Sautéed Zucchini.
Meal Prep and Storage
To prep ahead: You can cook the filling mixture and stuff the peppers up to three days before baking. Just be sure to wrap well or store peppers in an airtight container.
To freeze: these peppers freeze like a dream. Just place in an airtight, freezer-safe container for up to three months. If you are worried about losing your pepper filling, you can wrap each pepper individually with plastic wrap.
To reheat: for best results, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Reheat peppers on a microwave safe dish for 2-4 minutes or at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until warmed through.
Looking for more stuffed pepper recipes? Check these out:
Mini Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers
Heathy Buffalo Chicken Dip Stuffed Peppers [Instant Pot | Air Fryer | Oven]
Instant Pot Low Carb Stuffed Pepper Soup [21 Day Fix | 2B Mindset]
Italian Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 large green bell peppers tops, ribs and seeds removed
- 1 lb extra lean grass fed ground beef
- 2 cups homemade or no sugar added tomato sauce we love Rao's
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 2 cups shredded zucchini or zoodles
- 1 1/3 cups shredded Italian cheese blend
- Fresh basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Wash peppers and dry very well with kitchen or paper towel.
- In a large skillet, brown the ground beef with the onions until meat is cooked through. Add garlic and cook for an additional minute.
- Add in the zucchini, 1 cup of the tomato sauce, 2/3 cup of the shredded cheese and simmer for 2-3 minutes on medium low heat. Taste filling and sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired.
- Spray a square baking dish with olive oil cooking spray and set peppers upright. Fill them with the meat and veggie mixture and top each with remaining tomato sauce. I usually add some sauce to the bottom of the tray, as well. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes or refrigerate/freeze until you are ready to bake.
- After 35 minutes, uncover peppers and top with the remaining cheese. Bake an additional10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly and peppers are fork tender.
- Garnish with fresh basil and enjoy.
Notes
- If you plan to batch these Italian peppers for the freezer, instead of cutting the tops off and filling the inside, you can cut the peppers in half and diving the filling and cheese amongst the halves instead. They are easier to lay flat and freeze this way.
- If you have picky kids who don’t like green peppers, serve the filling over rice or noodles with some extra sauce for an easy variation that doesn’t make you feel like a short order cook.
Nicole says
These are absolutely amazing!
Nancylynn says
That makes me so happy, Nicole! Thanks for taking the time to rate and review! ❤️
Megan says
Any way these can be done in the instant pot once they are stuffed?
Nancylynn says
Great idea! I haven’t tested it, but from a quick google search it looks like 9 minutes is a safe bet for stuffed peppers using raw filling. If you cook it first, like this recipe, I bet you can reduce cooktime to 3 minutes. Make sure you put a cup of water in the bottom of the pot before placing your trivet and peppers. Let us know how it goes!
Megan says
Thank you! What I ended up doing was cooking the filling first and then putting them stuffed in the Instant Pot for about 5 minutes with a quick release. I topped them with cheese and put them in the broiler to melt! I have been using your recipes for about a month now and we are always so impressed, thank you!
Megan Rivadeneyra says
This is a family favorite. I’ve even had my mom ask for the recipe because my kiddos kept talking about it at her house. That’s why i’m back here… to send her the link 🙂
Jennifer says
I make this recipe quite often, and I actually cut the peppers in half, because it gives the illusion you have more. I use ground turkey and ground chicken too! Love your recipes!
Nancylynn says
I love when it feels like you have more!! Thank you so much for taking the time to rate and review!
Tiina says
Subbed cauliflower rice for the zoodles…so, so yummy!
ruan says
Question – I see with many of your recipes you use 1 and a third cup of cheese, but only count it as one blue container? isn’t the blue container much smaller than this? As far as I know, its only a third of a cup…I love cheese, so I would like to know whether I can use more than .3 of a cup each day… Your recipes look awesome!
Nancylynn says
Yes – the blue container is 1/3 cup…this recipe serves 4, so there is 1/3 cup of cheese for each serving of peppers.
Kary L Hartmann says
Thats an awful lot of cheese to only count as 1 blue
Nancylynn says
This is for four servings…each serving is a full blue.
Alicia says
The cook time lists 15 minutes but then in the instructions it states to back for an hour. How long do you actually bake the stuffed peppers for?
Nancylynn says
I apologize Alicia, I recently updated my recipe card and the cook time was incorrect at the top. Like the directions say, this needs to bake for an hour, plus another 5-10 minutes uncovered. Thanks for letting me know.
Katie says
OMG! Had these last night for supper. Added an additional tbsp. of dried Italian spices to the mixture (which I actually used ground turkey for instead!) PHENOMENAL. Both my parents loved it!
Nancylynn says
Yay, Katie!! That’s AWESOME!!
Allison says
I only eat three greens a day. I hate to burn two greens on one meal. Thoughts? I love veggies and have them with every meal and some snacks.
Nancylynn says
Maybe just don’t use the zucchini inside?
Sarah says
Just curious, did you own the tomato sauce giants your PURPLE? Or did you wrap that into the GREEN?
Sarah says
So sorry fo the typos… AHHH!
Did you count the tomato sauce against your PURPLE or just wrap it into the GREEN?
Nancylynn says
Green 🙂
Liz says
What do you usually serve on the side with this?
Nancylynn says
A side salad or nothing, actually 🙂
Angela says
Can you prep these ahead of time without them going bad or soft?
Nancylynn says
yes!
Megan Pantano says
Hi. Just curious. What’s the calorie count?
Nancylynn says
I don’t count calories, but you can use my fitness pal to get a pretty accurate calorie count for any recipe!
Cara says
These were amazing! My boyfriend was super hesitant when I mentioned we were having stuffed peppers for dinner tonight. He was shocked at how much he enjoyed them! Our 15 month old son couldn’t get enough either! Sharing with my group tonight!
Nancylynn says
That’s so awesome to hear, Cara!! Great job getting those boys to eat healthy!! 🙂
Brandy Manuel says
This is the 3rd time I’ve made these, we love them!!!! Quick question; do you think they’ll keep for tomorrow if I bake them tonight? Thank you!
Nancylynn says
Yes!! They are great leftover!! <3 <3 <3
Nicole Galardi says
Hello! I know i’m kind of late for this but, is it okay if I use a red pepper?
Nancylynn says
totally!
Amy says
I’m a few years behind you but pledged under Doolin, Odell, Missi, etc. I’ve done the fix before to lose baby weight and Doolin let me know about your website!
Nancylynn says
Awesome, Amy!! Love my girl, Doolin!! xoxo
Amy says
When you say serving size 1 Pepper, do you mean 1/2 pepper prepared or 2 halves which equals 1 whole pepper.
Nancylynn says
One WHOLE pepper!!
Amy says
Thanks!! Meant to sign that ❤ in Clio!
Nancylynn says
A fellow Clio!! Why am I not recognizing your name? 🙂
Kate England says
Starting my 21 day fix on Monday and prepping my menu. I’m a bit confused – you say to fill the peppers upright. I’m assuming that means the outside of the pepper towards the pan and the meat/ribs part upward. You say the serving size is a whole pepper…does that mean 4 of what you have pictured? It seems like your picture is the peppers cut into 1/4s…can you tell I’m new to stuffed peppers? Thanks for this great blog! I’ve gotten all of my dinners from your recipes.
Nancylynn says
Hi Kate – sorry the picture is confusing! I cut them that way because, well, they just looked more appealing :). The serving is a whole pepper!! Let me know if this helps!!