Filled with delicious cheesy goodness and some extra, secret hidden veggies, these 21 Day Fix Italian Stuffed Peppers are a family favorite!
Confession #85 – Every time I make my Lasagna Roll Ups, I quickly whip up a tray of these, too. And my week gets infinitely better.
Seriously.
How could you be in a bad mood with so much ooey, gooey cheesiness happening in one week? Especially since all this delicious comfort food is completely and 100% on plan.
Here’s what you are going to do.
You are going to save your whole blue for these peppers because it’s freaking worth it. Oh – and instead of using rice, you will add zucchini to the filling to make this a solid two GREEN dinner…therefore saving your YELLOWS for some wine. And my coconut macaroons, of course.
And you will laugh. Because when you started the FIX, you were nervous you would be eating salads day in and day out.
Silly, silly you.
Are you on board? Because this could be the greatest week in 21 Day Fix history!
Oh – and if you want to make these bad boys even yummier, use some extra ricotta cheese from that lasagna I talked about and BOOM. You have Instant Lasagna Stuffed Peppers.
And if you have some cauliflower rice in the fridge or freezer, feel free to throw that in or sub if for the zucchini. Either way you have extra veggie power and nobody’s gonna know.
That’s right. I got you.
Looking for more stuffed pepper deliciousness? 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
- 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 an hour or refrigerate/freeze until you are ready to bake.
- After an hour, uncover peppers and top with the remaining cheese. Bake an additional 5 -10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Garnish with fresh basil and enjoy.
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!!