Italian Stuffed Peppers – NO RICE!

These Italian stuffed peppers have all your favorite flavors of lasagna but without the pasta! Layers of meaty marinara sauce, creamy pesto cheese, and shredded mozzarella are nestled inside a tender bell pepper and cooked until hot and bubbly. In under an hour you can have these delicious stuffed peppers on the dinner table!

 

This post was sponsored by Lifeway Foods. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own!

You Will Love This

• These stuffed peppers are perfect for a quick and easy weeknight dinner. The best part is that they can be prepped well in advance so they’re ready to go whenever you need dinner on the table!
• This recipe doesn’t include rice. I don’t have anything against rice but these stuffed peppers just don’t need it. They are hearty and filling all on their own!
• If you loved this recipe, be sure to check out my cheesy skillet lasagna with ground beef, easy one-pot lasagna soup, and vegetarian stuffed peppers.

Ingredients and Substitutions

• Onion & Garlic – The onion and garlic combo is the flavor base for the meat sauce in this recipe. You could sub the fresh garlic with 3/4 of a teaspoon of garlic powder.
• Italian Seasoning – If you don’t have Italian seasoning on hand, feel free to add whatever dried herbs you’ve got in your pantry. I usually substitute dried thyme, dried rosemary, and dried sage. If you like it spicy, add a couple pinches of red pepper flakes when you add the Italian seasoning.
• Ground Beef – I prefer 80/20 or 85/15 ground beef for the best flavor. Remember fat equals flavor so you don’t want to use a ground beef that’s super lean. Italian sausage, ground turkey, or ground chicken would be a delicious sub for the ground beef. If you want to make vegetarian Italian stuffed peppers, try using cannellini beans, tofu crumbles, or orzo instead of the meat.
• Spaghetti Sauce – Use your family’s favorite store-bought spaghetti sauce for these stuffed peppers. We usually get Prego.
• Lifeway Farmer Cheese (or ricotta cheese) – I love the tang and texture of farmer cheese. It’s kind of like a mix of ricotta and cottage cheese so it adds a really hearty layer to these stuffed peppers. I like to combine it with pesto just to give it some depth of flavor. Feel free to use whole milk ricotta if you don’t have farmer cheese on hand.
• Basil Pesto – Use your favorite store-bought pesto for this recipe, or throw together my easy basil pesto – it literally takes 5 minutes at the most!
• Bell Peppers – Red peppers are my favorite because of their slight sweetness but I like to use a combo of red and green peppers for this dish because I like the variety of colors. You could use orange or yellow peppers as well. Try to find peppers that are the same size and are more round in shape so they’ll have a nice cavity for filling.
• Shredded Mozzarella – Whole milk mozzarella cheese is my favorite but part-skim mozzarella will work as well. I recommend shredding it yourself for the best flavor and melty texture. If you want these peppers to be super cheesy, stir a little shredded cheese into the farmer cheese and pesto mixture.
• Fresh Parsley – I love the addition of fresh herbs to any Italian dish. Julienne cut fresh basil leaves would be a great garnish on these stuffed peppers too.

Instructions

Slice peppers in half lengthwise and remove stems, ribs (also called membranes) and seeds. Drizzle with olive and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 5 minutes.

Saute onion in a large skillet, then add garlic and dried herbs and cook.

Add ground beef to the pan and brown until cooked through, crumbling it with a spatula as it cooks. Add spaghetti sauce.

Stir and season to taste with Kosher salt and black pepper.

Add farmer cheese (or ricotta) and pesto to a small bowl.

Mix until well combined.

Spoon meat sauce into the cavities of each pepper.

Top meat sauce with pesto cheese mixture.

Sprinkle mozzarella on top.

Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the filling is warmed through and the peppers are tender-crisp. Let sit for about 5 minutes.

Garnish with grated Parmesan cheese and parsley and enjoy!

Tips

• Salt moderately throughout the cooking process! Season to taste frequently while your making these peppers. It will do a lot to boost the overall flavor of this stuffed pepper recipe since it contains such simple ingredients.
• You may not use all the filling depending on what size your peppers are. If they’re smaller peppers, you may have some filling leftover. You can either pile it on the peppers or serve it with some leftover pasta for another simple meal.

What is farmer cheese?

• Lifeway Farmer Cheese is a cultured soft cheese that has a tangy flavor which makes it perfect for delicious baked rigatoni, skillet lasagna, or caprese pizza recipe!
• It’s mild flavor lends itself well to being paired with all types of ingredients from savory, to spicy, to sweet!
• The texture of farmer cheese is kind of like a cross between ricotta cheese and cottage cheese so you can substitute it for either in any of your favorite dishes.

FAQ

Make-Ahead, Storage, Freezing, and Reheating

• Make-Ahead: These Italian stuffed peppers are the perfect make ahead meal! You can prep the peppers up to 3 days in advance and store them tightly covered in the fridge. About an hour before baking, let the peppers sit out on the counter for an hour to come to room temp. Then bake according to recipe instructions. You can also prep the individual components ahead of time and then assemble just before baking.
• Storage: Store leftover peppers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week.
• Freezing: These Italian stuffed peppers can be frozen for up to 2 months. Wrap them well with tin foil or saran wrap and then place them inside a large freezer-safe Ziploc bag to protect them from freezer burn. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then let sit out on the counter for 1 hour, and then bake according to recipe instructions. You may have to add 15-20 minutes to the cooking time to make sure everything is warmed through.
• Reheating: Reheat the stuffed peppers in a 350 degree oven until the filling is warmed through and the cheese is melted. Or zap them in the microwave in 30-60 second increments until warm.

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