Stuffed Peppers with Ground Beef
These stuffed peppers with ground beef are flavorful and a delicious dinner option,
I love a recipe that uses ground beef. Some favorites are this Gluten-Free Small Batch Lasagna and you can sub in ground beef in this Easy Turkey Chili. There’s something comforting about an easy ground beef recipe.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- It’s easy to make
- There is no rice and instead it uses cauliflower rice so it’s lower in carbs
- It makes enough to serve a small group or you can make it and have leftovers for a few days.
- This recipe is gluten-free
Ingredients
Bell Peppers – You can use red or green bell peppers or a combo of both if desired
Ground Beef – Depending on what you prefer you can use a lean ground beef or some with a bit of fat in the 80/20 range. You will be draining the fat and I feel that the ground beef in the 80/20 range has a bit more flavor.
Olive Oil РUsed for saut̩ing the garlic and onion
Onion – You will need a small onion or shallot
Garlic – Two cloves of garlic will be needed and they will be minced
Diced Tomatoes – One can of diced tomatoes (if you can find the petite diced that’s even better).
Spinach – A handful of raw spinach is needed
Thyme – Dried thyme adds flavor
Garlic Powder – For flavor
Cauliflower Rice – Used to bulk up the filling but also keeps the recipe a bit lower in carbs.
Salt – You can use regular fine sea salt
Black Pepper – Fresh ground black pepper is the best
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese – This is optional but used for topping the peppers once they are stuffed
Water – A bit of water is used to help cook the stuffed peppers and it also adds some moisture to the beef mixture.
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Instructions
- Wash then gently remove the tops of the pepper stems and clean out the inside of the peppers by removing any seeds and membranes. Then set the peppers into a 13 x 9 baking ban.
- In a large skillet, sauté the ground beef until no longer pink then drain the fat. Remove the ground beef to a bowl.
- Add 1 tbsp to the frying pan you used to fry the ground beef. Add the onion and sauté for one minute then add the minced garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Return the ground beef to the frying pan and add the diced tomatoes, cauliflower rice, thyme, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- If the mixture seems dry add up to 1/2 cup of water, then add the spinach to the mixture and cook until the spinach is wilted down.
- Taste the filling and adjust for flavor adding more salt if needed.
- Gently scoop the filling into each pepper and fill to the top.
- Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese (if using) over the top of each pepper.
- Add 1/2 cup of water to the bottom of the baking pan and cover the peppers loosely with aluminum foil.
- Bake for approximately 30 minutes or until the peppers are fork tender but not mushy, they should still have some firmness to them.
- Remove the aluminum foil and bake another 5 minutes or so to lightly brown the tops of the peppers if desired.
- To serve, remove each pepper from the liquid at the bottom of the baking pan and place onto a plate. You can discard any liquid at the bottom of the roasting pan.
Recipe Tips
- You can use any color bell pepper
- Rice can be used in place of the cauliflower rice just make sure it’s already cooked before adding it to the mixture.
- Peppers are ready when you insert a fork or knife at the base of the pepper and it goes through but with a little resistance. You don’t want it mushy.
Storage
Store peppers covered in the refrigerator for up to three days.
Stuffed Peppers with Ground Beef
Materials
- 4-5 Bell Peppers If they are large peppers you may only need 4 of them approximately 2 lbs.
- 1 lb Ground Beef Use an 80/20 ground beef if possible
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Yellow Onion, small, diced or can sub in a shallot
- 2 Garlic cloves, minced
- 1 14 1/2 oz can Diced Tomatoes
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Dried Thyme
- 8 oz Cauliflower Rice use frozen
- 1 cup Baby Spinach Leaves use one heaping cup full
- 1 cup Water divided
- 1 cup Mozzarella, shredded
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.
- Wash then trim the tops off of each pepper and discard any seeds and trim any white membranes. Place the peppers onto 13 x 9 baking pan.
- In a large skillet brown the ground beef until no longer pink. Drain the fat and remove the ground beef to a bowl and set it aside.
- Add the olive oil to the same skillet you used for frying the ground beef, once warmed add the onion and sauté for 1 minute, then add the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
- Add the ground beef back into the pan along with the diced tomatoes, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and dried thyme. Mix until combined.
- Add in the riced cauliflower breaking it up if it's in frozen pieces. Simmer for ten minutes, if it seems dry add up to 1/2 cup of water. You want the mixture moist but not super runny.
- Add in the spinach and stir everything to combine, letting the spinach wilt.
- Stuff each pepper until almost full. Then top them with the mozzarella cheese.
- Add 1/2 cup of water to the bottom of the baking pan.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes or until peppers are tender. You want the peppers to be somewhat soft but still hold their shape.
- Remove the aluminum foil and bake a few more minutes to get the mozzarella cheese a bit brown if desired.
- Remove the peppers from the baking pan discarding any liquid at the bottom.
- Place the peppers onto individual bowls or plates to serve.
Notes
Nutrition
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