Old fashioned stuffed bell peppers were a staple in our family when I was a kid and they find the way onto my family’s table now. They are an inexpensive comfort food that can be made in the oven, crockpot, or top of stove. There are a lot of variations but here is how I like them.
Stuffed peppers were a year ’round meal in our house. My parents had both reached their teen years during the Great Depression (ever wonder what was so great about it?) and both being from small farms in the extremely fertile “thumb” of Michigan they were both avid gardeners. I honestly think this was the only thing that they had in common.
Farm families had it quite a bit better than those in the cities because the were used to producing their own food. They didn’t eat much meat and when they did it was stretched by the addition of lots and lots of starches and vegetables. So, stuffed peppers became something my mom remembered from her childhood and she passed that down to me. I, of course, have passed that on to my kids.
In the summer the big, sun warmed green peppers would be picked and brought in from the garden, The would get a quick rinse – mom and dad were both organic gardeners well before it was popular – and then a whole pepper would be cleaned and filled with a rice, onion, tomato, and meat mixture. In the winter? It would be the peppers from the grocers or garden peppers from the freezer, all ready stuffed and ready to be warmed up.
Needless to say, the house would fill with the spicy, garden-y, summer aroma of peppers and tomatoes and pure yum. There was no way I would ever be late for dinner on those days.
The ratio of meat to rice would be quite low because, to my mom, this was food meant to take a half a pound of meat and make it feed an entire family. Although my dad did very well financially she never lost that mindset that half a pound of ground beef could feed eight people if you added enough rice and stuffed the mixture into a vegetable.
Stuffed peppers can be made and frozen, they can be made in a crockpot, they can be baked, or they can be simmered tightly covered in a pan. You can add as little or as much meat as you have the budget for. You can use ground lamb, ground pork, ground beef, or a mixture of all of them. You can use walnuts in place of the meat to make it vegetarian. When you think of this dish think of the word, flexible.
Menu Idea
Since Stuffed Bell Peppers has meat, starch, and vegetable in it the menu used to be a headache for me. If your family isn’t very hungry all you need are the peppers and maybe a whole grain baguette. If you need a little more add sliced cucumber salad and some apples sauteed in butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Perfect!
My mom used to make it with a can of tomato soup. I prefer to use diced organic tomatoes in the rice and meat mixture. It is just lighter, more flavorful, and more natural than what mom used. If you want to use tomato soup in it read the notes at the bottom of the recipe.
I’ve made a few other changes just to update this comfort food from my childhood.
Stuffed Bell Peppers Recipe
Old Fashioned Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 8 bell peppers, , cleaned and seeds removed
- 1 1/2 lb ground beef
- 2 cups cooked rice
- 1/4 cup finely minced onion
- 2 tablespoons minced jalapeno, , optional
- 1 cup diced tomatoes in juice, ,
- 1/2 cup V-8 juice
- 1 tbs fresh mint or basil, , chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Pepper to taste
- about 1 teaspoon fresh grated lemon peel
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- Brown the ground beef in a skillet with the onion and jalapeno (if using)
- Drain well, blotting away excess fat
- Add cooked rice, beef mixture, tomatoes, mint,lemon peel, salt and pepper to a bowl
- If you want the filling to be more compact you can add a beaten egg to the rice mixture before stuffing peppers
- Mix well
- You can stuff the peppers one of two ways, either cut them in half vertically and stuff each half or just cut the tops off and stuff the whole thing upright.
- Fill the cavity of the peppers with the rice mixture, don't pack it too tight
- Place the peppers upright in a baking pan, for halves place them with the filling mounded upwards
- Pour 1/2 cup V-8 juice around the peppers - it should come just a little way up the sides but not cover the halves
- Cover pan with foil
- Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, remove the foil for the last 10 minutes
- Let cool slightly before serving
For Crockpot
- Use the whole peppers stuffed. Place in the crockpot upright and pour 1/4 cup of V-8 in the crockpot. Cook on low for 6 hours.
For Top of the Stove
- Use the halves. Place filled pepper halves in a large pan and add V-8 to cover the bottom of the pan by an inch. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes or until done, adding more juice as needed.
Notes
Nutrition
Let's Keep in Touch!
Finally I have found a recipe that comes close to what my mother used to make. Although you only have it listed for the crock pot recipe we’ve always cooked our stuffed peppers on the stove. After placing stuffed peppers in large soup pot(this also allows us to place the meatball mixture rolled into balls on top of the stuffed peppers for the family members who don’t like green peppers).Fill pot to cover all with tomato juice. Bring to a boil then cover and simmer 3-4 hours. Remove peppers and make gravy with the cooked juice.
I can remember my mum making stuffed peppers (capsicums) When I was a kid they were certainly very good to eat am looking forward to trying out your recipe.
Let me know what you think! I love them.
Hi Marye. Great recipe! I remember it well and looked up retro recipes because I got tired of seeing recipes with cheese on top. ICK!
So glad you liked it! 🙂
In the crockpot, I don’t think it is necessary to cook the rice ahead of time. But you will need to stuff the pepper less full to allow the rice to expand and absorb the moisture. I have prepared stuffed grape leaves on the stove top and the crockpot using a meat & uncooked rice (or pre-soaked bulger wheat) without pre-cooking. You just have to allow for the expansion of the rice as it cooks, not so much for the bulger wheat. Since your recipe calls for 2-cups cooked rice, I would adjust the amount of uncooked rice to 1-1/2 cups. My rule of thumb is 1 cup of rice for each pound of meat.
I have not had good results not cooking the rice. 🙂
I like just cutting up the peppers and putting them into the mix, rather then putting mix inside the peppers. I find my stomach likes it better that way and my husband seems to like it better that way. I used to do it the right way–with the mix inside of the peppers, but since we both would like less pepper and more mix it works out well.
🙂 I’ve done that, too. 😉
Great idea. Never thought of doing this even though my hubby won’t eat the pepper part of the stuffed peppers. If I chop them up and add to meat maybe I get some vegetables into him. Thanks for the idea.
🙂 sure! Thanks for reading.
so excited to use this recipe. seems a lot easier than the one my dad uses. we also sprinkle a lot of parmesan cheese on top and broil it at the end so it gets a nice cheesy crust.
Thanks for stopping by! The parm sounds like a great idea!
Marye, I have looked for years for this recipe. I have fond memories of my grandma making this dish. Like your family, my grandparents lived in the country and raised their own vegetables. My mother was born (in 1934) during the Great Depression. Growing up, I always heard stories of the hardships they faced. Now I can make a recipe favorite of their time, and relive some delightful childhood memories. Thanks for posting this recipe.
that made my day! Thanks for commenting.
I find cooking stuff peppers without parboiled green peppers they r hard not soft what can I do so they aren’t hard
Add a little water (maybe 1/2 cup) to the bottom of the pan and then cover with aluminum foil before baking. They steam that way. 🙂