STUFFED BELL PEPPERS
Making stuffed bell peppers is one of my favorite ways to get creative in the kitchen because 1. it makes it so easy to incorporate veggies into your meal and 2. it's fairly simple which pushes those who aren't as experienced in the kitchen/don't have a lot of time to take that small step towards a more complex meal.
Stuffed bell peppers are also one of those meals that can really be made with ANYTHING...and I mean anything, as long as you have at least 1 bell pepper in your fridge and some cheese (although you don't technically need the cheese...it just makes it taste that much more delicious) 😋
INGREDIENT LIST
Bell pepper of choice (can be any color)
You can also substitute any other pepper as well! Bell peppers just tend to be easier to use because they are bigger and can usually stand on their own. But hey, I say get creative and use whatever pepper you like!
DISCLAIMER: any ingredient listed below "bell pepper" is just a suggestion and open to interpretation!
Grain of choice
AGAIN, this is purely up to you. I used jasmine rice in this picture but you can really use any grain or no grain at all. (just make sure it's pre-cooked BEFORE stuffing the bell pepper...otherwise you may be in for a crunchy surprise).
Some grain suggestions: brown rice, jasmine rice, farro, quinoa
Other vegetables
I happened to have some mushrooms left over in my fridge that I used for this particular stuffed bell pepper. HOWEVER, you could totally go bonkers and use other veggies to stuff into the bell pepper as well.
Cheese
In this particular recipe I utilized both parmesan and mozzarella.
As with the other ingredients, you can use any cheese of your choosing or that is in your fridge!
Protein
I utilized steak simply because we had some leftover in our refrigerator from the night before. But, so many different proteins would taste great in this recipe.
Protein suggestions: steak, chicken, turkey, beans, tofu...the options are endless!
RECIPE
Yields: 1 stuffed bell pepper, serves 1-2 people depending on size of bell pepper and level of hunger !
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Cut off top of bell pepper + remove seeds and membrane
3. Place bell pepper in pyrex dish
4. Cook grain of choice according to its packaging
5. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium-low heat and sauté ~3oz of protein of choice until adequately cooked through
6. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium-low heat and sauté vegetables of choice until they are cooked to your liking
7. Combine protein, vegetables and 1/2 cup of the cooked grain into a bowl. Mix well.
8. If desired, stir in ~1/4 cup of parmesan cheese (any type, grated, shredded etc...) with protein, vegetables + grain mixture.
9. Stuff mixture into bell pepper
There may be filling left over - feel free to eat it while waiting for the stuffed pepper to cook!
10. Sprinkle ~1/2 cup of shredded cheese of choice on top of stuffed bell pepper
11. Drizzle top of stuffed bell pepper with olive oil + pour small amount of water into bottom of pyrex dish
12. Cover dish with tinfoil and bake for ~30 minutes
13. Remove tinfoil. Turn oven to broil (500 degrees F). Broil for ~10 minutes or until cheese is melted and brown and the bell pepper is cooked through.
14. Remove from oven, let it cool for a few minutes and enjoy!
Like I mentioned above, I love this recipe so much because it can incorporate any random ingredients you have in the fridge! Including leftovers, veggies that are about to go bad, leftover rice you haven't finished yet etc. etc. etc...
If you are interested in seeing a short video presentation of this recipe, check out my TikTok page @edgehealthsolutions !
Happy eating!
✨April✨
Medical Disclaimer: The contents of this site are opinions of April Vetrano MS, RDN unless otherwise stated. The information on this site, products, and content presented are not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any type of disease and are not intended as personalized medical advice. Any decision you make regarding your health and medical treatments should be made with a qualified health provider.