These colorful Italian Stuffed Peppers make a great family lunch or dinner. They’re healthy, easy, and quick to make. The bell peppers are stuffed with brown rice and ground turkey, Italian seasoning, melty mozzarella, and parmesan cheese.
This recipe takes stuffed peppers to a whole new level! Imagine cutting through the bell pepper for the most flavorful stuffing oozing with cheese!
Growing up, I hated cooked bell peppers. My Mom made them all the time, and I always ended up eating peanut butter and jam sandwiches on the days she cooked stuffed peppers. Now that I’m older (and wiser!), I finally started appreciating the flavors of healthy home-cooked dinner such as these Italian stuffed peppers.
This recipe is just like my Mom always made (I had to ring her and ask her for the recipe 😁). The only difference is that I chose to cut the bell peppers lengthwise, while she only cut off the tops and stuffed the whole bell peppers instead of using halves as I did here.
If you love stuffed bell peppers, then you MUST check out my Mexican stuffed peppers recipe as well, honestly, it’s AMAZING and I’m sure that you will LOVE it.
Make the Stuffing
The stuffing is quite easy to make. I used ground turkey, but you can use Italian sausage, chicken, beef, or pork. Or you can even keep this dish vegetarian and leave out the parmesan cheese and the protein (you can add beans instead).
- Cook the rice until it’s fully cooked and set aside.
- Prepare the bell peppers by slicing them in halves, then remove the seeds and the membrane. Brush them with a little bit of olive oil inside out, and roast them until they’re just undercooked.
- In a non-stick pan, saute the diced onion until soft and translucent. Then add the ground turkey, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Brown the ground turkey as you break it down with a wooden spoon, add a can of diced tomatoes, and cook everything together.
- Add in cooked rice, grated mozzarella, and parmesan and mix on medium heat until everything is melted. Season with salt and pepper.
Video Tutorial
I also created a short video to show you how I made these stuffed peppers, so make sure to give it a watch!
How to Make Stuffed Peppers
- Take the bell peppers out of the oven. They should be roasted but just undercooked.
- Spoon the stuffing into each bell pepper half, then top with more mozzarella cheese.
- Put back in the oven for 10 minutes. This will allow the flavors to settle, the bell peppers will be fully cooked, and the cheese will melt and brown a little.
Garnish with chopped basil, or parsley and enjoy!
What Color of Bell Pepper to Use?
You can use any color of bell peppers that you like. Keep in mind that red peppers are the sweetest, yellow and orange peppers are mild, and green peppers are a bit bitter.
I like to use a variety of colors, but avoid green bell peppers since they’re bitter. But if green peppers are your thing, then go for it! My Mom loves them and cooks them all the time, so it’s just me and my personal preference.
What Can I Substitute Ground Turkey With?
I used ground turkey breast in this recipe, but you can use ground chicken, beef, or pork. Italian sausage also works great here!
Can I Use a Different Type of Cheese in This Recipe?
The reason why I use mozzarella cheese is that it melts easily, and it’s creamy. If you don’t want to use mozzarella then go for provolone, mild cheddar, Emmental, or young gouda.
Storing Tips
- Fridge: Store in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
- Freezer: Make sure that they’re completely cooled. Then place in a freezer-safe container, seal, label, and date. Use within 4 months of freezing.
- Reheat: You can reheat in the microwave. Or you can reheat in the oven at 360°F/180°C, in an oven-safe dish covered with foil until completely heated. If reheating frozen cooked stuffed bell peppers, reheat at 360°F/180°C in an oven-safe dish covered with foil for 30 minutes or until completely heated.
What to Serve Italian Stuffed Peppers With?
- My favorite way to enjoy these peppers is with greek yogurt and crusty bread on the side.
- Over creamy mashed potatoes.
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me on Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest!
Italian Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 bell peppers
- 1 onion diced
- 1 pound ground turkey or ground chicken
- 2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt and pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 (14.5oz, 400g) can diced tomatoes
- 1 cup cooked brown rice
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese grated – ½ cup to go in the stuffing, and ½ cup to top the peppers at the end
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese grated
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil or parsley chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 360°F/180°C.
- Prepare the bell peppers by slicing them in halves, then remove the seeds and the membrane. Brush them with a little bit of olive oil inside out, and roast them in the oven until they're just undercooked.
- In a non-stick pan, saute the diced onion until soft and translucent. Then add the ground turkey, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
- Brown the ground turkey as you break it down with a wooden spoon, add a can of diced tomatoes, and cook everything together.
- Add in cooked rice, grated mozzarella, and parmesan and mix on medium heat until everything is melted. Season with salt and pepper.
- Take the bell peppers out of the oven. They should be roasted but just undercooked.
- Spoon the stuffing into each bell pepper half, then top with more mozzarella cheese.
- Put back in the oven for 10 minutes. This will allow the flavors to settle, the bell peppers will be fully cooked, and the cheese will melt.
Notes:
- The stuffing is enough for 3 large bell peppers or 6 small ones.
- Fridge: Store in the fridge for 3-4 days in an airtight container.
- Freezer: Make sure that they’re completely cooled. Then place in a freezer-safe container, seal, label, and date. Use within 4 months of freezing.
- You can reheat in the microwave. Or you can reheat in the oven at 360°F/180°C, in an oven-safe dish covered with foil until completely heated.
- If reheating frozen cooked stuffed bell peppers, reheat at 360°F/180°C in an oven-safe dish covered with foil for 30 minutes or until completely heated.
- I used ground turkey breast in this recipe, but you can use ground chicken, beef, or pork. Italian sausage also works great here! Or to keep it vegetarian, use beans for the protein.
- You can use any color of bell peppers that you like. Keep in mind that red peppers are the sweetest, yellow and orange peppers are mild, and green peppers are a bit bitter.
- You can substitute mozzarella cheese with provolone, mild cheddar, Emmental, or young gouda.
Video
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
© Little Sunny Kitchen
Alicia M says
Excellent. Easy and tasty!
SammyK says
Loved this recipe, and it is kid approved!! I added a can of rotel instead of diced tomatoes and used Asiago and Gouda cheese ! I also added a tablespoon of tomato sauce on top of the peppers!
Kaye says
This is a great recipe glad I found it everyone loved it and wanted the recipe
Cheri says
Made this tonight for dinner for my husband and I, followed the recipe as is, almost. I only had green peppers, but roasting them before sweetened them up some. It was excellent! My husband really enjoyed them, more than my recipe from my childhood which I have played with over the years. This is a keeper.
Teddi Bryson says
The best recipe ever. Wish we’d had these when I was growing up. We were made to eat the green and old fashion recipe. UghI
Diana says
Same is here! I really hated the green bell peppers and would never eat them. I’m glad you found this recipe and loved it!