Meat Stuffed Peppers without Rice

These stuffed peppers without rice are made using a mixture of ground meat, vegetables and simple herbs.  The filling is moist, rich and delicious despite containing a very moderate amount of cheese. Easy to make and ready in under an hour.

See also rice-free cabbage rolls!

These stuffed peppers without rice make a delicious low-carb meal that’s packed with nutritious ingredients.  In this recipe vegetables take the place of traditional rice adding lots of flavour and colour. This dish is easy enough to enjoy as an everyday meal, but it’s also perfect for a special occasion.

Ingredients and substitutions

• Bell peppers: I used the red variety for its sweetness, but you can use any.
• Meat: see section below.
• Spinach: fresh baby spinach or regular spinach.
• Mushrooms: add depth of flavour.
• Onion: use either red, white, brown or yellow onion.
• Garlic.
• Herbs: Italian herbs, herbes de Provence or mixed herbs.
• Paprika.
• Passata: alternatively use a smaller amount of chopped canned tomatoes and more tomato puree.
• Tomato Puree.
• Balsamic vinegar.
• Olive oil.
• Parmesan: or similar.
• Sea salt and pepper.

What meat to use

My favourite meat is turkey, but you can use any ground meat – either pork, beef or chicken will work. These stuffed bell peppers with no rice rely heavily on meat and in my opinion using meat containing a small amount of fat (rather than being extremely lean) produces great flavour as well as texture.  

So whatever meat you choose make sure it has around 7% fat (anything less might make the filling a little dry).

How to prepare the peppers

Place each pepper - stem end down - on top of a cutting board and cut in half through the stem. Remove the seeds and cut out the thick part near the stem inside each half being careful not to cut right through the pepper.

Good to know

Stuffing the peppers with the stem still in place will help hold the filling inside.

Why do I need to pre-roast peppers in the oven

There are essentially 2 reasons for doing this step:

1. Peppers take up to 45 minutes to soften in the oven so precooking them will give you time to prepare the filling and shorten overall cooking time.
2. It allows you to collect the juices from the peppers after pre-roasting to make sure your finished dish does not have too much moisture. Adding the juices (which are full of flavour and shouldn’t be discarded) into the filling mixture later as it cooks will ensure your filling will have the right consistency.

Why do I need to precook the filling

This allows to remove some of the moisture from the mixture ensuring your rice-free stuffed peppers aren’t too watery.  Precooking the filling also means that the flavours can fully develop before stuffing the peppers so the finished dish has maximum flavour.

Top tip

Blanching (rather than roasting) the peppers will remove some of their flavour and I do not recommend it in this recipe.

How to make stuffed peppers without rice: step-by-step

1.Preheat the oven to 375 F/ 190 C/ 180 C fan/ gas mark 5. Line a large baking sheet with parchment and place the halved peppers cut side up on top. Lightly brush the edges of the peppers with a little oil and bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes.

2. Remove from the oven and pour the juices that will have collected inside each pepper into a bowl (do not discard them!). Leave the oven on.

3. In the meantime prepare the filling. In a medium sized pan heat up half the oil, add the mushrooms and cook over a fairly high heat for 5-6 minutes until all the moisture has evaporated and the mushrooms are starting to brown, stirring often. Transfer the mushrooms to a bowl.

4. Using the same pan heat up the remaining oil, add the onion and garlic and cook over a low/medium heat for 3 minutes until softened stirring often.

5. Add the meat, passata, tomato puree, balsamic vinegar, seasoning and herbs and stir until thoroughly combined.  Cook over a medium/high heat for a few minutes until the meat is fully cooked, stirring often.

6. Add the spinach and stir until it wilts.

7. Add the mushrooms, juices from the peppers and continue cooking over a high heat for a further 3-4 minutes or until the mixture thickens stirring often.

8. Remove from the heat, stir in 2 tablespoons of the parmesan cheese and adjust the seasoning as needed. Spoon the mixture into your pepper halves and sprinkle the remaining parmesan over each pepper.

9. Bake in the centre of the oven for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, garnish with fresh parsley and serve immediately.

Serving suggestions

These low-carb stuffed peppers with no rice are delicious served with crispy salad, coleslaw or steamed vegetables. You can easily turn them into a more satisfying healthy meal by serving alongside rice (red or brown work particularly well) or quinoa.

How to make this recipe using vegetarian meat substitute

You can make vegetarian stuffed peppers without rice by replacing the meat with vegetarian ground meat/mince substitute called mycoprotein (be sure also to use vegetarian parmesan). When using this product keep in mind the following:

• Because vegetarian mince/ground ‘meat’ doesn’t shrink in cooking like raw meat I recommend using a little less (370-400 g). You might also want to tweak the recipe a little (i.e. use more spices, tomato puree etc).   
• If your meat substitute contains salt use less (or omit altogether) in the recipe.
• You can use this product either fresh or frozen (cook from frozen).

An alternative way of making this recipe

There is another way of making these rice-free stuffed peppers if you want to serve larger portions.  Instead of cutting the peppers in half slice off the stem ends and remove the seeds.  Pre-roast the peppers as per Instructions then fill with the meat mixture, sprinkle the tops with a little parmesan and bake for 35 minutes.

One advantage of using this method is that the peppers will stay hot for longer.

On the other hand, getting rid of the stem end wastes some of the pepper.

Top tips

• I used large bell peppers, but if your peppers are smaller you may need to use 5.
• Use any ground meat (make sure it contains around 7% fat).
• Once you’ve combined all the filling ingredients (including the juices from the peppers) cook the mixture for a few minutes to remove excess moisture, though the filling should still be quite moist before stuffing the peppers (see the photos).
• These no-rice stuffed peppers are best served immediately.
• Refrigerate leftovers covered for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave.

How to freeze this recipe

Pre-roast the peppers and cook the filling as per Instructions. Spoon the filling into the peppers, place the peppers in a single layer in an airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months.  Defrost overnight in the fridge and roast for 25 minutes as per Instructions.

Related recipes

• Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers with Rice and Chickpeas
• Easy Turkey Stuffed Peppers with Rice
• Cauliflower Rice Stuffed Peppers with Feta
• Meat Stuffed Eggplant Recipe

Check out also these other easy meal ideas!

Keep in touch!

If you make these healthy stuffed peppers without rice I’d love to know what you thought. Let me know in the comments below, thanks😊

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