Stuffed Bell Peppers
Stuffed peppers are a late-summer dish, when thick-walled bell peppers are at their sweetest and cheapest. We add the rice part-cooked and never pack the peppers tightly, so the filling stays tender rather than dense. The sauce is so good that bread on the table is non-negotiable.
- Prep
- 35 min
- Cook
- 1 h 10 min
- Rest
- 10 min
- Total
- 1 h 55 min
- Servings
- 4
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 640 kcal
Ingredients
For the peppers and filling
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What to use instead
For a lighter filling, use ground chicken; cook the same way but make sure the centre reaches 74 °C (165 °F).
For the sauce
Makes: 8 peppers, 4 servings
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Part-cook the rice
Rinse the rice, cover with 250 ml boiling water and cook for 7 minutes; the grains should still be firm. Drain and let cool.
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Step 2: Soften the vegetables
Finely chop the onion and coarsely grate the carrot. Cook in the oil over medium heat for 7 minutes until soft. Set half aside for the sauce.
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Step 3: Prep the peppers
Slice the tops off the peppers with the stems, then carefully pull out the seeds and white ribs. Rinse the insides with cold water.
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Step 4: Mix the filling
Combine the meat, rice, half the vegetables, the salt, pepper and dill. Mix by hand for 1–2 minutes until even.
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Step 5: Stuff the peppers
Fill the peppers without packing the filling down, leaving about 1 cm at the top, as the rice will swell. Stand them upright in a wide pot, snug against each other.
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Step 6: Make the sauce
Add the passata, hot water, sour cream, crushed garlic, bay leaves and salt to the reserved vegetables and stir until smooth. Pour over the peppers; the sauce should come about two-thirds of the way up.
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Step 7: Braise covered
Bring to a gentle simmer, cover and cook over low heat for 50 minutes. The peppers are ready when their skins have wrinkled and pierce easily, the rice is soft and a thermometer in the centre reads at least 71 °C (160 °F).
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Step 8: Let them settle
Leave the peppers covered for 10 minutes, then serve with the sauce and a sprinkle of dill.
Tips & variations
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Tip
Choose peppers with flat bottoms so they stand up in the pot. If one wobbles, shave a thin slice off the base without cutting through.
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Variation
Bake them instead: stand the peppers in a baking dish, pour over the sauce, cover with foil and bake at 180 °C (350 °F) for 60 minutes.
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Swap
For a lighter filling, use ground chicken; cook the same way but make sure the centre reaches 74 °C (165 °F).
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Storage
Keeps in the fridge for up to 3 days. Raw stuffed peppers freeze for up to 3 months; cook from frozen, adding 20 minutes.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 4 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 640 kcal | 2,560 kcal |
| Protein | 28 g | 112 g |
| Fat | 38 g | 152 g |
| Carbohydrates | 45 g | 180 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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