Delicious Stuffed Peppers without Rice

Name: 🫑 Delicious Stuffed Peppers without Rice
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 4 cups beef broth; 2/3 cup acini di pepe (or another small pasta, like orzo); 2 1/2 teaspoons salt (divided); 4 bell peppers (any colors); cooking spray; 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil; 1/2 large yellow onion (chopped); 1 pound lean ground beef; 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder; 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 15 oz crushed tomatoes; 1 cup shredded parmesan cheese (divided); fresh herbs (optional, i.e. rosemary, oregano, chives, tarragon, parsley, thyme)

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This easy, stuffed peppers recipe is the ultimate, classic comfort food. But here’s the twist – these are stuffed peppers without rice! These colorful peppers are stuffed with tiny pasta, along with all the other good stuff: juicy ground beef, melty cheese, tomato sauce, and vibrant seasonings. Stuffed sweet peppers have quickly become a family favorite and we think you’ll love them too!

blue dish with four stuffed bell peppers covered in cheese and herbs

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If you love cooking with ground beef, be sure to also check out our beef teriyaki bowl and sloppy joes, two of our most popular recipes with the kiddos!

Why We Love these Stuffed Peppers

✔️ Faster but just as Juicy! On average, most stuffed pepper recipes take about an hour to make. Ours takes only 25 minutes. And even though we don’t bake the peppers, our boiling/broiling technique yields the same tender, bubbly, stuffed pepper yumminess!

✔️ Pasta is Better than Rice – Pasta cooks faster and imparts a softer, juicier texture. Plus, we cook our pasta in beef broth instead of water, adding way more flavor to the stuffing.

✔️ Kid Appeal – This recipe is a hit with our kids! In our experience, they dig the tiny pasta so much. And kids love being encouraged to eat a food that doubles as a bowl. I mean, who wouldn’t?!

🛒 Ingredients & Substitutions

ingredients to make beefy stuffed peppers

Key notes on ingredients are provided below. Please see the recipe card for a full list of ingredients and quantities.

Ingredient Notes

Bell peppers – any color works! Just make sure they’re roughly the same size.
Beef broth– our fave is Better than Bouillon.
Acini di pepe pasta – whatever pasta you use, it needs to be tiny. Orzo is another good option.
Ground beef – lean ground beef is best for this recipe.
Seasonings – we use salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. But the options are endless, really.
Cheese – we like parmesan but you can pick your fave!
Optional fresh herbs – rosemary is best. Oregano, chives and tarragon all work too.

four cooked stuffed bell peppers in blue casserole dish

🔁 Substitutions

The ingredients in this stuffed sweet peppers recipe are super customizable. There are loads of swaps. And don’t be afraid to adjust amounts. Increase the sauce to make saucier or increase the cheese to make cheesier! Taste test to see if you need more or less salt. Use what you already have at home. Here are some substitutions:

Beef broth – sub 🔁 water, vegetable broth, or any other broth
Acini di pepe – sub 🔁 orzo pasta, couscous, Israeli/pearl couscous, rice, cauliflower rice, barley, or quinoa
Ground beef – sub 🔁 ground turkey, chicken, chorizo, or Italian sausage
Italian seasoning is just a combination of rosemary, thyme, oregano, basil, and marjoram (and less often parsley, sage, garlic powder, and onion powder). If you don’t have Italian seasoning, use any of those. Other spice options are paprika and red chili flakes.
Crushed tomatoes – sub 🔁 tomato sauce, marinara/pasta sauce, diced/crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, or fresh tomatoes
Parmesan cheese – sub 🔁 cheddar, pepper jack, colby jack, monterey jack, mozzarella, or cream cheese

bell peppers red, green, orange and yellow

🌱 Dietary Variations

To Make it Vegetarian…replace the beef with pea protein crumbles. I’m a huge fan of Beyond Meat Beefy Crumbles, which also happen to be high in protein and gluten-free. Swap out beef broth for a veggie broth. Better than Bouillon makes several different kinds of broth, and it’s my fave. We have some other awesome vegetarian recipes too! Or just throw any veggies you like into the stuffing and increase the pasta.

This recipe can easily be Gluten Free if you make 2 simple alterations. (1) Make sure the broth you’re using doesn’t contain traces of gluten. We recommend Vogue Cuisine’s bases. Check out our other gluten free recipes. (2) Replace the pasta with rice. Minute rice would be the fastest to cook. You could even buy pre-cooked rice. OR (instead of swapping in rice), just increase the other ingredients in the filling and add extra veggies.

👩🏽‍🍳 How to Make Stuffed Peppers without Rice

Step 1 – PASTA! Cook pasta in beef broth, following package directions. Strain and set aside.

tongs pulling red bell pepper out of pot boiling water

Step 2 – PEPPERS! Cut tops off peppers and de-seed. Boil peppers for 5-6 minutes. Remove and place in casserole dish.

Step 3 – FILLING! Cook onion and beef with seasonings. When beef is fully cooked, add in tomatoes, cheese and pasta.

four bell peppers stuffed and topped with cheese in baking dish

Step 4 – STUFF & BROIL! Stuff peppers with the filling and top with cheese. Broil for 2-3 minutes.

stuffed bell peppers after being broiled

Kids Steps

For the pasta, kids can easily measure and pour the broth into the pot. A measuring tool like Pyrex makes it easy.
To prep the peppers, kids cut tops off peppers using this awesome Opinel kids knife. Then use their hands to pull out the seeds, holding the peppers upside down and tapping the pepper butt (lol) to shake out the loose seeds.
To help with cooking the peppers, use long tongs to carefully lower peppers into boiling water. Kids can be in charge of turning them as they cook [this may be a task for older kiddos].
For the filling, kids can mash up the meat in the pan, using a potato masher. As you add ingredients to the pan to make the filling, give your kiddo a sturdy stirring device – like Thermoworks’ silicone spatula – and let them take charge of stirring!
Set a timer (check out these adorable animal shaped kitchen timers!) for the broiling time. If your kiddo wants to help take the dish out of the oven, these kid-sized Alselo oven mitts are perfect.

Note: these tasks require adult supervision and/or assistance (especially for toddlers), as items may be sharp, hot, or otherwise dangerous.

✔️ Expert Tips and Tricks

Tools to use!

Fine mesh strainer to drain the pasta because it’s small and might pour through the holes in a regular strainer
Long tongs to reach the boiling peppers in the pot so the boiling water doesn’t splatter on your hands
Potato masher to break up the beef while cooking
A sturdy stirring device, like Thermoworks’ silicone spatula
FOR KIDS – safe kitchen knife, fun kitchen timer and small oven mitts

Time-saving tips- Put lids on your pots to get the pasta broth and pepper water to a boil faster. Use pre-cooked rice instead of pasta. Swap fresh onion with onion powder (then, no chopping required).

Save the pepper tops– You can chop them up and refrigerate, so you have a ready ingredient for another meal. OR slice them into small strips for a snack.

If your peppers are a little wobbly in the casserole dish, cut bottoms flatter so they’re not so tippy.

For healthier stuffed peppers, use leaner beef (or ground turkey) and be sure to drain the meat once cooked. You can also add more veggies to the stuffing.

Watch the broiler! 🔥🔥🔥 Put your dish on middle rack (not top!) and keep an eye on it. A couple minutes is all you need. The first time I made this I burnt the heck out of my peppers. Also, make sure to turn on the broiler after your peppers have boiled, so the oven has time to heat up.

4 bell peppers in blue dish stuffed with meat and cheese

🥗 Stuffed Peppers Sides

If you’re wondering what to serve with stuffed peppers, the answer is: almost anything. I think the best stuffed peppers sides are more starchy, like any bread (especially garlic bread and cornbread), baked potatoes, or sweet potato fries. Because these are stuffed peppers without rice, you could have rice as a side instead! Or double down on veggies and have green beans or our Roasted Asparagus with Parmesan & Lemon as a side. And you can never go wrong with a salad, like a simple side salad or pasta salad.

Tips for Picky Eaters

Set aside some plain pasta! No matter what I make and how much they like it, my kids always want some plain pasta too.
Customize veggies! Our peppers’ stuffing includes onion and tomatoes, but you can add or swap any other veggie of choice! Corn, mushrooms, and peas would be delicious.
Eat the stuffing by itself!
Don’t cook all your peppers! Some kids may prefer raw peppers over cooked. You can save the pepper tops and cut some slices off, or cut up a separate pepper for the kids to eat on the side.

boy in striped shirt smiling and holding red bell pepper

❓FAQ

Do you have to pre-cook stuffed peppers?

No, you don’t have to pre-cook stuffed peppers. BUT if the peppers go into the oven raw, the cook time needs to be 45 minutes to 1 hour (20 mins at the very least to soften the peppers). We recommend boiling the peppers for 5-6 minutes in water prior to hitting the oven.

Can you make stuffed peppers ahead of time?

Yes! You can cook the whole dish fully, and then refrigerate (covered in plastic wrap) for up to a couple days. Then, when you’re ready to eat, reheat by either microwaving or baking briefly at a low temperature.

How do you store stuffed peppers?

You can keep leftovers in the fridge for max of 5 days. If you’d like to freeze the peppers, I would wrap each pepper up individually with plastic wrap, foil and/or ziploc bags (whatever creates the best seal). Freeze for a couple months.

Craft For This Recipe

Four colorful flowers made from bell pepper stamps

Pepper Stamp Art

Cooking with bell peppers tonight? Hold on to the tops of your peppers and let kids get creative with our Peppers Art Craft!

Get The Craft

Delicious Stuffed Peppers without Rice

Why We Love these Stuffed Peppers