Skip the tedious prep work and throw all of the raw ingredients into one dish! This Dump-and-Bake Stuffed Bell Peppers Casserole is a deconstructed version of the classic dinnertime favorite -- in about 10 minutes!
Whether we're enjoying our neighbor's Amish Sausage Stuffed Green Peppers or my lighter Skinny Taco Stuffed Peppers, our family has always enjoyed hearty and satisfying stuffed bell peppers.
As the home cook, however, I don't love the prep work involved in making these dinners!
That's why I decided to take matters into my own hands and do what I do best: simplify!
I've used the flavors and ingredients from classic stuffed bell peppers and transformed them into a dump-and-bake casserole.
It's like the best of both worlds: a healthy, delicious meal that comes together in minutes! I don't have to spend time browning the meat, cooking the rice, or sautéing the vegetables first.
Now, before we get to the specifics, I thought that it would be helpful to answer a few of the questions that you might have. Here we go...
Can Stuffed Peppers be Made Ahead and Frozen?
Yes! Whether you're preparing a traditional stuffed peppers recipe or this deconstructed stuffed bell peppers casserole, you can assemble the dish in advance and keep it tightly wrapped in the freezer before baking.
How long do you bake stuffed peppers?
When preparing a traditional stuffed peppers recipe, you typically bake the dish at 400 degrees F for about 30 minutes (or until the peppers are tender). You do NOT need to bake the peppers before stuffing them.
For this particular casserole, we eliminate the prep work, but you'll need to add some baking time to the clock! The meat, rice, and vegetables all cook together in one dish at 375-degrees for about 50-55 minutes. By the end of the baking time, the meat will be perfectly done, the vegetables will be soft, and the rice will be tender!
Do stuffed peppers need to be covered?
Yes! I keep my traditional stuffed peppers covered in order to prevent them from drying out in the oven.
For the casserole, you'll want to make sure that you use a tight foil cover on the dish in order to keep all of the liquid and moisture in the pan. The rice absorbs the liquid as it bakes in the same way that rice absorbs the cooking liquid when you're preparing it on the stovetop.
Since the rice is baking in the oven along with the rest of the ingredients, it will soak up much of the liquid in the pan. The rice also releases starches as it cooks, which yields a thick, almost creamy texture to the final casserole. It reminds me a lot of risotto for that reason!
Additional Tips for the perfect Stuffed Bell Peppers Casserole:
- You can use extra lean ground beef, ground turkey breast, or ground chicken breast. I used ground turkey breast here, but any of those options will work! The key is to make sure that you're using extra lean meat (at least 93% lean), because the meat cooks in the dish. That means that you won't be able to drain the fat off of the pan (like you would with a skillet), so using the extra lean meat prevents a greasy casserole in the end.
- Use any color sweet bell peppers that you have on hand!
- Readers often wonder if they can substitute with other types of rice in these dump-and-bake casseroles. My answer is maybe. I have only tested this particular recipe using the long grain white rice, so if you try something else, do so at your own risk.???? Let me know how it goes, though! For instance, brown rice requires a much longer cooking time than white rice, so you would need to leave the casserole in the oven for much longer. By contrast, "instant rice" or pre-cooked rice would require much less time in the oven -- and you would also need to decrease the amount of liquid in the dish because the parboiled or pre-cooked rice will not absorb as much liquid as the uncooked white rice. Again, I'm not saying that these other rices will not work -- you just may need to experiment a little bit!
I hope that this easy and healthy twist on the classic stuffed bell peppers makes your time in the kitchen a little bit faster this summer!
Looking for even more dump-and-bake dinners? Here are a few favorites:
- Dump-and-Bake Summer Pasta
- Dump-and-Bake General Tso Chicken
- Dump-and-Bake Chicken Pesto Pasta
- Dump-and-Bake Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole
Dump-and-Bake Stuffed Bell Peppers Casserole
Ingredients
- ½ lb. extra-lean ground beef, ground turkey breast, or ground chicken breast (at least 93% lean)
- ½ cup uncooked long grain white rice
- ½ cup frozen diced onion (or about ½ of a small onion, diced)
- 1 medium sweet bell pepper (any color), diced
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, drained
- 2 cups beef broth
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- ½ cup grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray an 8- or 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray.
- In the bottom of the prepared dish, arrange uncooked beef, uncooked rice, onion, bell pepper, and diced tomatoes. Break up the meat into small pieces with your fingers as you spread it around so that it cooks evenly throughout. Use your hands to gently combine everything.
- In a separate large bowl, whisk together beef broth, tomato sauce, garlic, soy sauce, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Pour over the beef mixture.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
- Remove foil, stir everything, and cover with foil again. Return dish (covered) to the oven for an additional 15 minutes, or until meat, rice and vegetables are fully cooked and tender. If using a glass or ceramic baking dish, you may need to increase the baking time.
- Remove foil. Sprinkle top of casserole with shredded cheese. Place in the oven uncovered for about 3-5 more minutes, or just until the cheese melts.
Linda Flint
anyone made this with slicing the peppers in 1/2 and lining the casserole and spreading the rest of the mixture over the peppers? Want to make this more like a stuffed pepper dish.
Blair
Hi, Linda! If you want to try a similar recipe in the more traditional stuffed peppers dish, here's a recipe that we really like: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/stuffed-green-peppers/
Hope that helps!
Kristin
So good! It helped me use up some leftovers in the fridge. I only had Italian sausage and chicken broth, and they worked beautifully. I used one red and one yellow pepper since my family loves them.
Catharine
Yum ! Once again an amazing Dump n Bake recipe !
I cut 2 Lg red peppers into chunks to be a bit more filling .
Used Uncle Bens Original Conv 20 min LGR & 1 1/2c of broth
Cut out the Seasoning & used fresh herbs
After the 35 mins Broke up Beef & Stirred. Rice was almost done at this point! Left uncovered & baked the additional time to boil off the liquid
So Good
Ps As a time saver Use the jarred minced garlic It is delish & full of flavour & aroma
Blair
Thanks, Catharine! I'm so glad that you've found another winner. I agree -- the jarred minced garlic is a huge time saver. It's always in my fridge. 🙂
Alyce Jenkins
Has anyone tried this with quinoa instead of rice? And, what was the cooking time?
Blair
Hi, Alyce! I haven't tried it with quinoa, so I don't know exactly how it would work. The cooking time for quinoa is about the same as long-grain white rice, so I think it would translate well. I'm just not sure if quinoa absorbs as much liquid as the rice does.
Kat
Hi! My bell peppers are all the bagged frozen kind - how would you incorporate that?
Blair
Hi, Kat! I've never tried this with the frozen peppers, but in my recollection those peppers are just really soft. You should still be able to use them, though. I would use about 1 cup of the frozen peppers, and you shouldn't even need to thaw them first (unless they're in very large chunks). Hope you enjoy!
Kathi
I absolutely love this recipe. Have made it several times. I need to make something for a vegetarian. Do you think I could use soy crumbles as substitute for ground meat? Or should I stick to beans?
Blair
Hi, Kathi! I'm not familiar with soy crumbles, so I honestly have no idea how those would work. It's my understanding that they can serve as a good substitute for ground beef, so I would give them a try!
Bekah
Could this be a crock pot casserole? If so, low for 8 hours??
Blair
Yes, I think that would work! With the slow cooker, it's harder to make sure that your rice is cooked properly, though. I don't know what the exact timing would be for long grain rice in the Crock Pot. You might want to check other recipes to get a better gauge, because overdone rice will be mushy and gummy...you definitely want to avoid that.
Ashley
How do you bake once the dish is frozen?
Blair
Hi, Ashley! If you freeze the dish before baking it, I recommend baking directly from the freezer (just make sure that it's in a freezer-to-oven-safe dish). In general, casseroles that start frozen will need about twice as long in the oven. You'll just need to keep an eye on it, though...it might be a little longer, or it might be a little less.
If you freeze the casserole after it's baked, I would let it thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then let the dish come to room temperature on the counter for 30-60 minutes before reheating, covered, in a 350 degree oven until warmed through. Hope that helps, and enjoy!
Lisa
I wanted this to be good but it was so soupy:(
I left it in past the time but didn’t want my beef to be tough so I removed it.
Any thoughts?
Blair Lonergan
Hi, Lisa! I'm sorry that it didn't work correctly for you. The dish shouldn't be too soupy at the end, so it makes me think that the rice either didn't cook long enough to release its starches and absorb much of the liquid (was it still a bit too firm?), or maybe you used a different type of rice? Something like minute rice or parboiled rice will not absorb liquid in the same way that uncooked long grain white rice does. That would cause a soupy mixture, too.
I wouldn't worry about the ground beef becoming too tough with some extra cooking time. We often bake cooked ground beef in chilis and other casseroles for much longer without it becoming tough. Maybe a bit more time was all that the dish needed? Again, it's hard for me to know for sure, so just some thoughts.