Ground Beef & Brown Rise Stuffed Peppers

Colorful bell peppers stuffed with ground beef and garlicky carrot brown rice for a complete meal that your whole family will enjoy!

As the warmer days roll in, it’s easy to find ourselves craving lighter foods that are still fulfilling and tasty. Which brought me straight to this fun and delicious stuffed pepper dish. I haven’t make stuffed peppers in a while, so I was super excited with the idea!

There are many options when deciding on what to stuff your peppers with, however I like this combo the most because it gives me a complete meal and it’s perfect with a side of salad.

Brown Rice with Carrots

I would say, other then the length of time that it takes for the brown rice to cook, everything will be done in a snap. Of course you can opt for white rice which cooks much faster, or even a boxed rice such as rice pilaf. They are all great options for you to decide, depending on your taste and time. Here is the breakdown for you to consider when deciding on the type of rice to cook;

Brown rice – 40 mins

White rice – 20 mins

Rice pilaf – 15 mins

It’s worth to mention that brown rice offers a lot more fiber, protein and overall nutrition compared with white rice.  I particularly like the taste of brown rice better but really, this part if totally up to you.

Check out this Garlicky Carrot Brown Rice recipe!

Ground Beef

Moving on to the beef, I used grass fed because I am trying to stay away from the hormone treated meats. I have already started to notice a change in my symptoms (hormonal imbalance) but again, you use what you like for beef. Typically grass fed ground beef is $1 more per pound while a grass fed steak is $2 -$3 more per pound. I am only eating red meat once or twice a week, so I can manage that cost.

The ground beef is browned in oil with diced onions and red pepper flakes to give it a nice flavor.

Check out this Sheet Pan Salmon with Veggies!

Assembling and Baking

To make life easier you can pre-mix the rice and beef in a bowl. I choose not to because I wasn’t sure how much rice and beef I would need to stuff the peppers, and did not want my left overs (if any) to be mixed.

Add a large scoop of rice and beef into the cavity of each pepper. Press it down and add more until the pepper is fully stuffed 🙂

Some recipes will recommend 30 minutes of baking time. I much prefer to bake my stuffed peppers for a shorter amount of time because the stuffings are already fully cooked, and I don’t like my peppers falling apart. 20 minutes is enough to soften the peppers and allow the flavors to combine.

Check out this Sheet Pan Cod with Sweet Peppers!

These colorful stuffed peppers with ground beef and garlicky carrot brown rice is a complete meal that your whole family will enjoy!

Let’s go over the recipe now.

Ground Beef & Brown Rise Stuffed Peppers

by Silvia Ribas

Prep: 12 minutes mins

Cook: 1 hour hr

Total: 1 hour hr 12 minutes mins

Servings: 6 -8 servings

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Ingredients 

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• ▢ 8 large bell peppers
• ▢ fresh parsley

Brown Rice

• ▢ 1 cup brown rice
• ▢ 2 1/2 cups water
• ▢ 2 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 1 small onion diced
• ▢ 2 garlic cloves minced
• ▢ 1/4 tsp sea salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp onion powder
• ▢ 1 medium carrot cubed

Ground Beef

• ▢ 1 lb grass fed ground beef
• ▢ 1 small onion diced
• ▢ 1 tbsp olive oil
• ▢ 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
• ▢ salt + pepper to taste

Instructions 

Step-1 Brown Rice

• Heat oil in a medium pan. Add onions and sauté until translucent. Add garlic, carrots, salt and onion powder, sauté for 2 minutes. Add brown rice (or white rice), mix to combine with spices. Add water, cover, turn the heat down to medium low and cook 35-40 mins or until the water has completely absorbed. By the time the rice is done cooking, step 2 and 3 will be ready.

Step-2 Ground Beef

• Meanwhile, heat oil in a cast iron/ skillet. Add in onion and sauté until translucent (2-3 mins). Add ground beef, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes and cook until browned, stirring often (10-12 mins)

Step-3 Assembling the Peppers

• Now you can move on to assemble the peppers. Place the pepper on the table/ counter to see which side it lays flat the most. Make a cut on the opposite side (length wise) a little ways above the middle line (not half) to create a deeper pocket for the fixings. Spray a baking dish with cooking oil and arrange the peppers in this dish. Scoop a generous amount of beef and rice into the cavity, press it down with the back of the spoon and keep on adding rice and beef until the peppers are fully stuffed.

Step-4 Baking and Serve

• Bake at 400F for 20 mins. This is the perfect amount of time to soften the peppers without falling apart! Garnish with fresh parsley and save hot. Refrigerate left overs in a glass container. The best way to re-heat your leftover stuffed peppers is by steaming them, because it will keep the shape and heat the rice and beef thoroughly.

Notes

Be sure to use the cut-out endings of the peppers in omelets, raw with hummus or in your favorite dishes!

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Course: Dinner

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