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These Italian stuffed peppers are a delicious and easy meal option for any night of the week. Filled with savory ground beef, rice, and cheese, they are sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
I love being able to cook a full meal with leftovers and just a few seasonal ingredients. Italian style baked stuffed peppers are one of those recipes that I always make when I want to use up some leftover rice or vegetables.
It’s an easy stuffed pepper recipe that’s ready in less than 2 hours and tastes as if you spent half the day in the kitchen. It freezes really well and you can easily adjust the ingredients and spices to match your preference.
Stuffed peppers are one of the most convenient dinners out there. You can have them with different ingredients and flavors such as Mexican stuffed peppers, Mediterranean stuffed peppers and of course, spicy stuffed peppers. This Italian stuffed peppers recipe is one of our favorites because of it’s simplicity and versatility.
Italian Style Stuffed Peppers Ingredients
Olive oil: It’s best to use extra virgin olive oil in this recipe.
Onion and garlic: These add so much flavor to the dish.
Ground beef: I recommend using lean ground beef for this recipe.
Spinach and mushrooms: Use baby spinach for this recipe. As for the mushrooms, you can use white button, baby bella, or even shiitake mushrooms.
Cooked rice: Leftover rice works best.
Pasta sauce: Brings in rich tomato flavor. You can use either homemade or store bought pasta sauce.
Italian seasoning: A blend of herbs like oregano, basil, and thyme.
Bell peppers: I prefer using orange, yellow and red bell peppers as they’re sweeter than green bell pepper.
Mozzarella cheese: Melts beautifully on top of the stuffed peppers.
How to Make Italian Stuffed Peppers
Step 1: Prepare the Filling
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the onion until golden brown. Add in the ground beef and cook until brown. Add garlic, mushroom and spinach to the beef mixture. Cook until mushrooms are soft and spinach is wilted. Stir in the cooked rice, pasta sauce, Italian seasoning and salt and cook for a few more minutes.
Step 2: Prepare the Filling
Bring a pot of water to boil and cut the top part of the bell peppers. Save them to use later on as lids. Clean the inside of the bell peppers and steam them for about 5-10 minutes. This will soften the peppers a little bit so they cook faster in the oven, which will prevent the filling from drying out.
Step 3: Assemble and Bake
Once the peppers are steamed, fill them with the filling and sprinkle with chopped parsley and mozzarella or parmesan cheese. Place the peppers in a baking dish, cover with foil, and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and the peppers are tender.
Serving Suggestions
Stuffed peppers are usually served as a main dish and can be served with so many different sides such as seasonal and green salads, roasted potatoes or baked potatoes or even just bread. Some of our favorite side dishes for stuffed peppers are:
Salads: A light and refreshing salad like Mediterranean salad, cucumber tomato avocado salad, and crunchy cabbage salad balances the richness of the Italian stuffed peppers.
Crusty bread: A slice of warm sourdough or ciabatta bread is perfect for soaking up the extra sauce.
Tzatziki or garlic yogurt sauce: A cool and tangy yogurt sauce pairs beautifully with the seasoned filling.
Roasted potatoes: Crispy roasted potatoes with olive oil and rosemary make a great side dish.
Storage
Fridge: Store cooked stuffed peppers in an airtight container for up to 4 days. When reheating, place them in the oven at 350°F for 10-15 minutes .The microwave works too (2-3 minutes).
Freezing: You can freeze Italian stuffed peppers before or after baking! Store them in freezer safe containers for up to three months. When ready to eat, bake them straight from frozen at 350°F for about 70-90 minutes. If I have cooked leftovers, I freeze those too and reheat them in the oven until warmed through.
Recipe Tips
- I always go for colorful bell peppers. Red, yellow, and orange peppers are naturally sweeter and taste better than green.
- Steaming the peppers before baking is a game-changer. It helps them cook faster and keeps the filling moist.
- I love making this recipe even easier by using leftover cooked ground beef and rice—it saves so much time! The filling is packed with flavor, thanks to Italian seasoning, which gives it that perfect earthy, aromatic taste.
- You can switch up the protein easily. Sometimes I use ground turkey, ground chicken, or even Italian sausage for a different twist.
- For vegetarian Italian style stuffed peppers, you can replace the ground meat with lentils or a plant-based meat substitute.
- Adding extra veggies makes it even better. I often toss in diced zucchini, carrots, or eggplant to pack in more nutrients.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! Swap the rice for quinoa, couscous or bulgur. Make sure they are cooked completely.
Absolutely! While mozzarella is classic, you can try parmesan or provolone for a unique twist.
I like to steam them for a few minutes before stuffing, but you can skip this step if you prefer a firmer texture.
Yes, it’s best to cook the beef before stuffing the peppers.
More Italian Recipes
Rice and Pasta
Italian Sausage Pasta Recipe
Breakfast and Brunch
Italian Baked Eggs in Marinara Sauce
Mediterranean recipes
Simple Italian Beef Stew
Mediterranean recipes
Easy Italian Meatball Recipe
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear about it! Please comment and leave a 5-star🌟 rating below. You can also follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or subscribe to our newsletter to get a free e-Cookbook!
Italian Stuffed Peppers Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 large Onion, Diced
- ½ lb Ground Beef
- 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
- 1 cup White button mushrooms, Sliced
- 2 cups Spinach
- 1 ½ cup Cooked Rice
- 1 cup Pasta Sauce
- ½ teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- ½ teaspoon Kosher salt
- 6 Bell Peppers, Red, yellow or orange
- 1 cup Shredded Mozzarella
- ½ cup Chopped Parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375℉.
- Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
- Saute the onion until golden brown, add in ground beef and brown it completely.
- Add in the garlic and cook for a minute.
- Add the mushrooms and spinach. Mix well and cook until mushrooms are cooked and spinach is wilted.
- Add in the cooked rice, 1/2 cup pasta sauce, Italian seasoning and salt. Stir and combine well. Turn the heat off.
- Cut the top of the bell peppers, and save them. Clean out the seeds and set them aside.
- Bring a pot of water to boil and steam the bell peppers for almost 5 minutes.
- Fill the bell peppers with the filling, top with shredded mozzarella and parsley. Place the top part of the bell peppers on as lids.
- Pour the remaining pasta sauce in a baking dish and place the stuffed peppers in the dish.
- Cover with an aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
- Uncover and bake for another 30 minutes until the bell peppers are soft to your preference.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Healthy and delicious. Also they freeze well for a make ahead meal.This is delicious! This will be made often!5 stars
Quick and Easy Family Recipes
Stuffed peppers are one of my favorite meals. Love this Italian twist!
Thanks Jessica!
These look so good. Pepper stuffed with saucy beef, yes please!
Thanks Sharon!
Thanks for all the tips! I love that you can freeze these or make them in the crock pot! We’ll be having these this weekend!
Hope you love them Pam!
This is one of my favorite meals, thanks for reminding! Love that you used spinach and mushrooms, and that cheese on top, looks totally delicious!
Thank you Alina! Stuffed pepper are our favorite too!
I now want stuffed peppers for dinner tonight instead of the chicken defrosting in my refrigerator. This looks really yummy!
Thank you Lois! This is our favorite dinner as well!