Spicy Stuffed Bell Peppers make a flavor-packed family dinner for busy weeknights. The recipe is simple and freezer friendly. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions are included.
Spicy Stuffed Bell Peppers are one of my favorite freezer friendly recipes. I prepare them at the weekends and freeze so that I have the easiest dinner on a busy weeknight. You don’t even need to thaw before cooking. It’s a classic comfort food that everyone in my family loves.
We make both vegetarian and non-vegetarian versions of these Spicy Stuffed Bell Peppers in Turkey and they are equally loved in our home. If you love spicy foods, I’m sure you will love these peppers. However, if there is a spice you are not a fan of, you can definitely leave it out. I just recommend you not to skip olive oil and lemon juice in either versions.
What to Make with the Leftover Filling
The size of bell peppers I use is never the same, so it’s hard to give the exact measurement for filling ingredients. I usually have some leftover filling and I either place it around the stuffed peppers in the pan or freeze it separately to use it later. Sometimes I don’t use it to stuff peppers, I cook it as it is and serve it as a side dish instead.
What Goes with Spicy Stuffed Bell Peppers
I love to sprinkle sumac on top of the filling right before serving, but it’s totally optional. I love the extra tangy flavor of this Middle Eastern spice. It is almost a must to serve these with lemon and plain yogurt on the side. If we make the meatless version, we mostly serve it at room temperature and with extra olive oil. We sometimes serve it with Cacik, which is also known as tzatziki and pickles or hot sauce. A fresh tomato and cucumber salad like Turkish Shepherd’s Salad goes well too if it’s summer time.
How to Reheat Stuffed Bell Peppers
When heating the leftover spicy stuffed bell peppers, take one tablespoon of the liquid in the pan and drizzle over the filling inside the peppers so that it doesn’t dry and it heats equally.
This post was originally published in 2010 and we’re updating it with new pictures and a non-vegetarian version of the recipe today, 5/19/2017.
We’ve been experiencing interesting climate changes here. It’s rainy and cold one day, it’s sunny and warm the other day. It’s difficult to decide what to wear every morning, so the first thing I do after waking up every morning is to open the window and check how it is outside. However, the most surprising event occured last week. I was so perplexed as soon as I went out in the early morning. Everywhere was full of yellowish dust and mud. All buildings, roads, cars, trees were all in dust. It was like a scene from a movie about a natural disaster. Moreover, to my surprise it became as dark as evening at noon and finally a heavy rain started. Fortunately, it cleaned all the dirt. I am absolutely bored of this indecisive weather and wish the real Spring comes very soon.
PrintStuffed Green Pepper
Bell peppers stuffed with rice and with or without ground beef makes the easiest weeknight dinner when prepared and frozen beforehand.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 10
- Category: Dinner
- Cuisine: Turkish
Ingredients
- 10 sweet bell peppers
- 250g (9 oz.) lean ground beef
- 1 and ½ cups rice, well rinsed and drained
- 4 medium sized onions, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon dried mint
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 and ½ cups water
Meatless Version:
- 10 sweet bell peppers
- 1 small tomato, chopped
- 10 tablespoon rice (one for each pepper)
- 4 medium sized onions, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon dried mint
- 1 tablespoon currants
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts
- 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 and ½ cups water
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients except bell peppers and water.
- Halve the bell peppers lengthwise and remove seeds. Alternatively, cut the tops of peppers, discard the seeds. Don’t throw away the tops so that you can put them back on the peppers after they are stuffed.
- Spoon the filling mixture into the bell peppers and place them in a large shallow pan.
- If there is little filling left, place it around the peppers. If there is still a lot, you can freeze it for a later use.
- Pour ½ cup water into the pot, cover with the lid and cook for 5 minutes over medium low heat. Pour the rest of the water and cook over the lowest heat for about 30min. or until the rice is cooked.
- Optionally, drizzle extra olive oil over peppers after they are cooked and serve with lemon wedges on the side.
Notes
If you cook the filling mixture, the duration of cooking the dish gets shorter. But you don’t have to cook the mixture in advance, you can just mix all ingredients as raw.
Adding mint is an interesting touch to stuffed peppers…
Zerrin, now I am hungry for stuffed green peppers! This is one of my favorite recipes.
I just love stuffed peppers! What sets a great stuffed pepper apart is how it is filled – your stuffing sounds heavenly! I would try it one day with meat instead of rice for a meal!
I love the addition of cinnamon! They look delicious!
I love stuffed peppers, yours looks amazingly delicious!
Love your blog design and the hand drawn pictures! Stunning photographs!