If you’re looking for a family friendly dinner or a delicious meal prep for the week, these Light Italian Rice Ball Inspired Stuffed Peppers are perfect. Bell peppers are stuffed with beef, peas, rice, spices, topped with cheese and baked until golden. You can enjoy all the same flavors from a traditional Italian rice ball without the added fat from frying.
What you’ll need to make this recipe
Since these stuffed peppers are rice ball inspired, they have a similar flavor profile. You’ll use the typical ingredients for a classic stuffed pepper, with a few additions to achieve that flavor.
- bell peppers
- onion
- extra lean ground beef
- I used 96/4 for this recipe
- Italian seasoning
- garlic powder
- kosher salt
- onion powder
- dried oregano
- marina sauce
- You can use jarred or my homemade marina sauce
- pecorino romano cheese
- rice
- I used Birds Eye Brown Rice
- peas
- mozzarella
- broth
- you can use water instead of broth
How to make light Italian rice ball stuffed peppers
Start by cutting the upper most part of the pepper off, including the stem, to create an opening in the pepper to get your stuffing in. Clean out all of the seed and ribs. Microwave the peppers for about 10 minutes or until slightly softened. I chose to use 2 green and 2 red peppers. Feel free to use whichever you prefer.
While the peppers are being microwaved, preheat the oven to 350F and dice the onion. In a frying pan, add olive oil spray and saute the onion over medium high heat until slightly tender and translucent. This will take about 5 minutes. Once the onions are tender, add the ground beef to the frying pan and break apart with a wooden spoon. Cook ground beef until no longer pink.
Next, season the beef mixture with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, onion powder, and oregano. Once the spices are combined well with the meat, stir in the marina sauce, pecorino romano, cooked rice and peas until thoroughly combined. As I mentioned earlier, I used steam in the bag brown rice for concenience. The kind of rice you use is up to you, just make sure it is cooked before adding to the meat mixture.
Remove the peppers from the microwave and stuff the inside of each one with equal amounts of the filling. Once the peppers are filled, place them in the baking dish and top with mozzarella cheese. Pour about 1 inch of broth or water around the peppers. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove the foil and broil for another 1-2 minutes to achieve a golden brown top.
Perfect for meal prep
These peppers are perfect to serve for a family friendly dinner immediately, but they are equally great for meal prep. Once cooled, place each pepper into a container and store in the refrigerator. They are easy to pull out each day and reheat for an easy meal prep.
Light Italian Rice Ball Inspired Stuffed Peppers
Equipment
- frying pan
- baking dish
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers
- ½ large onion, or 1 small onion
- 1 lb 96/4 extra lean ground beef
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- 1 c marinara sauce
- ¼ c pecorino romano cheese, grated
- 1½ c rice, cooked, white or brown
- 1 c peas
- ½ c light mozzarella
- ½ c broth or water
Instructions
- Cut the upper most part of the peppers off (including the stem) to create an opening in the pepper for stuffing. Clean out the seeds and ribs.
- Microwave the peppers for about 10 minutes or until slightly softened.
- In the meantime, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Dice the onion. In the frying pan, add olive oil spray and saute the onion over medium high for 5 minutes or until slightly tender and translucent.
- Add ground beef and break apart with a wooden spoon, cooking until no longer pink.
- Next, season with the Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, onion powder, and oregano. Stir in the marina sauce, pecorino romano, cooked rice, and peas until thoroughly combined.
- Stuff the inside of each pepper with equal amounts of the filling and place in a baking dish. Top with the mozzarella cheese.
- Pour broth or water around the peppers, about 1 inch high to surround the peppers.
- Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and broil for 1-2 minutes for a golden brown top.
Notes
Nutrition
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This was absolutely delicious. – leftover warmed great in microwave – Made with brown rice