Cheddar-Topped Stuffed Peppers with Ground Beef and Rice
Bell peppers packed with a simmered beef and rice filling, baked until tender, then finished under melted cheddar.
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 45 min
- Written
Method
-
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
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Stand the peppers upright in a baking dish just large enough to hold them snugly.
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Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and cook the onion until softened, about 5 minutes.
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Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
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Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up, until no longer pink.
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Stir in the rice, diced tomatoes, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper, and simmer until the mixture thickens and holds together, about 5 minutes.
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Spoon the filling into the peppers, packing it down and mounding it over the top.
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Pour ½ cup water into the bottom of the dish, cover tightly with foil, and bake until the peppers are tender when pierced with a knife, about 35 minutes.
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Uncover, top each pepper with cheddar, and bake until the cheese is melted and browned in spots, about 10 minutes more.
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Scatter with parsley before serving.
Notes
Cook the filling almost all the way on the stove before it ever goes into the pepper — raw rice and beef packed straight into a shell steams unevenly and the peppers turn to mush long before the center cooks through. This way the peppers only need to soften, not cook the filling for you.
Any melting cheese works if cheddar isn’t on hand — Monterey Jack or a Tex-Mex blend both go the same way. Leftover peppers reheat well covered in the microwave, though the tops won’t re-crisp.