Stuffed bell peppers are awesome, but I always find them slightly awkward or difficult to eat. Can’t I just throw the ingredients in a bowl and eat it with a fork?! (I feel that way about a lot of food, TBH). So that’s what I ended up doing! These super simple unstuffed bell peppers are cooked in one skillet to make your (my) life super easy and delicious. #yesplease
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Can I Use Cauliflower Rice Instead of White Rice?
Unfortunately, you can not swap out cauliflower rice for the white rice in this recipe. Cauliflower rice releases liquid as it cooks, whereas white rice absorbs it, so you’ll end up with a stuffed bell pepper soup. :) But hey, that actually doesn’t sound so bad! You can also try using cauli rice and skipping the broth, but you’ll be missing a lot of flavor with that option.
Can I Freeze Unstuffed Bell Peppers?
Yes, this recipe freezes great! Make sure to divide the skillet into single serving portions just after cooking, and chill them completely in the refrigerator before transferring to the freezer. Once frozen, they’ll keep in the freezer for about three months and can be reheated in the microwave straight from the freezer (use the defrost setting first, then high until heated through).
Tips for Making One-Pot Rice Dishes
Even cooking plain rice on the stovetop can be a bit challenging for some folks, and when you add in other ingredients it can end up a little more tricky. To make sure your rice cooks thoroughly and evenly, keep these things in mind:
- Cookware: A really good quality (thick and heavy) skillet is really important for making this recipe work correctly. Heavy cookware conducts heat really evenly so the sides of your skillet will cook at the same rate as the part that is right above the flame. If it’s a thin skillet, it might scorch right in the center and leave the outer edges uncooked. If you don’t have a good skillet, a dutch oven or heavy soup pot would also work well.
- Heat level: Another key to cooking rice is making sure the water in the pot (or skillet) is simmering the whole time, but the heat is not so high that it burns on the bottom. So once you’ve got everything in the pot and have already brought everything up to a boil, turn the heat down to the lowest setting that still maintains a light simmer. Since this can vary from stove to stove and the type of cookware you’re using, you’ll need to adjust this based on what you’re hearing and seeing in the pot. Once you get the hang of it, though, it will be easy!
- Use a burner close in size to the bottom of your pot or skillet. If you’re using a wide bottomed pot or skillet over a very small burner, the outside edges of your pot or skillet may not receive enough heat to simmer and cook the rice through.
Love skillet meals? Check out my Chorizo Sweet Potato Skillet, Creamy Chicken and Rice Skillet, or One Pot Teriyaki Chicken and Rice.
Unstuffed Bell Peppers
Servings 6 1 ⅓ cups eachIngredients
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.32)
- 2 bell peppers ($1.53)
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1/2 lb. ground beef ($2.85)
- 1 15oz. can diced tomatoes ($1.00)
- 1 cup long grain white rice (uncooked) ($0.62)
- 1 tsp dried basil ($0.10)
- 1 tsp dried oregano ($0.10)
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.02)
- 1.5 cups beef broth ($0.07)
- 1 8oz. can tomato sauce ($0.26)
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce ($0.01)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($0.85)
- 1 Tbsp chopped parsley (optional garnish) ($0.05)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and dice the onion and bell pepper.
- Add the olive oil and ground beef to a deep skillet. Cook the beef over medium heat until it is fully browned.
- Add the diced onion, bell pepper, minced garlic, basil, oregano, and pepper to the skillet. Continue to cook and stir until the onions are soft.
- Next, add the diced tomatoes (with juices), uncooked rice, and beef broth. Give everything a brief stir to combine.
- Place a lid on the skillet and turn the heat up to medium-high. Allow the broth to come up to a full boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let it continue to simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest, lid still in place, for another five minutes.
- While the pot is simmering, combine the tomato sauce and Worcestershire sauce.
- Once the rice has rested for 5 minutes, remove the lid and fluff it with a fork, gently folding the ingredients back together (peppers and tomatoes may float to the top while it simmers).
- Pour the prepared tomato sauce over top, then sprinkled the shredded mozzarella over the sauce. Place the lid back on top and let the heat from the skillet melt the mozzarella. Once melted, sprinkle a little chopped parsley on top and serve.
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Equipment
- Deep Stainless Steel Skillet
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Unstuffed Bell Peppers – Step by Step Photos
Mince one clove of garlic and dice a yellow onion and bell pepper. Add ½ lb. ground beef to a deep skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Cook the ground beef over medium heat until it has fully browned. Add the diced bell pepper, onion, garlic, 1 tsp dried basil, 1 tsp dried oregano, and about ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper to the skillet. Continue to cook and stir until the onions are soft.
Next, add one 15oz. can of diced tomatoes (with juices), 1 cup uncooked long grain white rice, and 1.5 cups beef broth to the skillet.
Give everything a brief stir to combine. Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high and allow the broth to come up to a full boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to low and let it continue to simmer for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest, lid still in place, for an additional 5 minutes.
While the rice is simmering, prepare the tomato sauce. Combine one 8oz. can of tomato sauce with 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce. Set the sauce aside.
After the rice has rested for five minutes, remove the lid and fluff it with a fork, gently folding the tomatoes and peppers back into the rice.
Pour the prepared tomato sauce over the rice in the skillet, then top with 1 cup shredded mozzarella. Place the lid back on the skillet and let the residual heat melt the cheese.
Top with chopped parsley, if desired, and serve!
How can I cook this when my rice is already cooked?
Unfortunately, that would require a lot of alterations so I would have to test and reformulate the recipe before offering advice.
can i use brown rice for reducing carbs
Unfortunately, brown rice requires more liquid and a lot longer cooking time, so it’s not well suited for this recipe.
Can I make this in my instapot?
I’ve never tried that, unfortunately, so I don’t know how it would turn out.
I’ve been making this for years. I’m going to make this in the oven, like I would porcupine meatballs.
Would I have to change anything if I leave out the can of diced tomatoes? Like extra tomato sauce or broth? I know it needs the juices but I’m not a fan of solid tomatoes.
Yes, you probably would need to replace some of the liquid that comes with the can of diced tomatoes. I’m not sure exactly how much without testing it, but I would guess maybe around ½ cup?
Absolutely delicious and so easy to make with simple staples from the pantry.
Wonderful and easy weeknight dinner!!
This was delicious! Originally I was going to make this for a potluck but it got canceled due to Covid restrictions. I made it for my family (there were three of us) and we all liked it but were only able to eat about half the batch! That tells me it will be an excellent potluck dish in the future. I didn’t have long grain rice but used Basmati instead.
I made this for dinner this evening and it was a huge hit! I used more ground beef and peppers because my garden is overflowing and marinara sauce instead of plain tomato sauce since that is all I had. So delicious! I already passed the link on to friends and family.
Easy and delicious recipe! I also feel like it would be easy to adapt. I think I may experiment with using beans instead of beef as a vegetarian option and maybe using southwest style spices… Definitely a great recipe either to eat as written or to use as a jumping off point to tweak to your family’s liking!
This was really good. I halved it because there are just two of us but I used the same amount of meat and tomatoes. I used beef better than bouillon with a little extra liquid and let the rice cook for 20 min. I didn’t have tomato sauce so I used tomato paste mixed with water and a little garlic and onion powder.
My rice did not cook properly in the time given.
If your rice didn’t get fully cooked then make sure that:
1. The liquid comes to a full, raging boil before you reduce the heat
2. The pot or pan that you are using is wide (so the food is not too deep and all of it gets heated – if it’s deep then the food at the surface isn’t getting as much heat as the food at the bottom) 3. The burner on your cooktop is adequately sized for the pan – don’t use a too-small burner, you might need to switch to the largest one 4. When you reduce the heat, it might not need to be on the lowest setting. Some cooktops on low are not hot enough, you might need to set it just above the lowest setting
This is great. Making it for the second time tonight. I’m not a huge fan of diced tomatoes so I toss in a tablespoon or two of tomato paste toward the end of the veggies cooking, add half a 15 oz can of tomato sauce and increase the broth a bit to compensate for the lost liquid from the diced tomatoes. I use the rest of the can to doctor with the Worcestershire sauce and add on the top at the end.
Definitely made me contemplate how to use this technique as a base for other dishes.
Thanks.
This is the third recipe I’ve tried from your site. They’ve all been simple and delish.
I used this recipe as a jumping off point and tweaked to my liking. This will be one of my regular dinner and freezer meal go to’s
My tweeks: I cut peppers and onions to 3/4” pieces. I used Pace Picante sauce in place of canned tomatoes. I did not top with cheese and tomato sauce. I made today and it was DELICIOUS!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. This was quite the hit! So quick, easy and all in one pot. I made this tonight and my hubs went for seconds. He kept commenting in between various bites just how good it was. Just so yummy!!