Classic stuffed peppers made with ground beef (or turkey), rice in a savory marinara sauce.
Prep Time : 20 mins
Cook Time : 5 hrs
Total Time : 5 hrs 20 mins
INGREDIENTS:
• 1 lb. ground beef (or turkey)
• 5 bell peppers tops cut off and diced for filling
• 1 1/2 cups cooked rice can be leftover rice
• 24 oz. jar marinara sauce, divided
• 1 small white onion diced
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp. dried tarragon oregano works well too
DIRECTIONS:
1- Brown the ground beef in a skillet on the stove top. Drain.
2- Add the beef, cut up bell pepper tops, rice, 1 cup of the marinara sauce, onion, salt, garlic powder, thyme and tarragon to a medium sized bowl. Stir.
3- Stuff the peppers with the filling you just made. If there is any leftover filling add it to the bottom of the slow cooker.
4- Add remaining marinara sauce to the slow cooker.
5- Add the stuffed peppers in the slow cooker. I try not to let them rest on the sides of the slow cooker, but most of the time they end up falling over later.
6- Cover and cook on LOW for 5 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
Notes:
Can I add cheese to this?
Stuffed peppers often have cheese on top, though adding cheese is optional.
If you want a cheese fix, add about 2 tablespoons of shredded mozzarella cheese to each pepper 10 minutes before the cooking time is up.
Can a different type of meat be used?
Ground turkey
Ground chicken
Ground Italian sausage
Can I make this vegan?
Use soy crumbles instead of beef
Or a can of pinto beans
Or add extra veggies such as chopped squash or asparagus to the rice mixture.
