Do I have to cook the rice before making stuffed pepper casserole?

Yes, use fully cooked rice, ideally cold day-old rice. Raw rice will not absorb enough liquid in a 25-minute bake. If cooking fresh, spread it on a sheet pan for 10 minutes to cool and dry.

Can I make stuffed pepper casserole ahead of time?

Yes. Assemble completely, cover and refrigerate up to 2 days, then bake from cold with about 10 extra minutes. It also freezes for 3 months baked or unbaked.

What kind of bell peppers should I use?

A mix of red and green is ideal — green for the classic slightly bitter stuffed-pepper flavor, red for sweetness. Yellow and orange work too. Three large peppers is about 4 cups diced.

How do I make stuffed pepper casserole lower carb or higher protein?

Swap the white rice for cauliflower rice for roughly 14g of carbs a serving. For more protein use 93/7 ground beef, add an extra half pound of meat, or stir in a can of drained white beans.

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Stuffed pepper casserole

By Ami · September 7, 2026 · ★★★★★ 4.8 from 58 reviews · Jump to Recipe · Print

Stuffed pepper casserole is the comfort food recipe I make when I want stuffed peppers on a Tuesday and absolutely refuse to stuff anything — everything that's good about them, chopped up, stirred together and baked under a blanket of melted cheddar in about 45 minutes. It's the same trick that makes egg roll in a bowl so popular: take a fussy classic apart and let it be a one-dish dinner instead.

Stuffed pepper casserole in a white baking dish — ground beef, rice and bell peppers in tomato sauce under melted golden cheddar, an easy comfort food dinner recipe

This is stuffed peppers without the part nobody enjoys.

No parboiling, no stuffing, no peppers tipping over. You chop the peppers, brown the beef, stir it all together and bake. Twenty minutes of actual work for a dish that feeds six, in the same spirit as lasagna soup — all the flavor, none of the assembly.
It's cheap and it stretches. A pound of ground beef, three bell peppers and a cup of rice fill a 9x13 pan. That's a full family dinner for the price of a couple of takeout entrées, which is why it sits in the same weeknight rotation as crockpot pot roast.
32g of protein and a real serving of vegetables. Three whole bell peppers disappear into it, so the people at your table who claim not to like peppers will eat them anyway. Check what you actually need on the protein calculator — a serving covers a solid chunk of it.

Here's what you'll need.

Use a mix of red and green peppers if you can — the green ones bring that classic slightly bitter stuffed-pepper flavor and the red ones bring sweetness. Cooked rice, not raw: leftover rice from the night before is ideal, and this is the best possible use for it. Ground beef at 85/15 gives you flavor without a greasy pan.

Ingredients for stuffed pepper casserole in small bowls — ground beef, diced red and green bell peppers, onion, cooked rice, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, shredded cheddar and Italian seasoning

Here's how it all comes together.

Step 1 — Brown the beef and onion

Heat a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high, add the ground beef and diced onion, and cook 6 to 8 minutes, breaking the meat up as you go, until no pink remains and the onion is soft. Drain off the fat if there's more than a tablespoon or so — the sauce should cling, not swim.

Ground beef browning with diced onion in a deep skillet for stuffed pepper casserole

Step 2 — Add the bell peppers

Stir in the diced bell peppers and garlic and cook 5 minutes, just until the peppers start to soften at the edges but still have some bite. They'll finish softening in the oven, and stopping here is what keeps them from turning to mush in the baked casserole.

Diced red and green bell peppers being added to browned ground beef in a skillet

Step 3 — Build the sauce

Pour in the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes with their juice, then add the Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes so it thickens slightly and the seasoning actually gets into the beef rather than sitting on top of it. Taste it now — this is your last easy chance to adjust the salt.

Tomato sauce and diced tomatoes being poured into ground beef and bell peppers with Italian seasoning

Step 4 — Fold in the rice

Stir the cooked rice through until every grain is coated in sauce. It should look loose and saucy, not dry — rice keeps absorbing liquid in the oven, so if it looks tight now, add a splash of beef broth before it goes in.

Cooked white rice being stirred into saucy ground beef and bell peppers for stuffed pepper casserole

Step 5 — Transfer and top with cheese

Spread everything into a greased 9x13 baking dish and scatter the shredded cheddar and mozzarella evenly over the top, right to the corners. The cheese that touches the edge of the dish turns into crispy browned bits, and those are the pieces people fight over.

Shredded cheddar cheese being scattered over unbaked stuffed pepper casserole in a white baking dish

Step 6 — Bake until bubbly

Bake at 375°F for 20 to 25 minutes, until the cheese is fully melted and the sauce is bubbling up around the edges. If you want more color, run it under the broiler for 2 minutes at the end. Let it sit 5 minutes before serving so it sets enough to scoop, then finish with fresh parsley.

Baked stuffed pepper casserole fresh from the oven with golden bubbling melted cheese

A serving of stuffed pepper casserole on a plate with fresh parsley and a side salad — easy 45-minute comfort food dinner recipe with 32g protein

Things I learned while testing this recipe.

Undercook the peppers on the stove. Five minutes is enough. I gave them ten in an early test and the finished casserole had no texture at all — just soft everything. You want to still find pieces of pepper in it.
Day-old rice beats fresh rice. Cold rice from the fridge stays separate and absorbs the sauce; hot fresh rice clumps and turns pasty. If you're cooking rice specifically for this, spread it on a sheet pan for 10 minutes to cool and dry.
Don't skip the Worcestershire. A tablespoon adds the savory depth that makes people say "what's in this?" It's doing the same job here as it does in cheeseburger bowls, and the dish tastes flat without it.
Shred your own cheese. Bagged shredded cheddar is coated in anti-caking starch and browns unevenly. Ten seconds on a box grater and the top melts into an actual sheet instead of separate sad piles.

Make it ahead, or make it your own.

Assemble it the night before. Build the whole casserole through step 5, cover and refrigerate up to 2 days, then bake straight from cold — add 10 minutes. It's the freezer-and-fridge friendliest dinner I make besides baked ziti.
Swap the protein. Ground turkey or ground chicken both work with a little extra olive oil; Italian sausage makes it richer; lentils make it vegetarian without losing the texture. Ground beef at 93/7 drops it to about 380 calories a serving.
Lower carb or higher fiber. Cauliflower rice cuts it to roughly 14g of carbs a serving, and brown rice or quinoa pushes the fiber past 6g while nudging the protein up — the same swap that works in chicken burrito bowls.

Here's what I'd serve with this.

A sharp green salad with vinaigrette — this dish is rich and it wants acid next to it.
Garlic bread, which is non-negotiable in my house for anything baked under cheese.
Today's other new recipe, French onion chicken, if you're feeding a crowd and want two pans going at once.
Roasted broccoli or the crispy green beans from slow cooker beef stew night, done in the oven while the casserole bakes.
For dessert, fudgy protein brownies or a slice of Greek yogurt banana bread.

Just in case you have leftovers.

Storing: cover tightly or move to airtight containers and refrigerate up to 4 days — it's one of those casseroles that genuinely improves overnight as the peppers and sauce settle into the rice. To freeze, cool completely, then freeze the whole dish or individual portions for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.

Reheating: for a single portion, microwave 2 minutes covered with a splash of water or broth stirred in, since the rice dries out. For the whole dish, cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 20 to 25 minutes, then pull the foil off for the last 5 and add fresh cheese if the top has lost its shine.

More easy comfort food recipes...

Lasagna soup — all the lasagna, one pot, 40 minutes

Chicken pot pie — golden crust, creamy filling, from scratch

Baked ziti — the cheesy make-ahead casserole classic

Chicken and dumplings — the coziest pot on the stove

Stuffed pepper casserole

★★★★★ 4.8 from 58 reviews — everything you love about stuffed peppers with none of the stuffing. Ground beef, rice, red and green bell peppers and tomato sauce baked under melted cheddar. 45 minutes, one dish, 32g protein a serving.

Prep 15 min · Cook 30 min · Total 45 min · Serves 6 · Category: Comfort Food · Cuisine: American

Ingredients

1½ lb ground beef (85/15)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 large bell peppers (mix of red and green), diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp Italian seasoning · 1 tsp smoked paprika
1½ tsp kosher salt · ½ tsp black pepper
3 cups cooked white rice (preferably day-old)
1½ cups shredded sharp cheddar · 1 cup shredded mozzarella
Fresh parsley, to finish

Instructions

Brown. Heat a large deep skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high. Cook the ground beef and onion 6–8 minutes, breaking up the meat, until no pink remains. Drain excess fat.
Peppers. Stir in the diced bell peppers and garlic and cook 5 minutes, until just starting to soften. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
Sauce. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes with their juice, Worcestershire, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes. Taste and adjust the salt.
Rice. Fold in the cooked rice until everything is coated. If it looks dry, add a splash of beef broth.
Assemble. Spread into a greased 9x13 baking dish and top evenly with the cheddar and mozzarella.
Bake. Bake 20–25 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the edges are bubbling. Broil 2 minutes for more color if you like. Rest 5 minutes, then finish with parsley and serve.

Notes: Use day-old cold rice — fresh hot rice clumps. Undercook the peppers on the stove; they finish in the oven. Make ahead: assemble through step 5, refrigerate up to 2 days, bake from cold with 10 extra minutes. Freezes 3 months baked or unbaked. Ground turkey or Italian sausage both work. Lower carb: swap in cauliflower rice (≈14g carbs). Higher fiber: brown rice or quinoa.

Nutrition (per serving, estimated): 445 calories · 32g protein · 34g carbs · 20g fat · 4g fiber

The Ultimate GLP-1 High Protein High Fiber Cookbook cover

Comfort food that still hits your protein target.

The Ultimate GLP-1 High Protein High Fiber Cookbook for Weight Loss works the same way this casserole does — lean protein, plenty of vegetables and fiber, generous portions that actually keep you full. Real family dinners, not diet food, whether you're on a GLP-1 medication or just eating higher-protein on purpose.

Get the cookbook on Amazon

FAQ

Do I have to cook the rice before making stuffed pepper casserole?: Yes — use fully cooked rice, ideally cold day-old rice from the fridge. Raw rice won't absorb enough liquid in a 25-minute bake and will stay crunchy. If you're cooking it fresh, spread it on a sheet pan for 10 minutes to cool and dry first.
Can I make stuffed pepper casserole ahead of time?: It's one of the best make-ahead dinners there is. Assemble it completely, cover, and refrigerate up to 2 days, then bake straight from cold with about 10 extra minutes. It also freezes for 3 months either baked or unbaked.
What kind of bell peppers should I use?: A mix of red and green is ideal — green brings the classic slightly bitter stuffed-pepper flavor and red brings sweetness. Yellow and orange work too. Three large peppers, diced, is about 4 cups.
How do I make stuffed pepper casserole lower carb or higher protein?: Swap the white rice for cauliflower rice to drop it to roughly 14g of carbs a serving. For more protein, use 93/7 ground beef, add an extra half pound of meat, or stir in a can of drained white beans for protein plus fiber.