Simple Unstuffed Bell Peppers
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 anyway, that’s what I did! These super simple unstuffed bell peppers are cooked in one skillet to make your (my) life super easy and delicious. #yesplease
One Pot Unstuffed Bell Peppers
Tips for Making One-Pot Rice Dishes
Even cooking plain rice on the stove top can be a bit challenging for 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 transfers heat really well 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 cheap 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.
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 this and skipping the broth, but you’ll be missing a lot of flavor with that option.
Topping Options
I added some fresh chopped parsley on top of my Unstuffed Bell Peppers for color, but I wouldn’t say that it adds a lot of flavor. So I’d use it if you have it, but don’t go out of your way to purchase it if you don’t. A lot of people like cheese on their stuffed bell peppers, so if you happen to have some cheese on hand you can top the unstuffed bell peppers with cheese and let it melt before serving.
Aaaand one more thing. I actually bought the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and bell peppers at Whole Foods (read: expensive), so I’m sure you may be able to make this one for even less!
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).
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
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil ($0.16)
- 1 clove garlic ($0.08)
- 1 medium onion ($0.42)
- 1/2 lb ground beef ($2.25)
- 2 medium bell peppers ($1.98)
- 15 oz can diced tomatoes ($1.69)
- 1 cup uncooked white rice ($0.33)
- 1 tsp basil ($0.10)
- 1 tsp oregano ($0.10)
- Freshly cracked pepper ($0.05)
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth ($0.20)
- 8 oz can tomato sauce ($0.99)
- 1 tsp worcestershire sauce ($0.02)
Instructions
- Mince the garlic and dice the onion and bell peppers. In a heavy skillet, sauté the garlic and onion in olive oil over medium heat until soft and transparent (2-3 minutes). Add the ground beef and cook until fully brown (5 minutes). Lastly, add the diced bell pepper to the skillet and continue to sauté until they are slightly soft (3-5 minutes).
- Add the diced tomatoes and their juices to the skillet along with the uncooked rice, basil, oregano, and some freshly cracked pepper (10-15 cranks of a pepper mill). Stir the ingredients in the skillet well.
- Add 1.5 cups of beef broth to the skillet and stir to combine. Place the lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to high, and allow the mixture to come up to a full boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes. You should be able to hear the liquid simmering quietly the whole time. If you can't, turn the heat up just slightly until it begins to simmer.
- After 30 minutes, remove the lid, and check to see if the rice is tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. If the rice is still a bit crunchy, return the lid and allow it to continue to cook for 10 minutes more.
- Once the rice is tender, fluff the mixture with a fork. In a separate bowl, combine the tomato sauce and worcestershire sauce. Pour the tomato sauce over the skillet and serve.
Notes
Nutritional values are estimates only. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
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Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Unstuffed Bell Peppers – Step by Step Photos
First, mince one clove of garlic and dice one onion, and two bell peppers.
Sauté the onion and garlic with 1 Tbsp of olive oil over medium heat. Once the onions are soft and transparent, add the ground beef and continue to sauté until it is fully browned. Lastly, add the diced bell peppers and sauté a few minutes more, or until they begin to soften. Make sure to use a thick, heavy skillet for this dish because even cooking is crucial to the outcome. The skillet also needs to have a tight fitting lid. If you don’t have a skillet that fits this description, you can also do it in a dutch oven or heavy soup pot.
Add one cup of uncooked white rice, one 15-oz. can of diced tomatoes, 1 tsp each of basil and oregano, and some freshly cracked pepper (about 10-15 cranks of a pepper mill). Stir these ingredients together well. Side note: you can’t directly substitute brown rice for the white rice in the recipe. Brown rice requires more liquid and a longer cooking time.
Finally, add one cup of beef broth. Place the lid on top of the skillet, turn the heat up to high, and allow it to come to a full boil. Once it reaches a boil, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer for 30 minutes. It must be simmering the whole time, so if it goes quiet and you can’t hear the gentle simmer, turn the heat up just a tad. This is where the heavy skillet comes into play. A thin or poorly made skillet will be very hot in the center and not hot on the outer edges of the skillet, causing it to scorch in the middle and leave the rice crunchy on the outer edges.
After 30 minutes of simmering, the rice should be tender and most of the liquid will have been absorbed. If it’s not (like if the heat was too low and it stopped simmering, or you have a poorly made skillet), put the lid back on top and let it simmer for ten more minutes.
If the rice IS fully cooked, use a fork to fluff the mixture up a bit.
To make the tomato sauce topping, stir together one 8-oz. can of plain tomato sauce with one teaspoon of worcestershire sauce.
Pour the sauce over top and EAT! (I added some parsley for visual/photographic effect, not for flavor).
SO much easier than trying to disassemble an actual stuffed pepper. No knife required here.
This is one of the first recipes I tried making on my own (and one that turned out, anyway), and it’s one that I keep going back to as a sort of staple dish. I know it’s SUPPOSED to be just like stuffed peppers but I’ve thrown in other additions like corn, mushrooms, etc. with pretty good success. (Mind you, I don’t usually make the tomato sauce topping–cheese is my preference!) Any meal that can be cooked in one pot is good enough for me! I just want to thank you for not only the simple recipes, but also, and most importantly, the PICTURES. For someone who didn’t really know how to cook and wasn’t encouraged to work in the kitchen, actually seeing what to do is a thousand times more helpful than just reading instructions.
Also, for what it’s worth, I’ve made this with brown rice before; I just follow the ratio of water-rice lisred on the package and simmer for the length of time it asks for–usually it’s longer than what white rice would be but it turns out. The last time I tried with brown it actually sort of…gelled? Like the brown rice formed a sort of gravy in the mixture, this may have been because I didn’t rinse the rice beforehand though (having grown up with Minute Rice or prepackaged rice that didn’t call for rinsing, I didn’t realize.) It was pretty good, actually. But yes, for cooking times I think swaps are absolutely possible so long as you follow the correct water-grain ratio and simmer accordingly, it’s just that you might have to wait a bit longer to dig in.
Any tips on making this in an slow cooker or pressure cooker?
Hmm, I don’t know off hand. I think it would definitely need some testing to see how it holds up and what the best methods would be.
I have been making this for a few years now and Love it! I add pork sausage and beef together and it tastes just like stuffed peppers without the work or stuffing and without the mushy pepper texture!
Can this be made with brown rice? What would need to be adjusted?
You’d have to change quite a bit, unfortunately, and it would take some testing to figure out the best liquid ratios and cooking times.
My toddler has been super picky lately not eating dinner. This is the first dinner she ate completely in I don’t know how long. This was really good! I didn’t have tomato sauce available so I used some tomato paste and water, also vegetable broth since I had no beef broth. Great recipe, keeping for the book!
I have to say, this is one of my very favorite recipes. Your directions are so clear that it always tastes yummy when I make this. I do have one small problem though, I recently went low carb, so rice is now a no-no. I tried this last night with riced cauliflower (and skipped the beef broth step). Texturally it came out just right–cooked it a little shorter time. But the flavor was not quite there–I’m sure it’s because I skipped boiling it for a while in the broth. Do you think putting in a beef bullion cube next time might do the trick or would that overpower the flavor?
Yes, I think that’s a good idea. That will make up for the flavor you lost by leaving out the broth. :)
I loved this recipe! Super easy and delicious!
I cooked my rice in rice cooker with the broth and then added all in same
Pot !! Voila perfect rice !
My rice keeps burning :( any suggestions?
It’s likely the cookware that you’re using. If the metal is thin you will get hot spots and uneven cooking, which can cause the rice to burn.
unfortunately this was one recipe I was just not a fan of. Don’t get me wrong it was DE-Licious. however I just had way too much rice to be enjoyable. Also I suck at rice so it was kind of mushy. I seriously love all these recipes though.
Ahh! It tasted good but I had to add more liquid and keep it simmering for 1 hr to get the rice remotely tender. Next time I will cook the rice separate and add it in after!
Can I freeze leftovers?
Yes, these should freeze pretty well. :)
Have you tried this in a crockpot by any chance?
What would you adjust to accommodate brown rice or quinoa’s longer cooking needs? More stock and longer time?
Yes, you would definitely need to adjust the liquid and cooking time for each, but it’s hard to guess without testing it out.