If you’re looking for a good, fast, easy family friendly recipe, you just can’t go wrong with this Stuffed Bell Pepper Skillet. That is if the kids will eat bell peppers!
Stuffed Bell Pepper Skillet
I swear, one of the six grandchildren here won’t eat anything and seemingly survives on nothing but air and the occasional peanut butter and jelly sandwich! The rest, though, will happily scarf something like this down, especially if coaxed by the bit of cheese (optional) topping the dish.
About Stuffed Bell Pepper Skillet:
First of all, ya gotta love an easy skillet dinner. It’s cozy and comforting simmering away in the fall/winter season and in the summer, no oven time helps to keep the house nice and cool.
Bonus, that after the meat is browned, the vegetables sauteed and the rice in, the whole works is lidded and simmers away, hands-off, for a good 20 minutes or so. I love having that bit of time to tidy the kitchen, corral the kids and get the table set.
Best of all, there’s all the flavor of stuffed peppers and none of the time or hassle involved. And speaking of flavor, I love the flavor in my Old World Stuffed Peppers, so I took a cue from them and add a little allspice (just a little – allspice is strong!) in my Stuffed Bell Pepper Skillet. If you have a favorite stuffed pepper recipe, scan down the list of seasonings and tweak this recipe to your liking.
Stuffed Bell Pepper Skillet
Making Stuffed Bell Pepper Skillet:
This is a super simple recipe. You just brown up some ground beef, drain if you need to, then add in the diced onions and bell peppers. As soon as they start to soften, add in the garlic, then the liquids. That’s the tomatoes and water, then the rice.
I’ve pretty much gotten to where I use this ratio of tomatoes, water and rice for all my skillet recipes that are based on rice. It’s perfection every time. Note that I use a can of tomatoes and the juice, then crush the tomatoes (use your hands and watch for “squirters” and don’t wear your favorite white shirt!) If there is a hard piece on the stem end of the tomato I just discard it. My skillets turn out so much better than if I try to use cans of crushed or diced tomatoes.
Watch the rice. Sprinkle it over the water and stir as little as you possibly can to incorporate it so most is under the liquid. Too much stirring will leave you with gummy rice. And keep the lid on as much as possible and watch the heat so it doesn’t scorch. At the end just turn the rice over with a spatula to blend the skillet together. Again, no stirring! Easy peasy!
Add cheese if you want, really just about as much as you want, then add the lid to melt it in the residual heat.
Saving Money on Stuffed Bell Pepper Skillet:
By the way, what prompted this recipe was a great sales price on both peppers and ground beef. Normally, the green bells are far less than the colored, so if you’re budget-minded, use them. If you’re feeding anyone who’s on the fence about bell peppers, maybe children, keep in mind the colored bells, while a little pricier, are also a little sweeter, a little less “grassy” tasting. You might have better success in getting them to eat the dish. Aldi has great prices on bell peppers, too.
Ground beef regularly goes on sale and hits a rock bottom price once a quarter, so don’t be afraid to buy a larger amount, portion it out in reasonable sizes for your family, and freeze.
As far as the rice goes, any rice will do. I usually cook with medium or long-grain white rice and when I shop, I check the regular grocery aisle where rice and beans are usually sold as well as the “ethnic” aisles. The larger bags are usually a better bargain.
I hope y’all enjoy this easy skillet dinner, whether you have littles at home or not. We’re hot and muggy here in Georgia. I finished off some raised beds using scrap wood we had around, and finally, have them almost planted. I’ve already lost two basil plants to black powdery mildew. Cross your fingers on the last one…hopefully, we’ll have pesto (and more recipes using it) yet this summer! Gardening is so different here in Georgia with our red clay soil. I’m missing Minnesota dirt, lol!
How about you guys? Anyone out there gardeners or keeping their pandemic gardens going?
Mollie
Stuffed Bell Pepper Skillet
Stuffed Bell Pepper Skillet
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 4 to 6 servings 1x
- Category: main dish
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 bell peppers, any color, diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 16 ounce can tomatoes with juice (crush them)
- 1 1/2 cups hot water
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- scant 1/4 teaspoon allspice (optional)
- shake or two of hot sauce
- 3/4 cup raw rice
- 3/4 cup shredded cheese, Cheddar or your favorite meltable cheese (optional)
Instructions
Add ground beef to skillet and heat to medium-high, breaking up ground beef as it cooks. Drain any fat if necessary. Add in the onion and bell pepper and continue to cook until onion is just tender, five or six minutes, stirring as necessary.
Push the mixture in the skillet aside, add the garlic and cook a minute or two until fragrant, then mix the garlic in. Add in the tomatoes, water, and chili powder, salt and paper, allspice if using and a dash or two of hot sauce.
Add in the rice and gently stir an absolute minimum to mix in the rice and cover with the liquid. (Be careful with any stirring once the rice is in so it doesn’t turn to mush.) Bring the contents to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer very, very gently for 22-24 minutes, or until rice is just cooked. If possible, don’t lift the lid until ready to check for doneness.
When rice is cooked, very gently, with a thin spatula, working from the bottom turn the ground beef and rice over. Remove from heat, add cheese if using, cover and let sit for five minutes.
Keywords: Bargain Meal of the Week, Beef, Bell Peppers, Cheese, Ground Beef, Rice, Skillet Dinner
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