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Chicken and Rice Stuffed Peppers


Ingredients

Scale
  • 6 bell peppers, tops sliced off (see my note about peppers at the bottom of the recipe)
  • 3 cups cooked brown rice
  • 1 lb, chicken breast, chopped
  • ½ medium onion, finely chopped
  • 1 cup sliced mushrooms
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 cup tomato sauce
  • 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
  • ½ tbsp Italian seasoning
  • ¼ tsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 1 tsp pepper
  • 1 tbsps cooking oil
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup mozzarella, shredded
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Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
  2. Pour 1 cup of water into a 2 quart glass baking dish.
  3. Into the baking dish, arrange the six bell peppers so that they are standing. The peppers should be sitting in the water. Set the baking dish aside while you prepare the filling.
  4. In a large frying pan for skillet, heat the cooking oil on medium heat.
  5. Add the onions and mushrooms to the pan along with the salt. Stir this around and cook for about 5 minutes or until everything is softened in the onions begin to look translucent.
  6. Add the garlic to the pan and give it a stir to combine with the onions and mushrooms.
  7. To the pan, add the pepper, smoked paprika and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine well.
  8. Allow this to cook for five minutes more and then add the chicken to the pan.
  9. Allow the chicken to cook and brown up in the pan with the other ingredients for about five minutes, while stirring a couple times.
  10. Next add the chicken stock and the tomato sauce. Combine well with the ingredients of the pan.
  11. Turn down the heat and add the cooked brown rice to the pan. Stir everything together and allow to simmer and reduce for about 10 minutes.
  12. Fill each pepper a little more than 3/4 full using the rice and chicken mixture.
  13. Cover the baking dish tightly with aluminum foil and place into the oven to bake for 45- 60 minutes. Make sure that the foil makes a tight seal so that the peppers cook properly.
  14. Once the peppers have finished cooking, remove them from the oven and sprinkle mozzarella over each.
  15. Place the peppers back into the oven uncovered and turn on the broiler setting. Broil for about 5 minutes to melt the cheese. Cheese should bubble up a bit and get a little golden color.
  16. Enjoy!

Notes

For best results, I like to use yellow, orange or red bell peppers with this recipe.

Don’t throw those pepper tops away! You can remove the stems and chop up the pepper tops, and put them right in with the filling to cook with the rest of the ingredients.

If you find that your peppers are wobbly and don’t stand up, you can cut a little off the bumpy parts at the bottom of the pepper to even it out, so it will stand up better. Be careful not to slice the bottoms too deep, as creating a hole in the bottom will cause those delicious juices from the filling to seep out. You want to keep the yumminess contained! lol 

For this recipe, you do not need to pre-cook your peppers. I find that without pre-cooking them, they have a much nicer texture and a bit of a crunch, which I really enjoy. Pre-cooked peppers will be more tender and much softer in the finished recipe. If you’d like to pre-cook your peppers, you can do so by steaming them for about 10 minutes in a large pot with the lid on. This will help release some of the excess moisture in the peppers. Make sure you allow them to cool for a bit before stuffing so you don’t burn yourself on the hot steam!

  • Prep Time: 20 mins
  • Cook Time: 60 mins
  • Category: Entree