Chicken and rice stuffed peppers are filled with a delicious combination of chicken, rice, mushrooms, tomato sauce, garlic, onions and other flavourful seasonings. This recipe is simple, easy to make and is so customizable that you can use it as a starting point for your own version of stuffed peppers!
Pretty much any food is good when it’s stuffed with something, right?
Yes, indeed!
In this post, you're going to learn to make my wickedly delightful chicken and rice stuffed peppers!
I hope you enjoy this recipe! ❤️ If you give it a try, please let me know how it turned out for you in the comments section at the bottom of the page or share a pic of your om noms on Instagram and tag @dishesanddustbunnies! ❤️
*This post has been updated from an earlier version to include more hints, tips and a few tweaks to the original recipe to make it even more scrumptious!*
Get the Recipe at the bottom of the page!
Ingredients used to make Stuffed Peppers
There are a few common ingredients used in most stuffed peppers recipes, but for the most part, these options are yours to play around with and customize to your liking and imagination. Below, I go over the ingredients I used in my stuffed peppers version and give a few suggestions.
Peppers – For this recipe, you’re going to need some fresh red, orange or yellow peppers. Green peppers are super delicious, but I find that the slight sweetness of the red, orange or yellow peppers work perfectly with the savoury chunks of chicken breast when using this recipe.
When I made this recipe, the only peppers available in the grocery store were the orange bell peppers! You can definitely use any colour peppers you prefer, but I highly recommend sticking with bell peppers as they're just the right size for filling with lots of yummy things!
I think one of the best kinds of food to stuff are bell peppers; it doesn’t really matter what colour of pepper you use – stuff it and cook it, and you’ve got yourself a scrumptious entrée or appetizer.
Rice – I used brown rice for this recipe because its texture goes so deliciously well with all the other ingredients. If you'd like, you can definitely try using other kinds of rice (like basmati) with this recipe as well.
Meat/Protein – I used chicken in this recipe, but you can also try other meats, such as ground beef, ground pork or sausage.
Do I use pre-cooked meat or raw? For this recipe, the stuffing ingredients, including the meat, are cooked together in a large frying pan before adding them to the peppers. I have seen some recipes that stuff the peppers with raw meat, then cook – I haven't tried cooking it this way myself, so, unfortunately, I can't give an opinion. I'll try this method in a future post, so please stay tuned! 😋
Veggies – I used mushrooms in this recipe, but you could also add carrots, celery, corn, etc.
Cheese – I loooovvveeee cheese on anything! haha
For this recipe, I put some mozzarella on top of my stuffed peppers towards the end of cooking. You can try any cheese you like, though!
Seasonings – Basic seasonings like onions and garlic add wonderful flavour to stuffed peppers, along with some salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and smoked paprika.
Tomato Sauce – Tomato sauce is almost always used in stuffed peppers recipes and adds a wonderful flavour to the dish. You can choose any kind you like.
Seriously though, you can stuff bell peppers with just about any kind of ingredient you can imagine, and it will be an absolute delight. 🙂
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family does, and please feel free to use this recipe as a sort of starting point to make your own stuffed bell pepper creations!
How to make Stuffed Peppers
You can find the full details and ingredient amount for this recipe at the bottom of the page, but first here is an overview of how to make stuffed peppers.
To begin; prepare the peppers by slicing the tops off and scoopings out the seeds and ribs. 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. I don’t like to waste anything. 🙂
Set the “pepper cups” (as my son calls them) into a baking dish with a little water in the bottom. Set this aside while the oven preheats and while you work on making your filling.
Next, the stuffing ingredients are cooked in a skillet or frying pan. Once your filling is ready, you just have to scoop some into each of the peppers. I recommend filling the peppers up about ¾ full, but you can probably get away with overstuffing them a little. 🙂
Nothing wrong with a little extra stuffin’! 😉
Once you have your peppers all filled up with that delicious savoury filling, cover your baking dish tightly with some aluminum foil. It’s super important to make sure that the foil is pressed tightly around the edges of the baking dish so that the peppers will cook properly.
Then when the peppers are all finished baking, remove the foil from the baking dish and sprinkle the tops of those delicious looking peppers with some freshly shredded mozzarella cheese. Pop the peppers back into the oven for about five minutes under the broiler setting so that your cheese melts and starts to get nice and bubbly.
MMmmm MMmmm bubbly cheese!
My Peppers wobble and won't stand up.
How do I fix that?
When choosing your peppers at the grocery store, make sure to find some that have a relatively sturdy bottom, so they stand up easily when you cook them in the baking dish.
If you do find that your peppers are wobbly, 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
Get the Recipe at the bottom of the page!
Why are my stuffed peppers watery?
Do You Have to Boil or Pre-cook the Peppers Before Stuffing Them?
If the peppers haven't been pre-cooked before stuffing, sometimes they can become watery. Peppers naturally have a lot of water content so when they cook, a lot of the liquid will release.
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!
How to freeze Stuffed Peppers
To freeze your stuffed peppers, prepare them according to the recipe at the bottom of the page as usual. Freeze them individually, wrapped in aluminum foil or all together in a baking dish.
How to reheat frozen stuffed peppers: thaw them overnight in the fridge, then bake at 350°F in the oven until heated through.
How long are Stuffed Peppers good for?
When stored in the fridge, stuffed peppers will be good for 3-5 days.
When stored in the freezer, stuffed peppers will be good for about 3 months.
Sides to go with Stuffed Peppers
You can serve these stuffed peppers as an appetizer or even as a side dish, depending on the meal you’re planning. Personally, I'd serve stuffed peppers with just about anything since they're so delicious, but here are a few ideas and some suggestions to get you started:
- Salads
- Cheese platter
- Potatoes
- Sweet potato fries
- Corn Fritters
- Green beans
- Roasted Veggies
- ex. zucchini, yellow squash, artichokes, cauliflour, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms, etc
- Bread; especially nice crusty bread
- Soups
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Chicken and Rice Stuffed Peppers
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 6 Servings 1x
Ingredients
- 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
- 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 tbsps cooking oil
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup mozzarella, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- Pour 1 cup of water into a 2 quart glass baking dish.
- 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.
- In a large frying pan for skillet, heat the cooking oil on medium heat.
- 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.
- Add the garlic to the pan and give it a stir to combine with the onions and mushrooms.
- To the pan, add the pepper, smoked paprika and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine well.
- Allow this to cook for five minutes more and then add the chicken to the pan.
- Allow the chicken to cook and brown up in the pan with the other ingredients for about five minutes, while stirring a couple times.
- Next add the chicken stock and the tomato sauce. Combine well with the ingredients of the pan.
- 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.
- Fill each pepper a little more than 3/4 full using the rice and chicken mixture.
- 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.
- Once the peppers have finished cooking, remove them from the oven and sprinkle mozzarella over each.
- 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.
- 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
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