Get all the delicious comforting flavor you love in classic stuffed peppers with these equally yummy but twice as easy Unstuffed Peppers. Makes a full meal, all in one skillet!
Unstuffed Peppers
Mr. Gracious has a few favorites that he eats at the firehouse all the time. One of these is stuffed peppers. Now, I’m all for a good stuffed pepper, but they are so involved and time consuming to make.
This led me to the totally delicious decision to make UNstuffed peppers. All of the yummy ingredients you use in stuffed peppers, only they’re not stuffed. Get it? UNstuffed peppers.
Unstuffed peppers are packed with ground beef, bell peppers, rice, tangy tomato sauce, and lots of gooey cheese to finish it off. It is ridiculously easy to make. Plus, it’s a full meal in one skillet.
Yup. It’s that good. And just for you, here’s a gratuitous cheese shot.
Do I Have to Use White Rice?
Nope. I prefer it because it has the fastest cook time, clocking it at only 25 minutes.
Here are the cook times for some other options:
- Brown Rice. Preparation instructions are the same, but the cook time needs to be upped to 50 minutes. If your liquid gets low during this time, add another 1/2 cup of water until the rice is tender and cooked through.
- White Basmati Rice is cooked for the same amount of time as long grain white rice, but it needs to be rinsed first because it is very sticky otherwise. Rinse rice in luke-warm water until it runs clear.
- Quinoa actually has a shorter cook-time at only 15-18 minutes. It also will only need about 1 cup of water. Be sure to rinse quinoa before cooking.
- Instant rice. If you want a much faster cook time, you can use instant rice. Omit the water entirely, and cook for only about 8-10 minutes.
What to Serve with Unstuffed Peppers
Unstuffed peppers is pretty much a meal by itself, with ground beef for protein, rice for carbs, and bell peppers for veggies.
For a side, we’ll typically just have a fresh green salad to keep it simple.
How to Make Unstuffed Peppers
In a large skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef with onion and green peppers (photo 1). Drain and return to skillet (photo 2).
Add spaghetti sauce, water, rice, steak seasoning, garlic powder, and black pepper to the ground beef mixture (photos 3 and 4). Stir to combine.
Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat (photo 5). Continue simmering on medium-low heat for about 25 minutes, or until rice is tender. If liquid gets too low, add an additional ½ cup water.
When rice is tender, stir in cup shredded mozzarella. Sprinkle the remaining cup mozzarella on top (photo 6). Cover and continue cooking until cheese is melted and bubbly.
Pro Tips
- This recipe is gluten free.
- To make this recipe dairy free, simply omit the cheese or use a dairy-alternative cheese such as Daiya.
- Do not stir while rice is cooking. Stirring releases starches and makes the dish sticky.
- Cover while rice is cooking, or it will take way too long to cook and the liquid will evaporate too quickly.
- To make this dish low carb, use about 2-3 cups riced cauliflower. Omit the water, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- If your liquid is evaporating too fast, turn down the heat a little and add an additional 1/2 cup water.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in a microwave-safe dish.
- Freezer Instructions: After cooking rice, transfer to a freezer container. Top with remaining cheese. Cover and freeze for up to 3-6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Bake dish at 350°F for 20-30 minutes until cheese on top is melted and dish is heated through.
More Easy Dinner Recipes You’ll Love
- Cheesy Tater Tot Casserole – super simple and cheese ground beef and tater tot casserole.
- One Pot Creamy Ham and Pea Tortellini – creamy pasta with ham and peas, all in one skillet!
- Slow Cooker Beef Stroganoff – classic creamy stroganoff, made with fresh ingredients, right in the slow cooker.
- Easy Skirt Steak Fajitas – tangy, flavorful, and the BEST fajitas you’ll ever have.
- Maple Mustard Chicken – super easy to make with a delicious tangy-sweet flavor.
Unstuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 green bell peppers cut into 1″ pieces
- 1 jar spaghetti sauce (24 ounces)
- 1½ cups water
- 1 cup long grain white rice uncooked
- 1 teaspoon steak and burger seasoning
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella divided
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef with onion and green peppers. Drain and return to skillet.
- Add spaghetti sauce, water, rice, steak seasoning, garlic powder, and black pepper to the ground beef mixture. Stir to combine.
- Bring mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Cover and continue simmering on medium-low heat for about 25 minutes, or until rice is tender. If liquid gets too low, add an additional ½ cup water.
- When rice is tender, stir in cup shredded mozzarella.
- Sprinkle the remaining cup mozzarella on top. Cover and continue cooking until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Serve warm.
Notes
- This recipe is gluten free.
- To make this recipe dairy free, simply omit the cheese or use a dairy-alternative cheese such as Daiya.
- Do not stir while rice is cooking. Stirring releases starches and makes the dish sticky.
- Cover while rice is cooking, or it will take way too long to cook and the liquid will evaporate too quickly.
- To make this dish low carb, use about 2-3 cups riced cauliflower. Omit the water, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- If your liquid is evaporating too fast, turn down the heat a little and add an additional 1/2 cup water.
- Storage: Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat in a microwave-safe dish.
- Freezer Instructions: After cooking rice, transfer to a freezer container. Top with remaining cheese. Cover and freeze for up to 3-6 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Bake dish at 350°F for 20-30 minutes until cheese on top is melted and dish is heated through.
Nutrition
Update Info: This recipe was originally published in August 2016. It has been updated with new pictures, video, and recipe tips and republished in December 2019.
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I like the idea of deconstructing the dish – I’ve always had a hard time eating them as whole peppers! Thanks for sharing on the What’s for Dinner link up and don’t forget to leave a comment at the party – Next week’s features that also leave a comment get pinned and tweeted!
This sounds like a great dinner and so much easier than making making each pepper.
Bev
Oh, it’s SO easy. And so yummy too!
This is a great comfort food dinner! Thanks for linkin’ up with What’s Cookin’ Wednesday!
I’m not one to cook much in the summer but hallelujah fall is on the way and this looks like a dish we’d love! Thanks so much for sharing on Friday Favorites Linky Party underatexassky.com/friday-favorites-linky-party – I can’t wait to try it.
thank you for sharing this yumminess at the Thursday Favorite Things link party. I love stuffed peppers so I know I will love this too. Watch for your feature at the party xo
Hi Michelle
Oh my this looks good! Will definitely try, and be back for a few more recipes….I’m in a recipe rut and need some new ones.
Catherine (newest follower of your blogging adventures!) 🙂
I love this idea. I’m always looking for good low carb recipes and I’ve made stuffed peppers like this with cauliflower rice before and really liked it, but I agree it’s a lot of effort. Deconstructing it is brilliant.
Thanks for such a great family friendly skillet meal! I’ll be sure to pin it and save.
A very delicious DInner option, full of flavors and the combination amazing. Definitely a must try dish for sure.
This is such a delicious and filling meal! With 3 boys to feed, I’m happy to say they all cleaned their plates. A total dinner win!
This is so much easier than traditional stuffed peppers and my family like it even better! Thanks!
This is positively the cheesiest, most indulgent un-stuffed pepper dish ever! Is it wrong that I just want to grab a spoon and dig in?
What a great twist on stuffed peppers. Looks super comforting.
This is one of our family’s top 5 favorite dishes. It is so warm and comforting and hearty – and it works out perfectly every time!
What a great twist on stuffed peppers. I’m going to try it with quinoa next because I think my family would actually eat quinoa this way!
Yes, I love this recipe with quinoa too!
This sounds like a delicious meal. Perfect for winter!
Made this for supper tonight and it was delicious!
I’m so glad you liked it as much as we do!
This was so delicious! I used riced cauliflower so I could still serve pasta. Also an easy way to get veggies ! I had extra time so I assembled the ingredients and put them in a casserole dish. Heated in the oven at 350deg. Added a light layer of mozzarella on top. Family loved it! Will definitely make again.
Ooooh. I love the baking idea! Yum!