Stuffed Pepper Casserole

This Stuffed Pepper Casserole has everything you love about stuffed peppers without the hollowing, the filling, or the hour in the oven. Ground pork and beef, rice, peppers, and tomatoes all cook together in one skillet, then cheddar goes over the top. Thirty minutes, start to finish.

Stuffed peppers are lovely and they’re a lot of work for a Tuesday.

You’ve got to cut the tops off, hollow them out, make the filling separately, stuff each one without tearing it, stand them up in a dish so they don’t tip over, and then bake for an hour. It’s a Sunday project.

This is the same meal without any of that. Everything goes in one skillet in the order it needs to cook, the rice softens right in the tomatoes and broth, and cheddar melts over the top at the end. Thirty minutes and you’ve washed one pan.

The dill is the thing that surprises people. A tablespoon of it, which sounds like a lot in a dish with paprika and tomatoes, and it’s what makes this taste like the stuffed peppers I grew up with rather than a generic beef and rice bake. Romanian stuffed peppers always have dill in them.

This one’s from my first cookbook, 30 Minute One Pot Meals, and it’s still one of the recipes people write to me about most.

No hollowing. The peppers get chopped and cooked with everything else, which means you use the whole pepper instead of throwing away the tops and the seeds.

No separate filling. In a traditional recipe you make the meat and rice mixture, then stuff it, then bake. Here the filling cooks and the rice cooks in the same pan at the same time.

No hour in the oven. Stuffed peppers need that long because the pepper walls have to soften. Chopped peppers soften in 5 minutes.

No second dish. This starts and finishes in one skillet.

What you lose is the look of it. A stuffed pepper on a plate is a nice thing to put in front of someone. This is a skillet of beef and rice with cheese on top, and it’s considerably less photogenic.

What you keep is all the flavor, which is the part that matters on a weeknight.

• Olive oil (1 tablespoon): For browning the meat. Any neutral oil works.
• Ground pork (1 pound) and ground beef (1 pound): The pair together is better than either alone. Pork brings fat and a bit of sweetness, beef brings the savory depth. All beef works if that’s what you have, and you may want a splash more oil since it can be leaner. Ground turkey or chicken work too and want more seasoning.
• Onion (1, chopped) and green bell pepper (1 large, chopped): Green peppers are traditional in stuffed peppers and they’re slightly sharper than red. Red or yellow are sweeter and better if you’re feeding children.
• Smoked paprika (1 teaspoon): Smoky depth. Regular paprika works and you’ll miss the smoke.
• Garlic powder (½ teaspoon): Distributes evenly through the whole skillet in a way minced garlic doesn’t here.
• Red pepper flakes (¼ teaspoon): Warmth rather than heat. Leave it out entirely if you’d rather.
• Dried dill (1 tablespoon): The one that makes this taste right. A tablespoon looks like a lot and it isn’t. Dill is standard in Romanian and Eastern European stuffed peppers, and without it this tastes like a different dish.
• Salt (½ teaspoon) and pepper (¼ teaspoon): Season the meat as it browns and taste again at the end.
• Rice (½ cup, uncooked): Long grain white is what I use. The recipe in the cookbook uses instant rice to speed things up and both work. Brown rice needs considerably longer and more liquid, so I’d cook it separately and stir it in.
• Chicken broth (1 cup, low sodium): Cooks the rice along with the tomato juice. Beef or vegetable broth work just as well.
• Diced tomatoes (14 ounce can, with the juice): Juice and all, since that’s part of the liquid the rice needs. Fire roasted tomatoes are excellent here if you can find them.
• Cheddar cheese (1 cup, shredded): Goes on at the end and melts from the residual heat. The cookbook version doesn’t have cheese at all, so it’s genuinely optional. Mozzarella or a Mexican blend both work.
• Fresh parsley (1 tablespoon, chopped) and sour cream (for serving): Parsley for color and freshness. Sour cream is optional and very good, because something cool and tangy against all that rich meat works beautifully.

Brown the meat. Olive oil in a large skillet over medium high, then the pork and beef, broken up as they cook. About 5 minutes until there’s no pink left. Get some real color on it rather than just cooking it through, since that browning is a lot of the flavor.

Vegetables and spices. Onion and bell pepper straight into the same pan, then the smoked paprika, garlic powder, red pepper flakes, dill, salt, and pepper. Five minutes, until the vegetables have softened and everything smells good.

Rice in, then the liquid. Stir the rice through so it picks up the fat and spices, then add the broth and the tomatoes with all their juice.

Cook 10 to 15 minutes on medium, stirring occasionally, until the rice is tender and has absorbed the liquid. Different rice absorbs at different rates, so go by the rice rather than the clock. If it’s still firm and the pan is dry, add a splash more broth and keep going.

Cheese on top. Scatter the cheddar over, and within a couple of minutes the residual heat will melt it. Parsley over that.

Serve straight from the skillet, with sour cream on the side for anyone who wants it.

• Brown the meat properly. Not just until it’s cooked, until it’s got color. That’s where the depth comes from.
• Don’t skip the dill. A tablespoon, and it’s what makes this taste like stuffed peppers rather than a beef and rice bake.
• Go by the rice, not the timer. Brands absorb differently, so taste a grain before you call it done.
• Add broth if it’s drying out. A splash at a time. Better than ending up with firm rice.
• Taste before serving. Between the broth and the tomatoes there’s a fair bit going on, and it may want more salt or more dill.
• Let the cheese melt from the heat. No need to put it under the broiler, though you can if you want it browned.

• With more vegetables. Diced zucchini, mushrooms, or corn stirred in with the onion and pepper.
• Different peppers. Red or yellow instead of green for something sweeter, which children generally prefer.
• Vegetarian. Skip the meat and double the vegetables. Mushrooms are the best substitute since they bring savoriness. A can of drained black beans adds substance.
• Low carb. Cauliflower rice in place of the rice, added in the last 5 minutes so it doesn’t go mushy. You’ll need much less liquid, so cut the broth back to about ¼ cup.
• Italian. Swap the dill for dried oregano and basil, and use mozzarella instead of cheddar.
• Mexican. Swap the dill for cumin and chili powder, add a can of black beans, and top with a Mexican cheese blend.
• Baked. Transfer everything to a baking dish before the cheese goes on and bake at 375°F for 15 minutes for a browned top.

Make ahead: brown the meat and cook the vegetables up to 2 days early and keep them in the fridge. Then it’s 15 minutes to finish on the night.

Fridge: 3 to 4 days in an airtight container. Cool it and get it in the fridge promptly, since cooked rice needs to be handled carefully.

Freezer: 3 months. Freeze it in a bag with the air pressed out, laid flat. Thaw overnight in the fridge and fluff the rice before reheating.

Reheating: a skillet over medium with a splash of broth to loosen it, or the microwave in 30 second bursts. The rice firms up in the fridge and needs a bit of liquid to come back.