Sausage Stuffed Peppers

Sausage Stuffed Peppers

These sausage stuffed peppers are simple to make and packed with flavor from the Italian sausage, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, and garlic. They make a fun and colorful family meal!

 #Sausage #Stuffed #Peppers

Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked rice I used white jasmine rice
• 6 large bell peppers any color
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion chopped
• 1 pound Italian sausage meat
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 (14 fluid ounce) can diced tomatoes with juices
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese blend, divided
• Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. If you don't have cooked rice, make some (this step can be done a day or two ahead). I usually just make 1/2 cup uncooked rice which ends up making a bit more than you need for this recipe, and then I use the rest for other things.
2. Preheat the oven to 400F and move the rack to the middle position. Meanwhile, prep your ingredients. Cut the tops off the peppers as if you were carving a pumpkin (try to do it as evenly as possible so the filling doesn't fall out). Remove any seeds. Chop up the usable stuff from the pepper tops (you'll add it to the filling).
3. Place the peppers cut-side up in a baking dish (mine was a 9x13). Pour one cup of water into the bottom of the dish (the peppers will steam and cook faster).
4. Add the oil, onion, and chopped up pepper tops to a skillet. Sauté over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
5. Add the sausage meat to the skillet. Cook it, breaking up the sausage meat as you go along, until it's browned and cooked through (about 8 minutes). Spoon out most of the fat.
6. Stir in the garlic and diced tomatoes and give it a good stir. If there's lots of liquid, let some of it cook off, but we do want some moisture in the peppers, so don't let it go dry.
7. Stir in the cooked rice and 1/2 of the cheese. Season the mixture with salt & pepper as needed. Spoon the mixture equally into each pepper.
8. Cover the baking dish with foil. Place it in the oven and bake for 40 minutes.
9. Take the dish out of the oven. The peppers should be still a little bit firm to the touch (we don't want them going limp and falling apart). Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over top. Return the peppers to the oven for another 5-10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
10. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

Try to find bell peppers that are roughly the same size. Also, the ones with 4 "bumps" on the bottom are less likely to fall over, so I look for those.
I used a bit over a pound of ground mild Italian sausage meat. Anything in the ballpark is fine.
Cooking technique adapted from The Kitchn.

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