Italian Stuffed Peppers
14 Comments | Written on January 16, 2013 at 5:00 am , by Kristina Vanni
Cooking on a budget means finding new and creative ways to transform leftovers. One of my favorite ways to use up extra vegetables, rice or herbs is to make stuffed peppers. This recipe has an Italian twist, but you can always give it your own spin to use up what you find in the fridge!
Keep reading for the recipe…
One great trick when making stuffed peppers is to use a large muffin pan. The deep wells keep the peppers upright for stuffing and while cooking in the oven.
Here I combined hot Italian sausage, leftover rice, and tomatoes for the stuffing. Serve these stuffed peppers with a salad and some crusty Italian bread and you have a feast!
Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers
4 large peppers (green, red, yellow or orange), tops cut off and cleaned out
1 lb hot Italian sausage, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 cup cooked rice
salt & fresh ground pepper (to taste)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil, for garnish
Directions:
1. Saute sausage and onion until browned. Add garlic and saute for 3 minutes.
2. Stir in tomatoes and Italian seasoning, simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in rice and season with salt and pepper, to taste.
3. Stuff sausage and rice mixture into the hollowed out peppers. Place inside muffin pan and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Garnish with fresh basil, if desired.
4. Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25-30 minutes, or until peppers are tender.
Categories:
Dinner Tonight, On A Budget | Tags: Italian Dinner Recipes, Italian Recipes
14 Comments | Post Your Comment
14 Responses to “Italian Stuffed Peppers”
I have made delicious stuffed peppers using left-over spaghetti sauce with cooked rice. Embellish with shredded cheese and bake til hot.
I never would have thought about using a muffin pan that’s great idea, I can’t wait to try it.
Using a muffin tin would be great, but I think I would put it on something with sides like a cookie pan or some type of baking pan with sides on it as the juices could run all over your oven. I like using ground meat and tomato sauce with rice added to stuff my peppers. There yummy and juicey…
Yeah, That’s right, I would like to use another type of pan. Ground meat is much much better than sausage, I don’t like sausages in any way.
TY for the recipe, btw I don’t like any type of left overs taste, and I would like to add some baked and diced chicken breast to this recipe.
I would have never thought of the muffin pan either-thanks
I would par boil the peppers and spray the muffin pans before filling with cooked ingredients.
Muffin pans what a great idea. A simple trick for the peppers. Clean out pepper seeds & put the peppers in the freezer overnight. That eliminates par boiling. I, also, do this to cabbage when I make stuffed cabbage.
Loved the idea of the muffin tins. I would par boil the peppers first. I plan to use the recipe. Thanks so much.
This sounds like a good “dump” receipe. My husband and I are both diabetics and I watch Carbs, Sugar, and Salt. Would use Turkey sausage (no fat spillover) with whole grain rice and control the salt and cheese. Maybe add some other veggie in the mix.
Like the change with Italian sausage. Idea of freezing the peppers and cabbage is time saver. I always seem to have more of the tomato sause so I put the extra sauce down and then the peppers I cover with the remaing. The receipe is a stsple in our house as well as cabbage 9
After our microwave has heated, reheated, dried out, and lived with forgotten food items for our eight children and countless numbers of their friends, it needs to have a fitting funeral and a new one in its place for the visiting parents and our grandchildren. I do not believe any of the grandkids know what a stove is, but they are excellent with a microwave and a toaster oven!
I’ve never heard of freezing the peppers or cabbage. So do you stuff them while they are still frozen or thaw them out first?
Theses are awesome, I have made them three times in a month. Took them to work and all the females asked for the receipe. I used all four colors of peppers and was told that they all are outstanding.
Thsnks for the hit receipe.