Things… they are a changin’. That’s right! As we’re quickly approaching 10,000 Facebook fans, we’re working hard behind the scenes to bring you a brand new, more user-friendly SouthernBite.com. This is where you come in! If you’d like to see something different or an additional feature, let me know. Maybe there’s a specific navigation you’d like to see right up top. My goal is here is to give you an easy navigable site with quick recipes that use everyday ingredients. I welcome your comments and suggestions at info@southernbite.com. Please keep in mind that while we’ll try our best to meet as many requests as possible, some things might be outside of our expertise and budget. Thanks, y’all! Hopefully, when we get through with all of this, I’ll have some more time to share a few more stories with you, but for now… here’s another recipe.
Stuffed Peppers are a favorite at our house and this recipe is super simple using Hunt’s Family Favorites Seasoned Tomato Sauce for Meatloaf – you can find it in the grocery store with the other tomato sauce. (By the way, if you haven’t used this stuff for meatloaf yet, you HAVE to try it!) Though they do take a little while to cook, the prep is short and easy. And if you don’t have any instant rice, you can always use cooked rice instead. I hope y’all enjoy another of my family’s favorite recipes.
Ingredients
- 4 medium-sized bell peppers
- 1 ½ lbs ground beef
- small onion, diced
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (15.25-ounce) can Hunts Seasoned Tomato Sauce for Meatloaf
- 1 cup instant white rice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a small baking dish.
- Cut off tops of peppers and remove seeds and membranes. Blanch peppers in salted boiled water for 5 minutes; remove and drain.
- In a skillet, saute onions in vegetable oil until translucent. Add garlic and cook until fragrant.
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, sauteed onions and garlic, Seasoned Tomato Sauce for Meatloaf, white rice, salt and pepper. Mix until just combined.
- Stuff mixture into each of the peppers and place upright into the prepared baking dish. Pour small can of tomato sauce over the peppers.
- Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until cooked through. Exact cooking time will vary based on the size of the peppers.
Nutrition
* If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
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If I’m baking it for 50 minutes, why do I need to blanche the peppers?
It’s totally up to you.
This is the only way to make them! Is there any way to freeze them?
I’ve not tried freezing them, so I can’t say for sure.
This was delicious! I was looking for a recipe where I specifically didn’t need to pre-cook the meat & the rice when I found your’s. I made it exactly as written (well, except that I used elk instead of beef) and it was sooo good! I had also never heard of the Hunts sauce for meatloaf, but checked at my local Walmart, and low and behold, there it was! It was so good in fact, my BF texted his co-workers and said “guys, I’m bringing in the best left overs for lunch tomorrow, you guys in?” That’s a pretty high compliment coming from him, so I knew I had a winner. I’ll definitely PIN this and be making it again. Thanks!
Awesome! I’m so glad to hear y’all enjoyed it!
This is the way I’ve always made it too! So much easier than the other recipes for stuffed peppers .
Thanks, Debbie!
Can these be cooked in an air fryer?
I can’t say for sure, but I don’t see why not.
In the oven now! Will post pictures when it is done…
Hope they turned out GREAT!
What kind of ground beef do you use? Lean,93\7,90\10,85\15,80\20???
For this, I prefer as lean as I can get it.
i boiled my hamburger meat fi until it was just slightly done first and added a little Italian sausage. Just popped them in the oven. Wish me luck . Hope it turns out ok
Hope it was great!
Do you think cooked ground beef and cooked regular brown rice will work? I freeze cooked ground beef and that would be easiest but I don’t want to sacrifice flavor.
I think the ground beef would work, but the texture would be vastly different. Cooked brown rice, should be an easy substitute also.
Thank you. I used cooked ground beef & cooked brown rice and it was DELICIOUS!! So delicious that my husband (who was not a fan of stuffed peppers & not looking forward to me making them at dinner) said this is one of his favorites. I’ve made it twice so far. I couldn’t find the Hunts sauce but prefer to use “real” food so I used some tomato sauce, Worcester and some spices. This recipe is a keeper!
Wonderful!
I can’t wait to try this recipe. I want to make about 8. Do I just increase the cooking time? How much longer should they cook?
The cooking time should be roughly the same. I might add 5 or 10 minutes. Enjoy!
Found this recipe and website when searching for stuffed peppers on the internet. They turned out great and were almost too easy to make. We were able to make the meat filling a few days before we made them and then prepared the peppers the night we baked them. We live on a military base in Japan where the selections can sometimes be limited. However, we were able to find the Hunts meatloaf sauce. The kind we used is called “Hunts Dinner Starters, Seasoned Tomato Sauce for Meatloaf” and it was placed by all of the other tomato sauces. Thanks again!
So glad you found the sauce and that y’all enjoyed the stuffed peppers! Thanks for letting me know!
I made these tonight and they came out great! Had to use ketchup instead . Couldn’t decide if I wanted meatloaf or the stuffed peppers so I topped em off with a few slices of bacon to get the best of both worlds. Great recipe, simple and few dishes needed. Exactly what us college students need!
Darius, I’m so glad you enjoyed them! The bacon sounds like a delicious addition!!
My parents made this and my dad was the only big pepper eater.. so to for us kids so we didn’t know we were eating peppers.. she chopped up the pepper really small and just put the meat sauce in a casserole dish and cooked it up. We ate it up and never knew why it was called stuffed peppers when there were no “stuffed peppers” until we got older! LOL
Funny! 🙂
Can I cook these tonight and place in fridge to serve tomorrow? Would I just re-heat in microwave or toss bake in oven?
I wouldn’t cook then reheat. Instead, I would stuff them tonight and refrigerate them, then cook them tomorrow. The heating then reheating will render the pepper too soft, I’m afraid.
I just want to double check, you don’t need to cover it with foil or anything, just leave them open in the baking dish? Want to make these tonight but just want to be sure.
That’s correct, no need to cover them. Enjoy! 🙂
I love the concept! And the use of the different colored peppers! I always used the green ones just as my mother always did. 🙂 Can’t find the meatloaf sauce – not sure I have ever seen it at our stores around here. Would some marinara sauce be a good substitute? And add some Heinz ketchup mixed w/tomato sauce to add a little zing.
I think opting for a tomato sauce would be most like it, but I would definitely add in some Heinz ketchup! Enjoy!
this looks yummm!
quick question, the tomatoe sauce you say to put on top is reg or also flavored?
Thanks for the question, Jennifer. It is just plain, but you are welcome to use flavored for even more flavor. Enjoy!
I have a small garden with an abundance of peppers! Would like to prepare this for the freezer. Would I prepare just as I were going to put in the oven and then put in my freezer container or pre-cook and then put in freezer containers?
Hi Marilyn! What a great idea! Yes, I would just prepare it as if you were going to put it in the oven and just freeze them in freezer containers.
Love the recipe. I cannot have dairy so this worked for me. I love your site.
Thanks, James!
I am going to try these tonight. They look amazing and I have been looking for new ways to introduce healthy veggies to my 2 young kids. This is a wonderful idea!
Thanks, Cori! I hope everyone enjoys them!
Hm ok I will look again. Thanks! These look fantastic. I can’t wait to try them.
I usually find it with the other Hunt’s canned tomato products.
I also couldn’t find the meatloaf sauce. No problem! I used hunts spicy tomato sauce and mixed in some McCormick meatloaf seasoning. Melted shredded cheeses over them at the end. So good. Thanks for this recipe!
I’m SO glad you enjoyed it!
Hmmm, like the shredded cheese idea!
What section of the grocery store do you buy the meatloaf sauce in? I have looked at 2 different stores & can’t find it. Maybe I’m looking in the wrong place???
I cant wait to try these! I just knew there had to be an easier way. Thanks for all your hard work. Love the new look of everything <3
Thanks, Jenny! I hope you enjoy them!
The recipe does not say, but I would assume that you cook the rice and brown the ground beef before mixing and stuffing in the peppers?
Nope. As long as you’re using instant rice, you don’t cook either. The cook time is long enough to cook the instant rice and the beef. You can use cooked regular rice, if you don’t have instant.
Thanks
These look delicious AND beautiful!
Yummy … can’t wait to try it !!
Cook the instant rice first or no?
There’s no need to cook the instant rice in advance.