Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan (Video)
Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan are one of my earliest and most popular recipes for stuffed peppers, and they freeze well too!
PIN Stuffed Green Peppers to make them later!
I’m a long-time fan of stuffed bell peppers, and I’ve made a lot of stuffed pepper varieties through the years. But what inspired me to create this recipe for Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan was finding an amazing sale on green peppers at the grocery store. I stocked up on peppers and let what I found in the fridge inspire the recipe.
At first I planned to make a meatless stuffed pepper but when I found two links of Jenni-O turkey Italian sausage in the fridge. I couldn’t resist adding that to the mix. However, you could easily make this vegetarian by substituting sauteed mushrooms for the sausage. But don’t skip the ground fennel and grated Parmesan added to the stuffing because that flavor combination is what makes these stuffed peppers so over-the-top good!
What ingredients do you need?
- Uncle Ben’s Brown Rice (affiliate link), or other long-grain brown rice
- green bell peppers
- onion
- Olive Oil (affiliate link)
- Sweet Italian Sausage
- ground fennel (affiliate link)
- dried Greek Oregano (affiliate link)
- grated Parmesan cheese
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- grated mozzarella cheese
How can you make these stuffed green peppers lower in carbs?
You could use more sausage and less rice if you want a pepper recipe that’s lower in carbs. Or check out Low-Carb and Keto Stuffed Pepper Recipes for lots more tasty ideas!
What kind of Italian sausage should you use?
I prefer Jenni-O turkey Italian sausage for this recipe, but if you have a hard time finding that any turkey Italian sausage or pork Italian sausage will be fine.
Can you use other colors of peppers?
Of course you can use another color of peppers for this recipe if the green ones don’t appeal to you!
How to make Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan:
(Scroll down for complete recipe with nutritional information.)
- I started by cooking one cup of Uncle Ben’s Brown Rice in my Zojirushi Rice Cooker (affiliate link), or follow package directions and cook the rice on the stove.
- Then barely slice off the bottom of each pepper so they stand up in the dish.
- Cut off stem end of the pepper, then remove seeds and membranes.
- Remove the stems, then chop up the pepper tops along with one large onion.
- Heat olive oil, then saute the peppers and onions for 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Remove peppers and onions, add more olive oil, then squeeze the sausage out of the casings and saute until browned, breaking apart with the turner.
- Add the onions and peppers to the sausage, add dried spices and saute 2-3 minutes to blend the flavors.
- Then mix in the cooked brown rice and Parmesan cheese and cook 1-2 minutes to warm the mixture.
- Stuff the filling mixture into the peppers, pushing down with a spoon so the peppers are tightly stuffed.
- Cook the stuffed peppers at 375 F/190C for about 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, remove from oven and put a generous pinch of grated mozzarella on top of each pepper.
- Put peppers back in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes more, or until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.
More Tasty Recipes with Bell Peppers:
Sausage and Pepperoni Pizza Stuffed Peppers
Cauliflower Rice Southwestern Stuffed Peppers
Italian Sausage and Mini-Pepper Sheet Pan Meal
Weekend Food Prep:
Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan are a perfect recipe to double so you have some to refrigerate or freeze for later, so this recipe has been added to a new category called Weekend Food Prep to help you find recipes you can prep or cook on the weekend and eat during the week!
Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan
Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan are one of my earliest and most popular recipes for stuffed peppers.
Ingredients
- 1 C uncooked long-grain brown rice (I used Uncle Ben's Brown Rice, but any long-grain rice will work.)
- 4 large green bell peppers, bottom trimmed, cap end cut off and diced, and seeds removed
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 T olive oil
- 8 ounces turkey Sweet Italian Sausage (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp. ground fennel
- 1/2 tsp. dried Greek or Turkish oregano
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Cook rice according to package directions, or using a rice cooker. (Rice can be cooked ahead and used in this recipe later.)
- Preheat oven to 375F/190C.
- Trim bottom of bell peppers so they have a flat surface to stand on. Cut off a fairly generous amount of the stem end of peppers, then remove seeds.
- Place hollowed-out peppers in a baking dish that you've sprayed with non-stick spray or olive oil. (A dish that's close in size to the peppers will work best.)
- Remove stem part from the pepper caps and trim off any white membrane, then dice pepper caps and the onion into fairly small dice.
- Heat 2 tsp. olive oil in a large skillet, then saute diced pepper and onion for 3-4 minutes, until they are starting to soften but aren't browned.
- Remove pepper-onion mixture to a bowl, add 1 tsp. more olive oil, then squeeze sausage out of the casing and cook until it's lightly browned, breaking apart with the back of the turner.
- Put the onion-pepper mixture back into the pan with the sausage, add the dried spices, and saute 2-3 minutes to blend the flavors.
- Then add cooked rice and Parmesan cheese, season the mixture with salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste, and cook just long enough to warm, about 1-2 minutes.
- Stuff the filling mixture into the hollowed-out peppers, using a spoon to press the mixture down so it's tightly packed into the pepper shell. (A few years ago I stopped pre-cooking the peppers before stuffing, and now I prefer peppers that are stuffed raw.) If you have any extra filling, you can put it in a small ramekin and bake along with the peppers.
- Bake peppers for 30 minutes, then remove from oven and put a generous pinch of grated mozzarella on top of each pepper. Put peppers back into the oven and bake about 10-15 minutes more, until cheese is melted and lightly browned. Serve hot.
- You can freeze leftover peppers for a month or two, although the frozen peppers will be a little softer in texture (but still very tasty.) I cut them in half top-to-bottom before freezing and freeze two halves in a small baking dish with a snap-on lid.
Notes
Use any sausage of your choice. Use diced mushrooms instead of sausage for vegetarian version. This recipe created by Kalyn when her market had a great sale on peppers!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
4Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 345Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 5gUnsaturated Fat: 8gCholesterol: 84mgSodium: 597mgCarbohydrates: 23gFiber: 3gSugar: 5gProtein: 27g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by the Recipe Plug-In I am using. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee 100% accuracy, since many variables affect those calculations.
Low-Carb Diet / Low-Glycemic Diet / South Beach Diet Suggestions:
Green and red bell peppers are low-carb and very nutritious, and Stuffed Green Peppers with Italian Sausage and Brown Rice are a great main dish for phase 2 or 3 of the South Beach Diet. For Phase One or other Low-Carb Diets, you might like my Low-Carb Stuffed Peppers with Turkey Italian Sausage, Ground Beef, and Mozzarella.
Find More Recipes Like This One:
Use Oven Dinners to find more recipes like this one. Use the Recipes by Diet Type photo index pages to find more recipes suitable for a specific eating plan. You might also like to Follow Kalyn’s Kitchen on Pinterest to see all the good recipes I’m sharing there.
Historical Notes for this Recipe:
This recipe was first posted in 2010. I used to make Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan often for my father, and I’ll always think of sharing them with him whenever I make this recipe. The recipe was last updated with more information in 2021.
127 Comments on “Stuffed Green Peppers with Brown Rice, Italian Sausage, and Parmesan (Video)”
I had cracks in my green peppers so I just cut them up and tossed every thing in a casserole. Great taste
Good idea; glad you enjoyed it!
Loved these! I made them last night and my boyfriend, who originally protested the idea because he thought he didn't like stuffed bell peppers, LOVED them. I used 2 green and 2 red and both were awesome. The filling is also great to have by itself if you run out of peppers.
I'd highly recommend!
Thanks Dana! I love hearing that they won over the boyfriend!
Made these tonight and they were so delicious!! I served marinara sauce on the side and it was great. Thanks for the recipe!
The peppers will be best baked right before you serve them. If you need to cook ahead, I would bake slightly longer than the recommended time, put the dish (covered with foil) in the fridge, then let come to room temperature and finish baking when you eat.
Can i bake in the morning and keep on the counter and reheat at night for dinner?
Love this recipe, I can't wait to make it for my mom because she is just so healthy and was yelling at me because I made a fattening Chicken recipe yesterday -_-"
Meg, so glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Wow made these tonight for my boyfriend and I, they were absolutely delicious. Used bratwurst for the meat and threw in some italian bread crumbs. A perfect light and delicious summer dinner! Thanks a million!
Amanda, so glad you liked it. My version uses turkey Italian sausage, but I'm sure pork would also be delicious.
AMAZING. I made this last night and added a can of tomatos to the recipe. I had so much extra mixture left over that I went ahead and baked it in a corningware dish as a casserole. In the future, we will probably just cut up all the peppers and add to the mixture and bake as a casserole. YUM YUM. The usage of pork rather than beef added such a richness to the dish. Going in our menu planning rotation frequently!!
The recipe uses 1 cup of UNCOOKED rice. It seemed clear to me, since the first instruction is to cook the rice; sorry if it was confusing for you.
Can you please tell me if the rice measurement is cooked or uncooked? I think the directions are telling us to cook 1 cup of rice according to the package directions, which would mean the recipe yields more than 1 cup of cooked rice. Many thanks.
Making these tonight can't wait to try them !!! Thanks Kalyn !! =)
I think that's a fantastic idea. And everybody always likes the filling, even if they don't like peppers! Thanks for sharing.
These look fantastic. I always make extra stuffing, put stuffed peppers in pan, then put extra stuffing in pan around peppers. This way you don't need to trim the bottoms.
I added a head of cabbage to stuffing and used ground turkey in lieu of beef. C'est bon!
Sarah, small cubes of browned tofu, sauteed zucchini, chopped and sauteed cabbage?
Thank you so much for the recipe! I've made this one several times for friends and family and it's always a huge hit! I actually have some friends coming over who requested I make these but I recently chose to become a vegetarian. Do you have any suggestions to what I could put in mine instead of meat? I don't like mushrooms and that seems to be the only replacement I've seen.. Thank you again for the fantastic recipe!
I don't know about ww points, but in the FAQ there is a link for a site I recommend that will calculate the nutritional information if that helps.
Does anyone happen to know how many WW points these are? I made them before and love them but now I'm doing Weight Watchers and I need the nutritional information.