Stuffed green peppers have always been a family favorite in my house. It is a very frugal dinner, too!
Ingredients:
Steps:
This is a low-carb version of this classic dish. I used ground beef. Equivalent amounts of any ground meat or beans could be used for variety. You may also vary the spices. Recipe can be doubled, tripled or even quadrupled.
Do I blanch them first? How long? Then do I let them freeze and stuff them or do I blanch, then stuff them, and then freeze? I'm sorry about this; it is my first time. I'm excited about it, but want to do them the right way? Please help. Thank you.
By Joanne from Attica, IN
Just cut off the tops, remove the seeds and membrane inside, stuff and bake. I like to bake them with the tops on simply because you can still eat the top (just don't eat the stem - LOL) and having the top on helps keep the top portion of the stuffing moist.
I don't know about blanching but I do know that when your pepper is prepared you stuff them with your already cooked stuffing and freeze them. Last time my mom and I froze green peppers we put them in individual sandwich bags and then a Velvetta cheese box. Closed it up and tossed it in the Freezer. When your ready to have them for a meal you put them in the over and warm them thoroughly (it took like 30 minutes, we just had them last week).
I really don't think you blanch them but you can probably Google Green Pepper recipe and if it says you blanch them before baking then you blanch them before freezing.
It's simple, you're making a "frozen food". All frozen foods are thoroughly cooked before frozen, packaged and shipped to the market.
My experience has been that you do not need to blanch the green peppers first, to freeze your stuffed peppers. I also chop and without blanching, freeze green peppers to preserve them and use in recipes during the winter.
I made them for the first time the other day and I looked online and it said to blanch them for 5 minutes in boiling water. It also said it works better to cut them lengthwise, deseed, and then stuff. I did it and it worked great for me.
Stuffed green peppers remind me of being a kid. My Mom's recipe was the best! Now I have tweaked and tweaked, and made up my own. I hope you like it.
Another favorite of my husband. We love fresh peppers and this recipe is great!
I was reading a blog about freezing green peppers for stuffing. One lady said she freezes the peppers already stuffed, but not cooked. I'm looking a for a great stuffed green pepper with rice and meat not already cooked. Sorta like a meatball and using tomato sauce and no cheese. Thanks so much.
By Leslie
Whatever recipe you decide to use you'll want to pre-prepare any of the cooked portions of the stuffing, allow to cool, stuff into the peppers and freeze. This first recipe you can switch rice for the barley but adjust the cooking time accordingly. For the second recipe you can simply switch to beef instead of pork.
Tex Mex Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients:
4 large green bell peppers
2 cans (14-1/2 oz.) fire roasted diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/4 tsp hot pepper sauce
2 cups cooked pearl barley (I pre-cook the day before if going to be in a time pinch)
1 cup cooked chicken, roughly chopped
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup Pepper Jack cheese, shredded
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut peppers in half lengthwise, remove seeds, discard stems and place, cut side up, in a 13 x 9 baking dish.
Combine the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and pepper sauce in a large bowl. Stir in the barley, chicken and beans and spoon mixture in to the peppers. Cover and bake for 40 to 45 minutes.
Sprinkle with cheese and bake uncovered 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.
Pork Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients:
6 green bell peppers, tops cut off and seeded
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large skillet, sauté pork and onions for 5 minutes or until pork is browned and then season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, rice and water. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until rice is tender. Remove from heat and stir in the cheese.
Stuff each pepper with the pork and rice mixture and place peppers top side up in a baking dish.
Combine soup with 1/2 cup water in a bowl and pour over the peppers. Bake covered for 25 to 35 minutes until almost heated through and then an additional 5 minutes uncovered.
Slice tops from green peppers; remove seeds and membranes. Parboil in boiling, salted water to cover, five minutes in covered pan. Drain. Combine remaining ingredients. spoon into peppers. Place in baking pan.
