Last Updated on January 19, 2026 by Carrie Korem, FNTP
These stuffed bell peppers with ground beef are one of my favorite easy dinners. They are colorful, filling, and made with simple ingredients. This recipe is naturally gluten free and very flexible, which makes it perfect for busy weeks or relaxed family dinners.
I love that you can swap cauliflower rice for white or brown rice depending on what your body tolerates. I usually use cauliflower rice and never tell my family. No one notices and everyone loves them.
This is also a great meal to prep ahead and bake later, which makes life so much easier.
Stuffed Bell Peppers with Ground Beef Recipe
This stuffed bell peppers recipe is hearty enough to stand on its own. Two pepper halves per person is usually perfect. The flavors are warm and comforting, with cumin, green chiles, and melted cheese bringing everything together.
If you want to add a simple salad on the side, that works beautifully too.
Stuffed Bell Peppers Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil
- 6 green onions, sliced, white and green parts separated
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 cups riced cauliflower or cooked white or brown rice
- 1 can or jar green chiles
- 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
- 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
- 4 large red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, cut in half and seeded
- 1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
- 1/2 cup salsa
To make the cauliflower rice, cut raw cauliflower into small pieces and pulse in a food processor until it looks like rice.
How to Make Stuffed Bell Peppers
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and adjust the rack to the middle position.
Heat the ghee or coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the white parts of the green onions and the ground beef. Cook until the beef is no longer pink, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Make a small space in the center of the pan and add the cumin and garlic. Let it cook for about 45 seconds until fragrant, then stir everything together.
Add the cauliflower rice or cooked rice, green chiles, 1 cup of the cheese, and sea salt. Stir until well combined, then remove from the heat.
Place the bell peppers cut side up in a large baking dish. Divide the filling evenly between the peppers. Pour 1/2 cup water into the bottom of the dish.
Cover the peppers with parchment paper, then foil. Bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil and parchment. Top each pepper with sour cream, salsa, and the remaining cheese.
Bake for another 10 minutes, until the cheese is melted and lightly golden. Serve warm.
Storage
These stuffed peppers with ground beef store very well.
You can keep leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat gently in the oven or on the stovetop.
You can also prep the peppers up to 24 hours ahead, store them covered in the fridge, and bake when ready.
What to Serve with Stuffed Bell Peppers
These peppers are filling on their own, but they pair nicely with simple sides like:
- Copycat Olive Garden salad
- Sliced avocado
- Sautéed leafy greens
Keeping the sides simple lets the peppers shine.
What Kind of Meat Is Best in Stuffed Peppers
Ground beef, turkey, or chicken all work well in stuffed peppers.
I usually choose ground beef because it adds richness and flavor, but turkey and chicken are great options if you want something lighter. Just be sure to season well so the filling stays flavorful.
Southwestern Stuffed Bell Peppers
To “rice” the cauliflower – cut raw cauliflower into bite-size pieces. Place cauliflower in the food processor. Pulse for about seven 1-second pulses until cauliflower pieces are about the size of rice.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Category: Main Dish
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons ghee or coconut oil
- 6 green onions, sliced, white and green parts separated
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 cloves garlic
- 3 cups riced cauliflower, (see headnote)
- 1 (4.5-ounce) can or jar green chiles
- 2 cups shredded Monterrey Jack cheese (or Fontina for Gaps approved), divided (omit for dairy free)
- 1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt
- 4 large red, yellow or orange bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise, seeds removed
- 1/2 cup sour cream or creme fraiche (omit for dairy free)
- 1/2 cup salsa (here's a great recipe for homemade salsa)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375ºF and adjust rack to middle position. Melt coconut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion whites and beef and cook until beef is no longer pink, about 5-7 minutes. Make a well in the center of the pan and add the cumin and garlic. Cook in the middle of the pan until fragrant, about 45 seconds and then stir into beef mixture. Add riced cauliflower, chiles, 1 cup cheese and sea salt to pan and stir until all ingredients are incorporated. Remove from heat.
- Place peppers cut side up in a large baking dish. Divide filling mixture evenly among peppers. Pour 1/2 cup water in the bottom of the pan and then cover peppers with a layer of parchment paper followed by a layer foil (I do this so the aluminum doesn’t touch the food). Bake for 25 minutes and remove from oven. Remove the foil and parchment and top each pepper with a bit of sour cream, salsa and remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake for an additional 10 minutes until cheese is bubbly and golden brown. Serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: Serving size: 4
Would we use / need 3 of brown rice if we didn’t use the cauliflower? Thanks! Looks delicious by
the way.
Yes, you can substitute with 3 cups of cooked brown rice.
I see in the ingredients list you call for the riced cauliflower to be cooked – did you just steam it before you incorporated it into the peppers? This recipe looks delicious!
I have no idea why I put the word “cooked” in there. Sorry! I made the edit. 🙂 It’s simply raw cauliflower that has been chopped into small pieces.
Thank you – and now this recipe is even easier! I can’t wait to try it.
how do you suggest cooking the riced cauliflower? like your fried rice recipe?
I made the edit. The word “cooked” shouldn’t be there. 🙂
How do you cook the riced cauliflower?
The riced cauliflower is raw. No need to cook it! 🙂
These sound simply fabulous! I love this idea!
Love the idea of this recipe, and I love red peppers. Still not sure if I can talk myself into eating one while like that as the crust. 😉 I’m sure one day….I’m surprising myself left and right these past couple years. Now if only my hubby could be as adventurous….we’d be set! These look incredible!
Delish!! Will be trying that soon!! I think some of my kidlets will eat it, and the ones that won’t eat the peppers will donate them to meeeee 🙂
AMAZING. I’m in love.
Oh I love stuffed peppers. These look so good, Carrie!
How should I cook the cauliflower? Haha, just kidding. 😉 This looks delish!
I used half a head of cauliflower and made “rice” out of it as you suggest here that I then mixed with some leftover homemade stir fry from a couple of nights ago, and my husband had NO IDEA that it wasn’t real rice! Awesome! Also, tried the “Magic Shell” trick that you posted on Facebook a couple of weeks ago as well – it totally works! It’s seriously yummy made with a combo of milk & dark chocolates (2oz milk to 5oz 85% dark – I use Theo brand bars). Thanks for these amazing tips!
How fun! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it! It’s kinda crazy how you can’t tell there is cauliflower in there, right? 🙂 I like your combo of the milk and dark chocolates. Yum!
Any idea what I can subsititute for the cheese? Can’t do soy… corn? I can’t think of what would work.
You could opt to leave out the cheese completely. It binds the ingredients a bit, but it can be omitted without changing the taste too much.
Thanks for this Carrie! Just pinned it!
Made these tonight for dinner. Amazing! So good and easy to make too!
These sound and look delicious. I love stuffed peppers but the traditional way with rice can be so heavy. Can’t wait to try them with cauliflower! Thanks for the great idea.
Hi Carrie –
Thanks for all your wonderful recipes. When I print one off, I only get text and not the beautiful photo of the dish – could you please – pretty please – make it so that we get a beautiful picture with the recipe?
Thank you!
I’m thinking of subbing ground turkey – love the cauliflower…
instead of beef i wanna do this with mushrooms..yummy!
Why shouldn’t the foil touch the peppers? I’ve read other recipes of yours where you say this same thing.
Aluminum from pans and foil can leach into food, so I prefer to add a layer of parchment.
These are excellent! Made them for dinner tonight and everyone loved them. Took my extra cauliflower and put it in the pan around my peppers, sprinkled with a little seasoned salt and it was great and made an instant side dish. Will be making these again. Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks for the feedback. I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I love your site! Made these tonight and man, were they good! The Aquarian in me had to tweak the recipe just a bit….added Italian sweet sausage, oregano, chile powder, couple of teaspoons worcestershire and a 6 oz. can of tomato sauce. Will definitely make these again. Would be good with Mexican sausage added to hamburger. Thanks for all the informative advice. I’m slowly learning how to cook healthier for my family!
I love your adaptation! I need to try that!
Stuffed bell peppers are one of my favorite meals; love your Southwestern spin!
Thanks, Laura!
Okay Carrie Lady… I’m so trying this recipe. Life has been crazy and I can get back into the kitchen again. I can not wait to make this recipe… and I’m thankful I read in the comments about riced cauliflower… I had not ever heard of that before… but it seems like a super easy and yummy recipe…. love.
~ kim
Dear Carrie, I’ve tried it 2 ways because I didn’t have a luck with baking. After 25+10+5+5+5+5 min (!) in 375 degrees peppers and cauliflower rice were still uncooked. Second part I simmered them with a bit of water covered in a pan for an 1,5 hr. They turned out great!
Making these right now! Smells good. Didn’t have enough ground beef (used some leftover cooked ground beef I had in the freezer) but I added some more veggies like shredded carrots and fresh spinach. Can’t wait to try it! Thanks for the idea of riced cauliflower.
Delicious Southwestern Stuffed Bell Peppers! Do you know the approximate calorie count per serving? (1/2 bell pepper) I realize that it would depend on the size and amount put in the bell pepper.
Thanks! I don’t have the calorie count. I know there are several cooking softwares out there that can do that for you.
For 3 cups of riced cauliflower, do you think I should use 2 heads of cauliflower? I’m guessing with that. Actually, I wouldn’t mind having a little extra since I’m probably going to use stuff 5-6 peppers. My family likes to eat…
This will be my first attempt at cauliflower rice in any recipe, and am making it for my parents and my brother. My mom is completely on board, but my dad and brother are probably going to judge their idea of cauliflower rice from here on out based on how this recipe goes, so I’m hoping for the best!
Ok, I made this recipe for the first time; 1 head of cauliflower was more than enough, and actually made more filling than I needed. I ended up stuffing 5 peppers, and could easily have done a 6th.
My family LOVED it. They are a hard sell with new recipes, but this was definitely a hit! I added a little extra cumin, and even a little chili powder, since we like it spicy, and also because I think I used more than 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The whole family said lets have this again, and we’re eating leftovers for lunch today!
Thanks for an excellent recipe, I will be coming back to your blog for more!
Yay!! I’m so glad they all enjoyed it! My family had the same reaction the first time I made this recipe. It’s amazing how much the cauliflower tastes like rice and blends in so nicely with the other flavors. Enjoy your leftovers! 🙂
I made this recipe last night – delicious and pretty guilt-free. I sprinkled a little gluten-free breadcrumbs on top for a little extra crunch. Yum! Thanks for sharing!