Stuffed peppers without rice will become one of your new favorite low carb dinners. It consists of only 7 basic ingredients and can be ready in less than an hour for the whole family!
Why you should make this recipe
These stuffed peppers are a treat to make! Bright, colorful peppers stuffed with low-carbohydrate minced and cauliflower filling with the addition of melted cheese and herbs. All ready in less than an hour!
It’s the perfect comfort meal that’s both hearty and delicious.
These peppers can be easily prepared ahead of time and then put in the oven to relieve the stress of dinner.
Ingredients
These delicious stuffed peppers require very basic ingredients that are available at any grocery store:
- Peppers: We used a combination of yellow, red and green peppers. Use your favorite full-sized peppers.
- Frying oil: Extra virgin olive oil is a good choice, but you can replace it with any healthy frying oil.
- ground meat: Ground beef is always good, but ground chicken, turkey or pork will work.
- white or yellow onion
- fresh garlic
- cauliflower rice (buy or make your own cauliflower rice)
- thick marinara sauce: Make sure you use a good quality sugar-free marinara sauce.
- fresh thyme
- shredded mozzarella
- salt and pepper
Step by step instructions
Making low carb stuffed peppers while preserving their full flavor is relatively easy.
Step 1: Wash and dry the peppers. Cut in half lengthwise and remove the membrane and seeds with a spoon. Arrange the peppers in an ovenproof dish cut side up. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 2: Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and leave to warm. Sauté the onion for 3-4 minutes until translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add ground beef and cook for 6-8 minutes, breaking up the meat. Cook until the beef is browned and no pink is visible. Set aside in a bowl.
Step 3: In the same pan, add the cauliflower with rice and fry over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until softened and some of the moisture evaporates.
Step 4: Add the marinara sauce, fresh thyme, salt and pepper to the pan and mix. Reduce the heat to medium-low for 2 minutes until it is completely hot.
Step 5: Transfer the minced meat mixture back to the pan and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and mix in the crumbled cheese (reserve some for sprinkling on top).
Step 5: Pour the mixture of meat and sauce into the peppers. Sprinkle each pepper half with the remaining cheese.
Step 6: Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes in an oven preheated to 350°F (180°C). Remove the foil and bake for a further 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted and browned.
Remove from the oven and serve warm.
I like to decorate these peppers with fresh herbs (basil works great), but you don’t have to. The dish already has many flavors.
Expert advice
While these low carb stuffed peppers are pretty easy and come together quickly, there are things you can do to cut down the time.
- No fresh thyme? Don’t worry – just use 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme.
- Fresh garlic is always best, but jar-ground garlic can be used instead. Three medium-sized cloves correspond to 3 teaspoons or 1 tablespoon. But when it comes to garlic, measure with your heart, not your spoon.
- When covering the baking dish with foil, be careful that the foil does not touch the cheese by rolling it up.
Variations
This recipe can be easily modified to suit your needs and dietary preferences. Check out these ideas:
- Skip the cheese for the dairy-free stuffed peppers.
- Sub Italian sausage with ground beef (but be sure to check the ingredient list for added sugar and salt). Adds great flavor!
- You can use lean ground beef or ground turkey to reduce calories.
- Marinara sauce can be replaced with spaghetti sauce or regular tomato sauce.
- Add other vegetables such as diced zucchini and cook with cauliflower rice for extra nutrition.
Serving suggestions
Stuffed peppers are full of flavor and nutrition and are great on their own. But if you’re serving it to guests or just want something extra, a low-carb salad or roasted vegetables will go incredibly well and make for a very well-rounded meal.
If you’re serving the peppers with a baked vegetable, you can even roast both at the same time.
Storage instructions
This recipe is so good that leftovers probably won’t be a problem! If you have some peppers, you can store them in the refrigerator. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
To reheat, use the microwave or heat in the oven for 15 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until the cheese melts and the filling is completely heated. Finally, put the grate in the oven to keep the cheese nice and bubbly.
Nutrition tips
These delicious stuffed peppers are naturally gluten-free and easily modified to be dairy-free. They pack a nice chunk of protein while keeping carbs low.
The most important thing to remember when making these stuffed peppers is to check labels for added salt and sugar in packaged foods.
For this reason, I recommend sugar-free marinara sauce to keep it really low in carbs.
Additionally, you can use leaner ground meat like chicken or turkey if you’re watching your calories.
Frequently asked questions
As long as the stuffed peppers are covered with aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes of cooking, they are perfectly tender. Therefore, it is not necessary to pre-cook the peppers separately.
Yes! This is an important step as it steams the peppers, softening them until tender. This keeps the meat stuffing from drying out. It is enough to cook the peppers covered for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil to melt and lightly brown the cheese.
Not surprisingly, the sweeter the pepper, the higher the carb count. Green peppers have the lowest amount of carbs, reaching just 4.5 grams of net carbs per medium-sized bell pepper, followed by red peppers with around 6.2 grams of net carbs. Finally, yellow bell peppers have the most carbs in 10 grams of net carbs.
Other recipes for healthy low carb dinners
If you enjoyed this recipe, here are some other easy low carb recipes you might like:
You can also read this roundup I created from 10 Healthy Diabetic Dinner Recipes for even more great low carb dinner ideas.
Once you’ve made these stuffed peppers without rice, don’t forget to let me know how you liked it and rate the recipe in the comments below!
recipe card
Stuffed peppers without rice
Stuffed peppers without rice will become one of your new favorite low carb dinners. Ready in minutes for the whole family!
Portions:6 portions
Instructions
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preheat oven to 350°F (180°c).
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Wash and dry the peppers. Cut in half lengthwise and remove the membrane and seeds with a spoon. Arrange the peppers in an ovenproof dish cut side up. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
3 peppers
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Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the oil and let it warm up. Fry the onion for 3-4 minutes or until translucent. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add ground beef and cook for 6-8 minutes, breaking up the meat. Cook until the beef is browned and no pink is visible. Set aside in a bowl.
2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 medium yellow or white onion, diced 3 garlic cloves, chopped, 1 pound of ground beef
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In the same pan, add the cauliflower and rice over medium heat and cook for 5-7 minutes or until tender and some of the moisture has evaporated.
2 cups of cooked cauliflower rice
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Add marinara sauce, fresh thyme, salt and pepper and mix. Reduce the heat to medium-low for 2 minutes until it is completely hot.
1 cup thick marinara sauce 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, ½ teaspoon of sea salt, ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
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Transfer the minced meat mixture back to the pan and stir to combine. Cook for an additional minute or until heated through. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup grated cheese.
1 cup mozzarella, shredded
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Put the meat and sauce mixture into the bell pepper halves. Sprinkle each pepper half with the remaining cheese.
1 cup mozzarella, shredded
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Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and cook for another 5 minutes.
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Garnish with fresh herbs if desired, serve and enjoy.
fresh herbs
Notes to the recipe
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
To reheat, use the microwave or heat in the oven for 15 minutes at 350°F (180°C) until the cheese melts and the filling is completely heated.
Nutritional information per serving
Nutrition Facts
Stuffed peppers without rice
Amount per serving
Calories 335
220 calories from fat
% Daily Value*
Fat 24.4g38%
Saturated fat 8.3 g42%
trans fats 0g
polyunsaturated fats 0.5g
monounsaturated fats 3.3g
cholesterol 65.4 mg22%
Sodium 330.4 mg14%
Potassium 297 mg8%
Carbohydrates 11.2g4%
Fiber 2.8g11%
Sugar 5.5g6%
Protein 18.9g38%
Net carbs 8.4g
* Daily percentages are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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