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This Stuffed Pepper Casserole is an easy, flavorful, no-fuss weeknight dinner packed with seasoned rice, ground Italian sausage, veggies, and gooey cheese. It has all the comforting and delicious ingredients of classic stuffed peppers in one easy-to-make casserole!
The Easiest Stuffed Pepper Casserole
I love casseroles, but I especially love this stuffed pepper casserole. It’s the perfect all-in-one meal with a healthy balance of vegetables, protein, and grains. However, the real magic is that it is so easy to prepare. Traditional stuffed peppers require time-consuming stuffing and prepping. With this recipe, everything cooks in one pan – including the rice! It’s the ideal dinner for anyone who loves stuffed peppers but never has the time (or energy) to make them. Plus, kids love it. They’ll never know they’re actually eating veggies.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Find the printable recipe with measurements in the recipe card below.
- Ground Italian Sausage: Ground Italian sausage is full of flavor, thanks to spices like fennel, garlic, and red pepper flakes. You can use sweet or spicy Italian sausage. Possible substitutions include lean ground beef, chorizo, ground chicken, or ground turkey.
- Butter: To soften the vegetables.
- Vegetables: This recipe includes bell peppers, onion, and garlic. I like using different colored bell peppers (red, green, and yellow) for color variation. Other delicious veggies include chopped kale, spinach, frozen peas, and carrots.
- Seasoning: To add flavor to this stuffed pepper casserole, season it with Italian seasoning, chicken bouillon powder, smoked paprika, salt, and black pepper.
- Low-Sodium Chicken Broth: The rice absorbs the broth as everything cooks together. If necessary, substitute with low-sodium beef broth or vegetable broth.
- Tomato Sauce: Added for moisture, acidity, and subtle sweetness.
- Rotel: Canned diced tomatoes mixed with green chilies. The green chilies give the tomatoes a slightly smoky flavor, but it’s very subtle.
- Rice: I like making this recipe with long-grain white rice, but it can also be made with quick-cooking rice (which cooks faster than regular rice) or brown rice. To make it with quick-cooking white rice, decrease the amount of chicken broth to 1 cup, for a ratio of 1:1 rice and broth. For brown rice, increase the amount of chicken broth to 2 cups, for a ratio of 1:2 rice and broth (add more broth if needed). Brown rice takes the longest to cook.
- Cheese: This recipe includes freshly shredded Pepper Jack and Mozzarella cheese. Monterey Jack or Cheddar cheese would also work great in this recipe.
How to Make Stuffed Pepper Casserole
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Brown the sausage: Add the sausage in a large oven-safe skillet set over medium heat. As the meat cooks, use a metal or wood spatula to break it into smaller crumbles.
3. Soften the veggies: When the sausage is cooked about halfway, add the butter, bell peppers, and onion and cook until softened, about 8 minutes.
4. Season and add the rice: Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, bouillon powder, paprika, salt, and pepper, and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the chicken broth, tomato sauce, Rotel, and rice, and mix well to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring it to a simmer. Once simmering, remove from heat and cover the pot with an oven-safe lid or aluminum foil.
5. Bake: Transfer to the oven and bake, covered, for 30 minutes.
6. Add cheese: Remove from the oven and stir in half of the Pepper Jack cheese and all of the mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle the remaining half of the Pepper Jack cheese over the top of the casserole.
7. Bake again: Bake, uncovered, for an additional 20-30 minutes, or until the rice is fully cooked and the cheese is melty and bubbly around the edges.
8. Cool and serve: Allow the casserole to cool for 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy garnished with fresh chopped cilantro, parsley, or green onions.
Recipe Variations
- Vegetarian: Swap the ground Italian sausage for 2 (15-ounce) cans of white beans, adding it at the same time as the rice. Chopped mushrooms are another fantastic meat substitute.
- Low-carb: Ditch the rice for cauliflower rice (or a combination of rice and cauliflower rice). Note that the chicken broth won’t be needed without rice.
How Long Does Stuffed Pepper Casserole Last?
Stuffed pepper casserole makes delicious leftovers and is freezer-friendly!
- Leftovers: Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and store in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Freezing: Allow the casserole to cool completely before transferring it to an airtight container. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
- Reheating: For best results, reheat in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cover with foil and bake for about 20 minutes. To reheat in the microwave, heat in short intervals, approximately 30-60 seconds each.
Cooking Tools for this Recipe
Check out all of my kitchen essentials. (Amazon affiliate links*)
- I highly recommend shredding your own cheese. I use a box cheese grater to shred both the mozzarella and Pepper Jack cheese.
- So that everything cooks in one pan from the stovetop to the oven, use a large 12-inch oven-safe pan or cast iron skillet.
More Casserole Recipes
- Cowboy Casserole
- King Ranch Chicken Casserole
- Cheeseburger Casserole
- Dump and Bake Meatball Casserole
- Crack Chicken Casserole
- Cheeseburger Casserole
- Walking Taco Casserole
BROWSE all of my delicious CASSEROLE RECIPES.
Stuffed Pepper Casserole Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage
- 2 tablespoon salted butter
- 3 bell peppers, seeds removed and diced
- 1 white onion, minced
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 2 teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1½ cups chicken broth
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 (10.5 ounce) can Rotel tomatoes
- 1 cup uncooked white rice
- 2 cups Freshly shredded Pepper Jack cheese
- 1 cup freshly shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add the sausage in a large oven-safe skillet set over medium heat. As the meat cooks, use a metal or wood spatula to break it into smaller pieces.
- When the sausage is cooked halfway, add the butter, bell peppers, and onion and cook until softened, about 8 minutes.
- Add the garlic, Italian seasoning, bouillon powder, paprika, salt, and pepper, and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Then add the chicken broth, tomato sauce, Rotel, and rice, and mix well to combine. Increase the heat to high and bring it to a simmer. Once simmering, remove from heat and cover the pot with an oven-safe lid or aluminum foil.
- Transfer to the oven and bake, covered, for 30 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and stir in half of the Pepper Jack cheese and all of the mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle the remaining half of the Pepper Jack cheese over the top of the casserole.
- Bake, uncovered, for an additional 20-30 minutes, or until the rice is fully cooked and the cheese is melty and bubbly around the edges.
- Allow the casserole to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
