Un Stuffed Pepper Casserole

/ Jodi

Un-Stuffed Pepper Casserole.  It’s what’s for dinner…

I love stuffed peppers, but for some reason, I don’t make them very often.  Not sure why.  But on a recent visit to our local John’s Bar, the dinner special was stuffed pepper casserole.  I nabbed the last one – much to some of our friends at the bar’s dismay.

I really enjoyed it and thought it must be simple to make.  And it occurred to me that we usually end up chopping up our stuffed peppers on our plate to eat, so why not deconstruct them in a casserole?!

I did a bit of googling, and I took some ideas from some recipes I found, combined them with my stuffed pepper recipe and thoughts of what I would like, and I came up with this yummy quick and easy skillet supper.

It was windy and rainy off and  on yesterday, so it was a perfect evening for a comfort-type dish.  I served ours over mashed potatoes (mainly because that’s how we like to eat our stuffed peppers too), but it is totally not necessary.  You can sprinkle some shredded cheese on top – or not – again – up to you.  You can tweak it up even healthier if you like by using ground turkey instead of ground beef and brown rice or even quinoa or your favorite grain instead of the rice.

If you’ve been hanging around here for any amount of time, you know I’m the queen of improvising on recipes.  I rarely measure, and I love experimenting.  If it calls for “this,” why not try “that.”  And cooking is really not brain surgery or rocket science, so if you add a smidge instead of a dash – who cares!  The palm of my hand is my measuring spoon.  Sometimes it works good – sometimes it’s just so-so, but as long as I am having fun creating – whether it’s food or photography or art – it’s all good.

Yep – that’s what it’s about here – being creative “in between” the times when we have to do the routine.

Hope you’ll give this yummy dish a try.  Do it my way – or do it your way.  Just have fun creating it!.

Un-Stuffed Pepper Casserole

Ingredients:

  • I Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 large sweet onion, chopped
  • 3 bell peppers, chopped (I used one red, one orange, and one yellow)
  • 1 1/2 – 2 lbs. ground beef (my package had 1 3/4 lb. in it)
  • 2 tsp. smoked paprika (oh how I adore the SMOKED paprika!)
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • Salt and Black Pepper to taste ( I used about 1 tsp of each)
  • 1 cup cooked rice (I used Jasmine – I love Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice – it’s NO FAIL and so easily ready in 90 seconds)
  • 1  10 3/4 oz. can condensed tomato soup & 1 can water
  • 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, optional
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onions for garnish, optional

Directions:

In a large skillet over high heat, heat the olive oil.  Add chopped onions and peppers and salt to taste.  Once limp and onions are translucent after a few minutes, add ground beef and brown until no longer pink.  Add smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper.  Stir in cooked rice, soup, water, and diced tomatoes.  Cook for additional 10-15 minutes.

Sprinkle with cheese (if desired) and garnish with chopped green onions.  

Enjoy!

Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi

31 thoughts on “Un Stuffed Pepper Casserole”

  2. Jodi–

    Love this!! How did you know that I have a bag of green peppers in the ‘fridge that I need to use ASAP? I have copied this recipe, and will put it together later on. Thanks for the great idea! 🙂

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  12. I that know I will be trying this. Does the smoked paprika have a strong flavor? Can I use regular paprika? I want you to get a pressure cooker and start experimenting with recipes in there! I mad a most delicious Mongolian beef in mine.

    Love vet you!😘

    Sent from my iPad

    >

    Liked by 1 person

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    • of course you can use regular paprika if you like. Smoked is not “strong,” but it is “smokey.” 🙂 Use whatever spices you like! That’s my motto!! xoxo PS LOVE mongolian beef. I have a recipe on the blog here for it too 🙂

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  14. I cook the same way, making little adjustments that I think might improve the final product. I’m not always successful, but it does make cooking more fun that following the recipe to the letter. Also, thanks for providing so many great recipes for us to try! Lots of them have ended up in my recipe book.

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