One Pot Wonder Stuffed Pepper Skillet is a simple, one skillet meal that’s beefy, cheesy, sweet, and savory like traditional stuffed peppers. But, it’s ready in half the time.
Stuffed peppers are great. I make them all the time. But, depending on how you make them, they can be a bit tedious to prepare. They often involve browning some meat, cooking some rice, stuffing the peppers, topping the peppers with cheese, then baking. This one pot wonder stuffed pepper skillet has all the flavors of stuffed peppers without all the fuss.
To make this simple one skillet meal, start by browning some ground beef in a large skillet.  Then, drain any excess fat from the beef.
Add uncooked rice, chopped sweet peppers, chopped onion, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, brown sugar, salt, pepper, beef broth, tomato sauce, and canned tomatoes.
Bring the liquid to a boil. Cover the skillet and reduce the heat. Let it cook until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. This will take 20-25 minutes for white rice and 40-45 minutes for brown rice.
Once the rice is cooked, sprinkle shredded Italian blend cheese on top.  Put the lid back on the skillet and let it rest until the cheese is melted.
This simple, one skillet meal is beefy, cheesy, sweet, and savory like traditional stuffed peppers. But, it takes much less effort to prepare, has easier clean up, and is ready in half the time.
You will also love my One Sheet Pan Meatloaf & Veggies Recipe!
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One Pot Wonder Stuffed Pepper Skillet
Video
Ingredients
- 1 lb. extra lean ground beef
- ½ cup uncooked rice
- 1 (15 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
- 1 cup beef broth
- 2 medium sweet bell peppers seeded and chopped
- 1 small yellow onion chopped
- 2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. ground black pepper
- ½ tsp. minced garlic 1 clove
- 1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
Instructions
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat, break up the beef with a wooden spoon. Cook until no pink remains, about 8 minutes. Drain the excess fat.
- Add the rice to the cooked beef. Cook until the rice is golden brown (2-3 minutes), stirring occasionally.
- Add the remaining ingredients, except for the cheese. Stir well. Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and cover the skillet.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender. It will take 20-25 minutes for white rice and 40-45 minutes for brown rice.
- Top with cheese. Cover the skillet and let it rest for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
Nutrition
Check out all of my great ground beef recipes.
I’ve made this 2 times in 2 days it’s so good. I used 1 1/2 lbs ground beef and increased the tomato sauce by a bit. I also grind up the diced tomatoes a bit since my kids don’t like big chunks of tomato. Definitely a new favorite to replace labor intensive stuffed peppers that we love.
I haven’t tried this, but it looks amazingly easy for a weeknight. I’m thinking that I’ll omit the rice and most of the broth, and serve on top of cooked noodles, either macaroni or spaghetti. I might half the brown sugar. I know that sugar cuts the acidity, but seems like a lot for this size dish. This would then essentially be a thick spaghetti sauce or a hearty skillet ragout. Might also throw in some diced yellow squash or zuchinni, as it’s finishing up in the garden bed.
I’ve made this recipe a thousand times with white rice, but the last couple times, I’ve decided to use brown rice. The first time I used brown rice, the rice didn’t cook all the way and I blamed it on my pan because it had been dropped and dented so the lid wouldn’t fit on correctly. I recently got a new pan set and made this recipe again for the first time in a long time and I sat down to eat it and the rice wasn’t done. I followed the directions. It’s 20 minutes longer for the brown rice. I just don’t understand why this is happening. This is a great recipe and I was so disappointed when it didn’t work out.
So delicious!! The brown sugar helps take away some of the acid and was better for me!
thanks for sharing….
This recipe is amazing I make it all the time! Don’t fear the brown sugar I feel like it sweetens up the sauce a little, canned sauces can be a little weird tasting sometimes. Literally this skillet is awesome!
Making this now! It’s summering, tasted the sauce prior and it taste great! Love this idea, I enjoy stuffed peppers but my family just eats everything but the pepper so now it’s not wasteful!
Can quinoa be used instead of rice?
Fantastic! My guys ate the entire pan. No leftovers for us. We added cheese to our own plates instead of adding it to the pan.
This was delicious! I skipped the brown sugar. Instead of melting cheese on top, we did freshly grated parm on our own plates.
Why do you need brown sugar?
What kind of rice do you use?
This is wonderful. I’ve made it once with no brown sugar. Making it again tonight. Delicious!!!!
We loved this recipe. The only modification I would make in the future is a little less brown sugar. Thank you so much! Will be in out monthly rotation.
I made this tonight and it was amazing. I used turkey instead of beef but OMG the flavors are amazing. I followed the recipe exactly except for the turkey substitution. Can’t wait to try more of your recipes.
Thanks Jennifer! This is one of my favorite recipes too. I’ll have to try it with ground turkey next time 🙂
Can you use instant/minute rice in this recipe? Would it cook faster?
Hi Amy,
I would not try it. I think the liquid levels would be a little off and some things in the dish might get enough cooking time. I wouldn’t risk it. 🙂
I just discovered this recipe recently and I’ve made this dish twice in the past 2 weeks. I made it with the minute rice (oops) and it was fantastic. I still left it on the stove for 20 minutes. This will become a regular in my menu.
I just made this but used a big can of tomato sauce and a whole can of beef broth also. I also used a couple pounds hamburger and a bunch of peppers cut up. Only red yell and orange tho I don’t care door green peppers taste. I used minute rice after the peppers and onions became tender and it turned out amazing!! I also used a good two cups or three. Not sure but enough til most liquid was absorbed. I added a bag of cheddar and mozzarella cheese on top. So good and enough to feed an army 😊
recipe is confusing, says at top add rice with other ingredients but at the bottom it says add rice alone after cooking beef and cook for about 2 or 3 mins. Which is it? Also, says 2 sweet bell peppers but yet in the pic it shows red and green peppers, and no where does it mention scallions but yet in pic it shows scallions. recipe and pic does not go together. Brown sugar does not belong in this dish. Never have I ever heard of anyone putting brown sugar in their stuffed peppers. I’ll stick to my own one pot version of stuffed pepper out of the pepper.
Hi Dede,
There is a simplified overview of the recipe at the top of the blog post. The instructions in the recipe are correct. Just follow the directions in the recipe to make this dish. You can use any color of sweet bell pepper that you like; red, green, or yellow would all work well. It is true that there are a few scallions added to the top of the finished dish as a garnish. Feel free to use whatever garnish you like, it does not change the recipe.
Dear Dede-
What the hell crawled up your ass? Take the attitude elsewhere, no one wants to see that.
Sounds like you know what you like. If you already have a recipe, why bother criticizing this one?
Great site and fantastic recipes, yummy!
Thank you Richard!
I make this recipe weekly. We love it. I sometimes add white mushrooms or ground pork. I’ve made it with Rotell instead of plain tomatoes. It is always a winner!
I just made this after finding it on pinterest and WOW!. I love the way these flavors really come together. You could even do this as a crock pot meal if you took the rice out and added it in after it was done and then added cheese at the top. It’s so good I think this really will shake up our weeknight routine. I never thought about taking all the stuff out of the pepper and eating it like that, but it makes it so much easier.
Thanks Crystal! I’m so glad you liked it! I think it’s a lot easier too!