Cauliflower Rice Stuffed Peppers
If you’re looking to cut your carbs and calories, but not the taste, you’ve arrived at the correct destination. You can even make these lighter by using ground turkey or chicken. Another option is to leave out the ground beef and add in beans instead for the protein. Either way this dish is packed with healthy nutrients.
For the cauliflower, pick a small head at the market. Make sure you stem it and then chop it into small florets for the food processor. You want to pulse it only a few seconds until the cauliflower resembles rice in texture appearance. DO NOT over pulse. You can also just buy some frozen cauliflower rice at the super market.
For stuffed peppers, you never want to just fill them if they haven’t been par baked and softened somehow. I personally love this method of steaming them for 5 minutes (or until they have begun to soften). You don’t want a fully cooked pepper. It will bake in the oven too.
The seasonings are so important here so don’t be shy. Make sure you season your cauliflower, onion, bell peppers and meat well. For the marinara I used my favorite jar to make this recipe a quick one. Top with some cheese and bake until golden on top. Garnish with some fresh chopped parsley and enjoy!
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Cauliflower Rice Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 large bell peppers
- 1 small cauliflower
- 2 tbs olive oil, divided
- salt and pepper
- 1 small onion, diced
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 1/4 tsp paprika
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 1/2 cup grated pecorino cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350°F.
Bell Peppers:
- Slice the tops of the bell peppers off. Remove the stems and dice up the parts that were attached to the stem. In a medium pot, with an inch of water, steam your bell peppers until they begin to soften, about 5 minutes. Remove from the pot and set aside.
Cauliflower:
- Slice the cauliflower into small florets. Transfer to your food processor and pulse for a few seconds until it resembles a rice texture. DO NOT over pulse.
- In a large skillet, heat 1 tbs oil on medium high. Add the cauli rice and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Beef:
- To the same pan, add the remaining 1 tbs oil and sauté your chopped up bell pepper and onion for a few minutes. Add in the beef, garlic and seasonings, salt and pepper to taste. Break up the meat until browned and no longer pink. Add the marinara, cauliflower rice and pecorino cheese and mix all.
Assembly:
- Fill up and pack each bell pepper with your mixture. Top with the shredded mozzarella and bake for 25 minutes or until tops are golden brown. Garnish with fresh parsley.
If using frozen, how many cups of riced cauliflower would you need?
Hi Betsy, You would need 4 cups riced cauliflower.
Its looks so yummy , I cant wait to make this, thank you.
Hi REne, hope you liked it!! Thanks for the message!
This is a fantastic dish that is very easy to make. I think you will find you have a lot of the filling left over unless you have enormous bell peppers! No worries though, we plan to use the rest with pasta the following day. Highly recommended! Mark
Hi Mark, I did have a little filling left over myself! I just gobbled it up the next day too! I’m glad you liked the dish and I thank you so much for taking the time to comment and rate!