Name: Sausage Stuffed Peppers
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 60 min
Total time: 75 min
Ingredients: 6 large bell peppers (any colour); 1 pound ground Italian sausage; ½ cup finely chopped yellow onion; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 14.5 ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (can sub regular diced tomatoes); ½ teaspoon dried basil; ½ teaspoon dried oregano; 2 cups chopped curly kale (can sub fresh baby spinach); 1 ½ cups cooked white rice; ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese; 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese; 2-3 cups water; Optional garnish: chopped fresh parsley

These Sausage Stuffed Peppers are a hearty and wholesome family dinner. Bell peppers are filled with a savoury mix of Italian sausage, rice, tomatoes, kale and cheese, then baked until tender and melty. It’s a complete meal tucked inside a colourful veggie shell, making it perfect for both entertaining and meal prep.

You might also like my reader favourite Sausage Stuffed Acorn Squash!

Why you’ll love this recipe

Hello, nourishing comfort food. This recipe has late summer and fall vibes with the combination of bell peppers, sausage and kale. We think you’ll love these Italian Stuffed Peppers as much as we do because they are

A complete meal in one. Each delicious stuffed pepper has protein, carbs and colourful veggies baked together.
Endlessly customizable. Swap out the sausage for ground beef or ground turkey, or use turkey sausage. Swap the white rice for brown rice, quinoa or even cauliflower rice. Use spinach instead of kale. Change up the seasoning. You truly have so many options!
Prep-ahead friendly. You can make the filling and stuff the peppers, but hold off on baking until just before your meal.
Naturally gluten free and easily made vegetarian, by swapping out the sausage for a vegan version.
Perfect for entertaining or meal prep. It’s a beautiful meal worthy of dinner guests, but works equally as a nicely portioned make-ahead lunch or dinner for any day of the week!

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make this Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers recipe. See the recipe card below for full details!

Large bell peppers – any colour. We like the sweeter flavour of the red, yellow and orange varieties, but green peppers are delicious too!
Italian sausage – mild or spicy are both great choices. Turkey sausage or chicken sausage will work too. You could even use ground beef in a pinch, but I would increase the other seasonings to make up for the flavours you would have had in the sausage.
Aromatics – yellow onion and garlic deepen the savoury flavour. You could also use red onion or shallots.
Cooked white rice – we often make extra from another meal to have ready to go. You could also use cooked brown rice or quinoa.
Diced tomatoes – fire-roasted tomatoes add nice flavour, if you can find them. Otherwise, plain diced tomatoes will work!
Seasonings – we keep it simple with dried basil and oregano, but you could also use an Italian seasoning blend, or swap out the oregano for dried thyme. This recipe is very flexible with your choice of herbs and spices.
Cheeses – freshly grated parmesan melts beautifully into the filling mixture and we top it off with the mozzarella.

Ingredients needed for sausage stuffed peppers viewed from overhead on a white marble countertop, with text label overlays.

How to make them

First, prepare the bell peppers. Slice off the tops and pull out the seeds and membrane. If your peppers don’t stand upright on their own, slice off a small part of the bumps on the bottom to create a more level standing surface. Place each pepper in the casserole dish.

Next, make the filling. In a large skillet, sauté the ground sausage and onion until the sausage is fully cooked. Add the minced garlic and sauté another 30 seconds until fragrant, then add the seasonings and diced tomatoes. Mix until well combined, then add the kale and continue to cook until wilted.

A five-photo process collage showing the steps to make sausage stuffed peppers.

Remove the skillet from heat and stir in the cooked rice and grated parmesan. Taste and add salt, if needed.

Divide the filling among the 6 bell peppers, then pour water into the bottom of the casserole dish until it’s 1-2 inches up the side. Cover the casserole dish with foil.

Bake covered for 35 minutes, then uncover, sprinkle with mozzarella, and bake uncovered for another 15 minutes, or until the peppers reach your desired tenderness. Optionally, broil for the last 2-3 minutes to achieve golden brown cheese.

Six sausage stuffed peppers topped with melted mozzarella and chopped fresh parsley, viewed from overhead in a silver casserole dish, next to a blue and white linen and a large bunch of parsley.

Tips for success

Choose peppers with 4 bumps on the bottom so they can stand on their own. If you need to, slice a tiny bit off the bottom to help them stand straight, but without making a hole.
Use bell peppers that are about the same size for even cooking.
Taste the filling before stuffing the peppers. Add salt if needed (we didn’t need it – the sausage and cheese added enough salt for us!).
Test for doneness by piercing each pepper with a fork. If you like a tender-crisp texture for your peppers, you should feel some resistance as you pierce. If you like softer peppers, the fork should go through more easily.

A red stuffed pepper topped with melted mozzarella and chopped fresh parsley, in a silver casserole dish along with orange and yellow stuffed peppers further in the background and out of focus.

How to prep ahead

These stuffed peppers are perfect for prepping ahead of time so they can be hands off on busy weeknights.

Assemble: Prepare the filling, stuff the peppers and arrange them in the casserole dish. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or foil, then refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
Adjust the bake time: to account for the colder temperature of the peppers from the fridge, add 10 minutes to the covered bake time, for a total of 45 minutes. Then uncover, top with cheese and bake uncovered for 15 minutes, same as the regular recipe.
Check for doneness: to be extra sure your peppers are cooked all the way through, use an instant read thermometer to check that the internal temperature of the rice filling reaches 165°F.
Optional step: to reduce the amount of added bake time, you could let the peppers sit out at room temperature for about 20 minutes to reduce their chill.

More recipes using bell peppers or sausage

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