Stuffed Pepper Skillet
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This Stuffed Pepper Skillet is a satisfying, one-pan weeknight meal. Made with ingredients like ground chicken, rice, kidney beans and bell peppers, this healthy dinner has all the flavours of stuffed peppers, but with way less work!
This recipe was adapted from my popular Instant Pot Stuffed Pepper Soup – give it a try, too!
Okay, so technically this meal is more like an “unstuffed” pepper skillet. We’re putting together all the same ingredients, but instead of taking the time to stuff the peppers and bake them in the oven, we keep it simple and cook everything on the stove top. It’s made in just one skillet, instead of the 2-3 dishes you would need for stuffed peppers. Yay for shortcuts!
You’re going to love this stuffed pepper skillet because
- it comes together in about 30 minutes
- it’s an all-in-one balanced meal, full of lean protein and colourful vegetables
- the flavour is well loved by all (kid approved!)
- leftovers are perfect for meal prep lunch
Ingredients
- Onion – 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- Garlic – 3 cloves, minced
- Bell peppers – 3 of your favourite colour(s)
- Ground chicken – one pound, any ground meat will work
- Long-grain white rice – 1 cup, rinsed briefly. Any variety should work, but I like to use jasmine.
- Kidney beans – 15 oz can, drained and rinsed
- Diced tomatoes – 15 oz can, not drained
- Tomato paste – a full small can (about 5.5oz)
- Chicken broth – 2 1/4 cup
- Herbs and spices: dried basil, dried parsley, oregano, onion powder, red pepper flakes
- Chopped fresh parsley – optional garnish
- Freshly grated parmesan – optional garnish, omit if dairy free
How to make it
1. Heat olive oil in a 12″ skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until starting to soften, then add the bell pepper and sauté for another minute or so. Add the ground chicken and cook until it’s no longer pink (at least 5 minutes). Break it up into smaller pieces as it cooks.
2. Stir in the rice, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth and all the dried herbs/spices. Be sure the ingredients are well combined and evenly distributed. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Bring to a simmer, cover, then turn heat down to low. Cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking. Add more broth if you find it’s getting too dry for your taste. It’s done once the rice is cooked to your liking! Serve immediately with your chosen garnishes.
Tips for Success
- Be sure you have a strong simmer. If you don’t have a good simmer, the rice won’t cook evenly and it will take much longer to cook (which will dry out the whole dish). You want it to really bubble before covering and turning the heat down to low.
- Don’t walk away – stir occasionally. You need to stir every 4-5 minutes once it’s simmering to be sure the rice doesn’t stick to the skillet.
- Add broth if needed. I usually end up adding a splash or two toward the end of cooking time, to be sure I don’t end up with any crispy rice.
- Don’t skip rinsing the rice. This helps remove excess starch so the dish will have a more pleasing texture.
Can I make this vegan?
Yes! To make this skillet vegan, leave out the chicken and add another can of kidney beans (cannellini beans would also be great – why not both?). Use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth and skip the parmesan garnish.
Other easy weeknight meals
Stuffed Pepper Skillet
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Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 bell peppers, diced (yellow, red or orange)
- 1 lb ground chicken (any ground meat will work)
- 1 cup long-grain white rice, rinsed (I like to use jasmine)
- 1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, not drained (fire-roasted are great)
- 1 5.5 oz can tomato paste
- 2 1/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
- ground black pepper (to taste)
For garnish
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large (12") skillet/frying pan over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic until starting to soften. Add the bell pepper and sauté another minute or so, then add the ground chicken and cook until no longer pink (at least 5 minutes), while breaking it into smaller pieces . Drain any excess fat, if necessary.
- Add the rice, kidney beans, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, chicken broth, basil, parsley, oregano, onion powder and red pepper flakes. Stir until well combined then season with sea salt and ground black pepper.
- Bring to a simmer, cover, then turn heat down to low. Cook for about 15 minutes, until the rice is tender and cooked to your liking. Stir occasionally to prevent the rice from sticking to the skillet and add more broth if you find the texture is getting too dry. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.
Notes
- Recipe serves 4-6, depending on the size of your appetite.
- Make it vegan/vegetarian: skip the meat, add another can of beans and use vegetable broth. Omit parmesan garnish, if necessary.
Nutrition Estimate
Did you make this recipe?
Please leave a review below and share your results!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a review below!
I’d love to hear from you!
Can you use coliflower rice?
Hi Tracy, I haven’t tried that myself, but I bet it would work with some adjustments. You won’t need nearly as much broth because most of that is needed too cook uncooked rice. I would start with a quarter to half a cup of broth to create a sauce and nicely coat the cauliflower rice in tomato/seasonings. Let us know how it goes if you try it!
This is excellent!
Really simple to prepare and we all ate it up (including five year old). Great way to sneak in some beans for him. I used two med/large orange bell peppers and that seemed to be a good amount of peppers. Otherwise followed the recipe as described. Thanks for posting.
So good and easy!!
What would the serving size be? Just trying to count calories. I can’t wait to try this!
Hi Lindsey, the nutrition estimate in the recipe card above assumes the full recipe is divided by 5. You could use your own nutrition calculator and enter your specific ingredients and adjust the serving size if necessary!
Followed the recipe exactly. I had to add additional broth twice, and it took about 35min for the rice to cook. Well worth the wait!!!
Very delicious and such excellent comfort food!
So happy you enjoyed it, Tanya!
I skipped the tomatoe paste and beans, only used 1 green pepper and added a can of black olives, garnished w/ basil and smoked paprika! Soooooo good!
Hi Julia, I’m glad this recipe was a good starting point for your creativity! Thanks for taking the time to review!
I’ve made it as both the soup and skillet dinner. It was delicious both ways. I’m kind of addicted to it.