What's For Dinner: Dairy Free Soy Free Stuffed Bell Peppers

UPDATE: Please make sure to double check ingredients each time you buy. I hope I never overlook anything but it’s possible and ingredients can change. A lot of my posts are over two years old and since I have gone back dairy soy free I have discovered a few items I use to buy all the time that now have soy in them.

Dairy Free Soy Free Stuffed Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

4 bell peppers, any color
Salt
5 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped
1 lb of lean ground beef (you can use turkey or you can leave out the meat if you want)
1 1/2 cups of cooked rice
1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned (if using can, drain of excess liquid first)
1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
Fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup ketchup (I use Hunts 100% Natural)
1/2 tsp of Worcestershire Sauce (I use Bi-Lo Brand Southern Homes)
Dash of Tabasco sauce (to taste) (I used Frank's Red Hot Orginal)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Meanwhile, cut top off peppers 1 inch from the stem end, and remove seeds. Add several generous pinches of salt to boiling water, then add peppers and boil, using a spoon to keep peppers completely submerged, until brilliant green (or red if red peppers) and flesh slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Drain, set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 4 tbsp of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook a minute more. Remove skillet from heat, add meat, cooked rice, tomatoes, and oregano, and season generously with salt and pepper. Mix well. (You may find it easier to put the ingredients at this point into a large bowl and mix together with your hands.)

Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil inside the peppers. Arrange the cut side of the peppers up in a baking dish, then stuff peppers with filling. Combine ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, and 1/4 cup of water in a small bowl, then spoon over filling. Add 1/4 cup of water to the baking dish. Place in oven and bake for 40-50 minutes (or longer, depending on how big the peppers are that you are stuffing), until the internal temperature of the stuffed peppers is 150-160°F.

Original Recipe: Dads Stuffed Bell Peppers

Here is what I did/would do different.

1. The original recipe says this makes 4 peppers, but I could have stuffed at least 8 maybe even 10. This is what I had leftover, so I skillet fried it unit the hamburger meat was cooked and will eat it on a wrap (I use Xtreme Wellness Wrapes).

2. I used 2 to 3 Tablespoons of Worcestershire Sauce (I use the Bi-Lo Southern Homes Brand).

3. I would leave out the water in the sauce. You don't really need it, and it makes the sauce runny. *But you do need the water in the bottom of the baking dish, don't skip this step.

4. I would triple the sauce recipe and mix 1/2 of it with the meat and rice before stuffing the peppers and put the other 1/2 on top.



*If you use a glass baking dish read all care instructions, and never broil food in them or place on cold surface out of hot oven.

You can also find me on Pintrest @DairySoyFreeMom