So happy to be breaking through a long dinnertime rut around here with this Unstuffed Pepper Skillet. This one checks all the boxes – tasty, filling, easy, and made all in one skillet! And who doesn’t love a dinner that begs for toppings?
It’s made with ground beef, minute rice, and a can crushed tomatoes with lots of flavor from onions, garlic, oregano, thyme, and basil. There’s a tiny touch a sweetness that we really liked from a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar too.
What I love about this recipe for Unstuffed Pepper Skillet over traditional stuffed peppers is that the peppers are cooked perfectly tender-crisp. No mushy peppers! They go on the top of the skillet right at the end with a thick layer of cheese and spend about five minutes under the broiler. The cheese gets all golden, bubbly and crispy which adds a nice texture.
Instead of the final broil, you could also cover the skillet with foil, and keep the skillet on the stovetop while the peppers cook and the cheese melts if you’d rather not turn on the oven. We’ve had some really warm days these past few weeks and sometimes I just can’t bear to turn on the oven!
I added crushed Fritos, sour cream, and fresh cilantro. It really hit the spot, and I just had to have a second helping! This recipe did feed our family of five with a couple of portions for leftovers, so it goes a long way.
If you want to do some meal prep ahead of time so it comes together quickly at that dinnertime rush hour, go ahead and chop the onion and peppers and measure out the spices the morning you plan to make this.
You’ll be surprised how easy this one is! Hope you all are having a wonderful summer!
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Unstuffed Pepper Skillet
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Sauté
- Cuisine: American
Description
This Unstuffed Pepper Skillet recipe checks all the boxes – tasty, filling, easy, and made all in one skillet! Your family will LOVE it!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1 1/3 ground beef (I used 85/15%)
- kosher salt for seasoning, to taste
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon dried onion powder
- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup uncooked Minute rice
- 3 peppers sliced into strips
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
- Toppings: sour cream, crushed Fritos, fresh cilantro
Instructions
- In a 12 inch cast iron skillet (or another heavy bottomed oven safe skillet), heat oil over medium high heat.
- Add onion and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Cook until soft and translucent. Add ground beef, season with an additional 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and break into small pieces as it browns.
- When the beef is cooked through, stir in minced garlic, oregano leaves, dried thyme leaves, dried basil leaves, and dried onion powder and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour crushed tomatoes into the skillet, along with the Worcestershire, brown sugar and water stir to combine. Add another good pinch of kosher salt. Bring to a boil, and then add the uncooked rice.
- Place the pepper strips over the top of the ground beef and rice mixture and allow to boil uncovered for 3-4 minutes. Cover the top of the peppers with the shredded cheese and place the skillet into the oven with broiler on for about 5 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown and the peppers are just tender.
- Remove the skillet from the oven and allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving with desired toppings.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories: 309
- Sugar: 12g
- Sodium: 628mg
- Fat: 17g
- Saturated Fat: 7.8g
- Unsaturated Fat: 6.9g
- Trans Fat: 0.4g
- Carbohydrates: 29g
- Fiber: 3.8g
- Protein: 14g
- Cholesterol: 43mg
Kelly Widuch says
Have you ever made this as a casserole and if so any changes?
angie r says
Sounds great!