Italian style stuffed bell peppers are loaded with ground beef, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and delicious Italian seasonings. They’re so easy to make and reheat so well, it’s no wonder they’re at the top of the list when it comes to easy week night dinners. Although some recipes call for rice, I omitted the rice from this one. That make this a low-carb meal you can whip up quickly on a week night. I call that a win-win situation!

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Ingredients

Ground Beef
Bell Peppers
Canned Diced Tomatoes
Tomato Paste
Onion
Garlic Cloves
Italian Seasoning
Paprika Powder
Red Crushed Pepper Flakes
Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Granulated Garlic
Mozzarella Cheese
Olive Oil
Parsley (Optional)

How to Make Low-Carb Italian Stuffed Peppers

First, start off by cutting your bell peppers in half and removing the ribs and seeds from the inside.
Second, rub each bell pepper with about 2 teaspoons of olive oil and just a pinch of salt. Place them in a 13×9 baking dish and set aside.
Immediately begin chopping and dicing your onion and mincing your garlic cloves.
Go ahead and place a sauce pan over medium heat and add olive oil.
At this time, add your diced onions to the sauce pan and sauté for about 2-3 minutes or until they become translucent.
Next, begin sautéing your minced garlic for about 15 seconds or until fragrant.
Add in your tomato paste and mix well for about 30 seconds.
Immediately place your ground beef into the pan and begin breaking up the meat with either a wooden spoon or a meat chopper if you have one. Mix the ground beef well with the onions and garlic. However, make sure your garlic does not burn by ensuring they are not at the bottom of the pan, but instead mixed in with the ground beef.
Next, season your ground beef with salt, ground black pepper, Italian seasoning, paprika powder, crushed red pepper flakes and granulated garlic.
Once you have finished breaking up your ground beef and it has started to brown (this will take approximately 5-7 minutes), add in your can of diced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Stir well to combine and cook for another 5-7 minutes. You want your ground beef to be almost cooked-through.
As soon as your ground beef mixture is finished cooking, you may begin stuffing your peppers. Take about 1/2 cup to 1 cup of the ground beef mixture to fill each of your bell peppers. The amount you use will depend on the size of your bell peppers.
Add 1/2 cup of water to the bottom of your baking dish. This step will create the moisture you need in your oven for perfectly tender bell peppers without having to boil them beforehand!
Next, top off each bell pepper with the remaining mozzarella cheese.
Go ahead and place your low-carb Italian stuffed peppers into a preheated 350 degrees F oven. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until your bell peppers have reached desired tenderness.
Finally, remove your stuffed peppers from the oven and garnish with fresh parsley. Serve and enjoy!

Can I Store these Low-Carb Italian Stuffed Peppers?

Of course you can! In fact, they taste so much better the next day. Just place them in an air tight container inside the refrigerator once they’ve cooled down. When you are ready to eat them, simply reheat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes or until it has reached your desired temperature. However, if you don’t like reheating food in the microwave, I would suggest placing them in a baking dish and warming up in a preheated 325 degrees F oven for about 30-35 minutes. Additionally, may store your low-carb Italian stuffed peppers for up to 3 days for optimal freshness.

What Can I Serve these Low-Carb Italian Stuffed Peppers With?

I would recommend serving them with a side salad. This is the way my family enjoys them the most. However, I have seen people eating them with rice and even pasta.

Tips & Variations for Making Low-Carb Italian Stuffed Peppers

If you’re not counting carbs and want to make this a complete meal, I recommend adding 1 cup of rice to your ground beef mixture. Stir the cooked rice once you are finished cooking your ground beef and then add into the bell peppers as you normally would following the rest of this recipe.
Additionally, if you’re using less than 90% fat ground beef, you may want to drain the fat after slightly browning it. This can be done after you’ve seasoned the meat once you see that it has browned and fat has released. Immediately after draining, place the ground beef back into the sauce pan and continue cooking following the rest of this recipe.
Lastly, I like using a combination of red, yellow and green bell peppers. The red ones have the sweetest taste out of all of them. The yellow ones are still slightly sweet and the green ones have a slightly bitter taste. Although, believe it or not the green ones are actually my favorite! You may use whichever type of bell peppers you like the most.