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This Oven-baked stuffed pepper pasta is saucy, beefy, and topped with browned cheese, with tender green peppers, rice, and pasta all in one dish. You stir it together, cover it tightly, and let the oven do the heavy lifting. You’re going to love this cozy, hearty dinner when life feels a little thin around the edges.
Why You’ll Love It
- One-dish dinner — the pasta and rice cook right in the sauce and water.
- Hearty and satisfying — beef, peppers, tomato sauce, rice, pasta, and melted cheese make this actual dinner.
- Feeds six comfortably — perfect for a generous family-style meal.
- Reheats beautifully — leftovers stay delicious for easy meals later.
Ingredient Notes
Lean ground beef keeps the casserole from getting greasy, especially since everything finishes together in one deep baking dish. If your beef gives off a lot of fat, drain it after browning.
Green bell peppers are the classic choice here. They have that slightly sharp, almost grassy flavor that makes stuffed peppers taste like stuffed peppers. You can use red, yellow, or orange peppers if that’s what you’ve got, but they’re sweeter.
For the sauce, use a 24- to 26-ounce jar of pasta sauce or marinara. Choose a plain tomato-basil kind so this casserole doesn’t taste like twelve competing herbs had a meeting in there. A mozzarella-cheddar blend is awfully good on top if you want a little extra tang, though plain mozzarella gives you those long, stretchy cheese pulls.
And please use a deep dish—around 3 quarts. This is not the time for the shallow pan you bought for brownies. It will bubble over, and then you’ll be scraping baked tomato sauce off the oven floor while questioning every decision that brought you here.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or neutral cooking oil, for browning the beef
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a little more if it needs it
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large green bell peppers, seeded and chopped into bite-size pieces—not teeny-tiny, but not giant hunks either
- 3 cups uncooked short pasta, such as rotini, penne, or shells
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice, long-grain or parboiled
- 1 jar (24 to 26 ounces) tomato pasta sauce or marinara
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, or a mozzarella-cheddar blend if you’re feeling a little extra
- Nonstick cooking spray or a small amount of extra oil, for the baking dish
Instructions
Heat your oven to 375°F. Grease a deep, roughly 3-quart oval baking dish with nonstick spray or a little oil. An oval dish does make it look nice and neighborly, but use a deep casserole dish if that’s what you have.
Warm the tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, sprinkle in the kosher salt and black pepper, and break it up with a wooden spoon. Cook it for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until there’s no pink left and most of the moisture has cooked away. Drain excess fat if there is much. Ground beef should be fully cooked through before it goes into the oven—160°F if you’re checking with a thermometer.
While the beef is doing its thing, chop the green peppers. Keep the pieces noticeable in the finished casserole, because otherwise why even bother? But don’t make them so large that the casserole has enormous pepper squares.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together the uncooked pasta, uncooked rice, and chopped peppers. Add the cooked beef, the entire jar of sauce, and all 4 cups of water. Stir it really, really well. Get down to the bottom of the bowl with your spoon and make sure no dry rice or pasta is hiding there.
The mixture will look soupy. It should. Taste just a tiny spoonful of the liquid and add a bit more salt and pepper if you think it needs it, keeping in mind the cheese will bring some salt later.
Pour everything into your prepared dish and smooth it out so the pasta and rice are mostly submerged. Cover the dish tightly with foil, crimping around the edges. Tight foil matters here—the trapped steam is what gets the rice and pasta tender. Loose foil is basically decorative at that point.
Bake covered for 45 to 55 minutes. Start checking around 40 minutes, carefully because that steam is no joke. Taste a small spoonful from the center. If the rice or pasta still has a firm little core, cover it back up and bake another 5 to 10 minutes. Ovens have personalities. Some run hot in the back right corner.
When the pasta and rice are tender and the liquid has cooked down into a thick sauce, remove the foil. Scatter the mozzarella evenly over the top. Leave a few little gaps so you can still see the peppers and beef underneath; it looks less like a cheese swamp that way.
Bake uncovered for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted, bubbling, and getting browned around the edges. If you want more color, broil it for 1 to 2 minutes—but stand there and watch it. Do not step away. Broilers are petty and fast.
Let the casserole rest for at least 10 minutes before scooping. I know, I know. But it thickens up, and the portions hold together better. Serve it right from the dish with a green Salad in a sharp vinaigrette, garlic bread, or a crusty baguette for all those saucy corners.
Variations
You can swap ground turkey or Chicken for the beef if you prefer a lighter version, and a tomato-basil marinara works especially well with either one. A little pinch of red pepper flakes, or a spicy arrabbiata-style sauce, gives it some welcome heat without changing the whole personality of the dish.
Red and orange peppers with mozzarella-cheddar cheese make a sweet, colorful, very cheerful variation. Green peppers still bring the classic stuffed pepper flavor.
For softer peppers, chop them smaller. For more bite, leave them chunkier. Gluten-free pasta can work too, along with a gluten-free sauce, though it may drink up a little more liquid, so an extra splash of water can help. Extra vegetables, such as zucchini, can make the casserole watery. Not every vegetable is begging to be included, despite what the refrigerator drawer would have us believe.
Storage & Reheating
Cool leftovers fairly promptly and tuck them into shallow containers in the refrigerator. They’ll keep well for 3 to 4 days. The casserole gets thicker by the next day, in a nice way, almost like it settles into itself overnight.
Reheat individual portions in the microwave until steaming hot in the center. If it seems a little dry, add a spoonful of water before heating and cover it loosely. For a larger amount, warm it covered in the oven until hot, then uncover it for a few minutes if you want the cheese top to wake back up.
You can also assemble the whole dish ahead, cover it, and refrigerate it for up to 24 hours before baking. Just plan on adding 10 to 15 minutes to that covered bake time since it’s starting cold.
Final Notes
There are dinners that look beautiful in photographs, and then there are dinners that fill the kitchen with the smell of green peppers and tomato sauce. This is the second kind.
A deep dish of stuffed pepper pasta has a way of slowing the room down for a minute. Garlic bread drags through the corner of the pan. The dishes can wait a little while.
Usually. Eventually they have to be done.
The Stuffed Pepper Pasta That Made the Whole House Go Quiet
Ingredients Â
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or neutral cooking oil for browning the beef
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus a little more if needed
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large green bell peppers seeded and chopped into bite-size pieces
- 3 cups uncooked short pasta such as rotini, penne, or shells
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked white rice long-grain or parboiled
- 1 jar (24 to 26 ounces) tomato pasta sauce or marinara
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese or a mozzarella-cheddar blend
- nonstick cooking spray or extra oil for greasing the baking dish
InstructionsÂ
- Heat the oven to 375°F and grease a deep, roughly 3-quart oval baking dish or deep casserole dish with nonstick spray or a little oil.
- Warm the tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the ground beef, sprinkle with kosher salt and black pepper, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, breaking it up and stirring occasionally, until no pink remains and most of the moisture has cooked away; drain excess fat if needed.
- While the beef cooks, chop the green bell peppers into noticeable bite-size pieces that are not too tiny and not oversized.
- In a large mixing bowl, stir together the uncooked pasta, uncooked rice, and chopped peppers, then add the cooked beef, the entire jar of sauce, and all 4 cups of water.
- Stir the mixture very thoroughly, scraping down to the bottom of the bowl so no dry rice or pasta is hiding, and taste a tiny spoonful of the liquid to add more salt or pepper if needed.
- Pour everything into the prepared baking dish, smooth it out so the pasta and rice are mostly submerged, and cover the dish tightly with foil, crimping around the edges to trap steam.
- Bake covered for 45 to 55 minutes, starting to check around 40 minutes, until the rice and pasta are tender; if either still has a firm core, cover again and bake another 5 to 10 minutes.
- When the pasta and rice are tender and the liquid has cooked down into a thick sauce, remove the foil and scatter the mozzarella evenly over the top, leaving a few small gaps.
- Bake uncovered for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted, bubbling, and browned around the edges; for more color, broil for 1 to 2 minutes while watching closely.
- Let the casserole rest for at least 10 minutes before scooping so it thickens and portions hold together better, then serve from the dish with a green salad, garlic bread, or a crusty baguette.