Greek Style Stuffed Peppers
You'll love these stuffed peppers, prepared Greek-style and stuffed with a perfectly seasoned meat mixture with rice and chickpeas and fresh herbs. You can prepare parts of this recipe ahead of time, and you can even freeze leftover stuffed peppers! Serve them as the main coarse or a side dish.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 50 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- Greek extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion (chopped)
- 1/2 lb ground beef
- Kosher salt + black pepper
- 1 tsp ground allspice
- 2 garlic cloves (minced (or 1 tsp garlic powder))
- 1 cup cooked or canned chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
- 1 small bunch fresh parsley (chopped ( about 1 cup packed fresh parsley. Or a mixture of chopped fresh parsley and fresh dill))
- 1 cup white rice (soaked in water for 2o to 30 minutes, then drained)
- 3/4 tsp hot or sweet paprika
- 1/4 cup tomato sauce
- 2 1/4 cup water
- 6 bell peppers (any colors, tops removed and cored)
- 3/4 cup chicken broth (or water)
Instructions
- 1
Cook the meat & chickpeas. In a medium heavy pot, heat 1 tbsp of extra virgin oil. Saute the chopped onions until golden. Now add the meat and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until deeply browned. Season with salt, pepper, allspice, minced garlic (or garlic powder). Stir in the chickpeas and cook briefly.
- 2
Add rice etc. and cook. To the same pot, now add the parsley, rice (which had been soaked in water and drained), paprika, and tomato sauce. Stir to combine. Add the water and bring to a high simmer until the liquid has reduced by half. Then turn the heat to low, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked and no longer hard nor too chewy. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.
- 3
Grill the peppers. While the rice is cooking, heat a grill or indoor griddle or skillet over medium-high. Grill the bell peppers for 10-15 minutes, covered, and turning over as needed so that the peppers will soften and gain some color. Remove from heat and set aside to cool briefly.
- 4
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- 5
Assemble stuffed peppers. Assemble the bell peppers open-side up in a baking dish filled with 3/4 cup broth or water. Fill each of the bell peppers with the the cooked stuffing mixture of meat, rice and chickpeas.
- 6
Cover and bake. Cover the baking dish with foil (making sure the foil does not touch the stuffed peppers) and place the dish on the middle rack of your heated oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes.
- 7
Remove from the oven and garnish with parsley, if you like, and serve.
- 8
To serve stuffed peppers as a main dish Greek-style, add Tztaziki sauce and Greek salad for sides.