Russian Stuffed Peppers
Enjoy these yummy stuffed peppers, made with savory rice and meat, and simmered in a simple, flavorful sauce. A comforting and satisfying dish that’s easy to make and full of delicious flavors!
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Growing up in our family, mom would often make peppers filled with ground meat and rice (or the same thing stuffed in cabbage:). It’s a dish I grew up eating and it’s kind of an integral part of my background. Reminds me of the good old days at home.
Anyway, here are step-by-step directions for making these delicious peppers.
In this post…
Ingredients for Stuffed Peppers
Peppers – I like using these smaller, green peppers for this dish. I guess they are called gypsy bell peppers (read more about gypsy bell peppers here) and they are widely available here in Germany. You can also use the bigger bell peppers, but you will have less of them and each pepper will be much bigger.
Ground meat – I prefer to use beef in most of my cooking. Here as well. Once in a while I change it up where I use a mixed ground meat made with beef and pork.
Rice – most kind will work. I like using a long grain type of rice.
Onion – The onion in the stuffing gives a lot of the juiciness to the meat. Don’t skip out. Having too little of it can make the meat inside the pepper hard and a bit dry. Another onion is used in the sauce to cook the peppers in.
Carrots – these are grated and sautéed along with an onion to make the sauce for cooking the peppers.
Seasonings – Salt, ground black pepper, coriander seed powder, bay leaf.
How to Make Stuffed Peppers
Cooking Rice for Filling
Start off by cooking the rice for the stuffing. Rinse the rice until the water is no longer white. Transfer to a small saucepan. Add water, olive oil and salt and bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to lowest setting and cook for 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir once in a while allowing the rice to cool.
Read through my post on how to cook rice for all the details on getting the rice perfect. Just note, here the rice should not be fully cooked, so we cook only for 10 minutes.
Peppers and Filling
Meanwhile, prepare the peppers. Cut out the stem and remove the seeds and any innards. Rinse and set aside.
Finely dice the onions and transfer to a bowl. Add the ground meat, cooled rice, and spices and seasonings to the onion. Using your hand mix everything well together.
Loosely stuff the peppers with the meat mixture. The stuffing should be a bit loose (but not too loose) because the rice will still expand as the peppers are cooked so you need to leave a bit of room for that. Otherwise, the stuffing will partially come out of the peppers during cooking. However, don’t put so little stuffing in the peppers that the peppers end up being half empty.
Place the stuffed peppers into a medium-sized pot layering them neatly. Set aside for a bit.
Sauce for Cooking Peppers
Grate the carrots and slice the third onion. Sauté them in olive oil in a small skillet until soft. Sprinkle the sautéed carrot and onion mixture onto the top of the peppers.
In a mixing bowl or a mixing cup with a spout, mix two cups of hot water with salt until the salt is dissolved. Pour the salted water over the peppers. The peppers don’t need to be fully submerged otherwise you will end up with a whole lot of “sauce” at the end. Even if the peppers are not covered, they will still cook through from the steam rising up.
Bring the peppers to a a simmer and cook for 30-35 minutes on low heat. The water should be simmering gently and not boiling, otherwise the peppers will be overcooked.
Serve hot.
What to Serve with Stuffed Peppers
My in-laws always serve stuffed peppers with mashed potatoes. For me this was a novelty, since we just ate them all by themselves. I mean, there is everything in there – meat, rice, and veggies. But now I always make a pot of my Whipped Mashed Potatoes to go along. It makes for a very filling meal. But then you need less stuffed peppers per person:)
Sour cream is the best thing to happen to stuffed peppers. Everyone in the family (from the parents to the toddler) has a huge dollop of sour creams served with the peppers. It was this way for me growing up, and it remained this way. Make sure you have lots of sour cream on hand for stuffed peppers.
How to Store and Reheat Stuffed Peppers
Once the peppers cool, store them in a covered container in the fridge. I usually just keep them in the same pot they were cooked in. This allows me to re-heat easily without using more dishes than necessary. Eat the peppers within 3 days.
Recommended Tools
A pot that can hold at least 5 quarts of liquid should be used in this recipe. You’ll also need a grater for grating the carrots.
More Easy Recipes for Russian Foods
Lastly, if you make these Russian Stuffed Peppers, please take a moment to comment below and leave a rating. It’s such a help for others who might want to try the recipe.And of course, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram if you make this recipe. I’d love to see the photos of the recipes you have made!
Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
Rice
- ½ cup Rice
- ½ cup Water
- ½ tbsp Olive oil
- ¼ tsp Salt
Peppers
- Cooked rice (from above)
- 1½ lb (700g) Fresh peppers
- 14oz (400g) Ground Beef
- 2 Onions (medium-small)
- 1 ¼ tsp Salt
- ¼ tsp Ground black pepper (or to taste)
- ½ tsp Coriander seed powder
Sauce for Cooking Peppers
- 2 Carrots
- 1 Onion (medium-small)
- 2 cups Hot water
- 1 tsp Salt
- 1 Bay leaf
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
Instructions
Pre-cook Rice
- Rinse rice until water runs mostly clear. Transfer to a small saucepan.
- Add olive oil and salt, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to lowest setting, cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes.
- Remove from heat. Stir once in a while while it cools down.
Peppers
- Prep the peppers by cutting out the back end and removing the seeds and insides as much as possible. Rinse with water. Set aside.
- Finely dice 2 onions. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the ground beef, rice, salt, ground black pepper, and ground coriander powder. Mix until everything is well combined.
- Stuff the meat and rice mixture into the peppers, making sure not to over-stuff. The rice will still expand during cooking. Layer into a cooking pot. Set aside.
Sauce
- Thinly slice onions into thin, but short pieces. Grate the carrots.
- Sauté the onions in the carrots in a small skillet with olive oil.
- Once tender, transfer into the pot with the peppers, spreading the carrot onion mixture on the top. Add the bay leaf.
- Combine hot water with salt and stir until the salt is incorporated.
- Gently pour the water over the stuffed peppers and bring to a gentle boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 30-35 minutes.
- Serve hot.