These ground beef and quinoa stuffed bell pepper halves are perfect for your weekly lunch meal prepping. Usually, bell peppers are stuffed with rice and cheddar cheese, but in this recipe, I am using quinoa and Parmigiano Reggiano, which makes them lactose-free, gluten-free and packed with nutrient-dense ingredients! Who says eating healthy equals eating bland?
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is quinoa? Quinoa is considered a whole grain that has been cultivated for thousands of years. It originated from the Andean region of South America. Compared to white rice, quinoa tastes slightly nuttier and earthier. You can find different colors of quinoa: red, black and white and they all offer a very similar nutrition profile. Whether you choose to cook with red or white quinoa, it’s a matter of personal taste as the cooking times are the same. However, black quinoa offers a crunchier texture and nuttier taste. Additionally, it takes about 5 minutes longer to cook. Whenever I can integrate it in a recipe, I much prefer to cook with quinoa than with white rice because it has so much to offer in terms of nutritional profile.
How to store leftovers? These ground beef & quinoa stuffed bell peppers can be refrigerated up to 5 days in an airtight container. They make perfect work lunches because you can just heat them up quickly and they will not lose their flavors or texture!
TIPS ABOUT HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE
Toasting quinoa: I highly recommend spending a few extra minutes to toast the quinoa. This step will bring out their delicious nutty flavor. All you need to do is do heat quinoa in your saucepan until the water (from the rinsing) evaporates and the quinoa become lightly golden in color.
Caramelizing the onions and mushrooms: To make delicious caramelized onions and mushrooms that bring out all the flavors, they should not be salted right away. Salt will draw out the moisture and that process is called sweating, which is not what we are doing in this recipe. Instead, they need to brown with the olive oil and salt can be added at the end.
Making the ground beef and tomato sauce mixture:
- Unless you like to eat huge chunks of ground meat in your stuffing mixture (I don’t!), make sure to break the meat apart before it cooks completely.
- I like to use whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes because they are slightly sweeter. However, you can also use crushed tomatoes or tomato puree (passato).
Cooking quinoa: I love to use bone broth (each cup adds 9g of protein!) to cook the quinoa. Not only does it adds more nutrition, but it’s also tastier! If you have vegetable or chicken/beef stock, you can use them as well; it will add more flavor than just using water. Once cooked, you can add and mix them evenly into your tomato and ground beef stuffing mixture.
Baking the stuffed bell peppers: Stuffed peppers should be baked at 400F for 20 minutes. Afterwards, change the setting to broil to get delicious “au gratin” taste. It takes maximum 5 minutes and can easily burn so do not leave it unattended during broiling!
RECIPE VARIATION
You can use whole bell peppers in this recipe as well instead of cutting them in half! If you choose to do so, make sure to make an opening wide enough to fit the stuffing. In addition, you can trim slightly the apex (bottom part) to have them stand straight and avoid falling over. Finally, baking whole stuffed peppers will require an additional 5 minutes.
Equipment
- French oven or skillet
- Saucepan
- Baking tray or dish
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers washed and cut in half lengthwise
- ⅔ cup quinoa rinsed
- 1 ½ cup any stock or bone broth
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup onion diced (about 1 medium-sized)
- 1 cup cremini mushrooms diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ lb ground beef
- 1 cup tomato puree or peeled tomatoes
- 3 Tbsp fresh basil leaves finely chopped
- ¾ cup Parmigiano Reggiano grated
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- In a skillet or French oven, add olive oil on medium-high heat. Add onion and mushrooms. Do not salt at this point. Cook until they are lightly brown and caramelized.
- Add garlic and ground beef, stirring occasionally and making sure to break all the meat chunks. Add tomato puree and fresh basil leaves. Salt to taste. Bring it to a boil, partially cover and decrease the heat to a simmer to cook for about 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a medium-sized saucepan on medium-low heat, toast rinsed quinoa until it becomes lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Increase heat to medium, add stock or bone broth, bring it to a boil, decrease it to a simmer until quinoa is cooked, about 20-25 minutes.
- Add and mix evenly cooked quinoa to the tomato/beef mixture. Turn off heat.
- On a baking tray lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, lay out bell pepper halves, skin side down and cut side up. Fill each bell pepper with the quinoa and ground beef mixture. Top with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Bake for 20 minutes and change oven setting broil. Broil for about 3-5 minutes until the cheese is golden brown (au gratin).
