Stuffed Peppers Without Rice: A Lower-Carb Favorite
Sneak Preview: These Southwestern-inspired stuffed peppers ditch the rice in favor of cauliflower rice (or quinoa) for a lower-carb, flavorful twist. Roasted bell peppers cradle a hearty, meaty filling with bold spices that’ll have everyone asking for the recipe.
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Are you trying to avoid the “whites” (rice, potatoes, and bread)? If so, you need this Southwestern Stuffed Pepper recipe without rice. That’s right! No rice. Instead, riced cauliflower stands in for the rice. Cauliflower haters won’t even notice. All the other flavors and colors are sure to distract them.
Are These Stuffed Peppers Lower-Carb?
Not strictly low-carb, but definitely lower-carb than traditional stuffed peppers with rice. While veggie-heavy, black beans, corn, and tomato sauce add some carbs. Each serving has about 257 calories, 17g carbs, 15g protein, and 5g fiber—a solid balance for a satisfying meal.
Choosing Your Bell Peppers
- Green – More pungent, slightly bitter.
- Red, Yellow & Orange – Sweeter and milder.
Use any color you like!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Make it your own! Here’s how:
MEAT: Use all beef, swap for turkey sausage, or go vegetarian
CAULIFLOWER RICE: Sub with quinoa (cook it first)
BEANS: Pinto beans work too
CHEESE: Monterey Jack, Cheddar, or even Mozzarella
CILANTRO HATERS? Try fresh parsley instead
How To Roast Bell Peppers
⬇️ Jump to the recipe below for exact amounts and detailed instructions.
How to Make the Filling
Stuff & Bake the Peppers
How to Freeze & Reheat Stuffed Peppers
For the family: Freeze in a casserole dish (no cheese yet). Thaw, bake covered at 350°F for 20-30 minutes, adding cheese in the last 5 minutes.
For single servings: Wrap each pepper individually before freezing. Microwave from frozen for 4-6 minutes.
Leftovers? Make Burritos!
Chop up leftover filling, warm it, and wrap in a flour or corn tortilla with extra cheese for a quick burrito.
Stuffed Peppers Without Rice: A Lower-Carb Favorite
Video
Ingredients
- 6-7 large bell peppers halved (vertically, through the stem) with guts removed
- 1 pound (454 g) ground beef
- ½ pound (226 g) breakfast sausage regular or hot
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 (70 g) small onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 (196 g) medium zucchini,finely diced
- 1¼ cup (205 g) frozen or fresh corn kernels
- 1 15.5 oz can (425 g) black beans, drained and well-rinsed
- 10 oz. (283 g) bag of frozen riced cauliflower cooked according to package directions (or 1 cup cooked quinoa)
- 16 ounces (453 g) tomato sauce
- 1½ teaspoon cumin
- 1½ teaspoon chili powder or smoked chipotle chili powder
- ¾ cup (176 g) Monterrey Jack or Cheddar cheese, shredded
- chopped cilantro garnish
Instructions
How to Roast Bell Peppers
- Heat oven to 450˚F (230˚C).
- Line a large jelly-roll pan with foil.
- Halve 6-7 large bell peppers vertically, remove seeds, and place cut-side down on a foil-lined baking sheet.
- Spray with oil and roast for 15-20 minutes until softened with light charring.
- When the peppers finish cooking, they should be tender with a few random dark spots. Turn them right side up and arrange in 9 x 13 inch casserole dish. Turn oven back to 350˚F.
How to Make the Filling
- Sauté 1 pound (454 g) ground beef and ½ pound (226 g) breakfast sausage in a large skillet. Season with 1 teaspoon table salt and ½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper while cooking. Drain excess grease.
- Add 1 (70 g) small onion, chopped and 3 cloves garlic, minced. Sauté for 3 minutes until soft. Add remaining ingredients: 1 (196 g) medium zucchini,finely diced , 1¼ cup (205 g) frozen or fresh corn kernels, 1 15.5 oz can (425 g) black beans, drained and well-rinsed, 10 oz. (283 g) bag of frozen riced cauliflower, 16 ounces (453 g) tomato sauce, 1½ teaspoon cumin, and 1½ teaspoon chili powder or smoked chipotle chili powder except cheese and cilantro.
- Simmer for 8-10 minutes until flavors meld and veggies soften.
Stuff & Bake the Peppers
- Fill each roasted pepper half with the warm filling.
- Sprinkle with ¾ cup shredded cheese.
- Bake at 350˚F for 10-15 minutes until heated through and cheese melts.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro.
Notes
Nutrition
All images and text ©️ Paula Rhodes for Salad in a Jar.com
FAQs
- What can I use instead of cauliflower rice?
- Quinoa or finely chopped cooked mushrooms.
- How do I soften bell peppers before stuffing?
- Roasting in the oven is easiest—no boiling needed!
- How many carbs are in stuffed peppers without rice?
- Approximately 17g per serving.
Final Thoughts
These stuffed peppers are proof that a small tweak—like swapping out rice—can make a classic recipe even better. Enjoy the bold flavors, freeze extras, and don’t forget to share this dish with friends. They’ll definitely want the recipe!
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Once again, your step by step instructions were flawless and very helpful. I used quinoa instead of cauli-rice because we like the texture better. But otherwise followed the instructions and ingredients exactly. And of course had to reduce the ingredients because it’s only the two of us right now. This is the best stuffed pepper recipe I’ve found. Thank you so much.
So glad to hear you love these. I keep these individually wrapped in my freezer at all times. Perfect for a one-person meal.
Looking for heathier foods/dinner. I change a few items to fit allowing foods on my health style change! This will be my go to recipe moving forward! I substituted the cheese with fita for allowing on my new food program! Bad part I ate an extra helping!
Thank you for your nice comment. I like your cheese substitution. Sometimes, I just leave it off. Still tastes good. You made me laugh about the extra helping. I’ve been bad many times the same way. That’s why I start out with a small helping.
Delicious
This was so delicious and came together quickly.. Even my 3 kids gobbled it up. A very versatile recipe with great flavors and simple enough to make on a weeknight. I struggle with finding dinner recipes that will appeal to my husband’s and my tastes that our kids will also want to eat. That it is healthy and veggie-packed is a huge bonus. This is going into rotation at our house. Thank you for the great recipes and tips. Such a good site!
This was absolutely delicious! I used red bell peppers and roasted them only 10 minutes to just get them softened up a tad. My meat mixture looked a bit on the dry side, so I added a can of fire roasted diced organic tomatoes just before filling the shells and I know I used a ton of cheese, because in this household there is no such thing as too much cheese in toppings.
Husband is diabetic and rice spikes his sugar badly. He also hates cauliflower. He not only happily ate this, but announced it was a definite keeper! So thank you, thank you, thank you!
Personally, I think I will stay with the sweeter red and maybe yellow peppers. The complexity of taste and flavors was really nice.
This was absolutely delicious! I used red bell peppers and roasted them only 10 minutes to just get them softened up a tad. My meat mixture looked a bit on the dry side, so I added a can of fire roasted diced organic tomatoes just before filling the shells and I know I used a ton of cheese, because in this household there is no such thing as too much cheese in toppings.
Husband is diabetic and rice spikes his sugar badly. He also hates cauliflower. He not only happily ate this, but announced it was a definite keeper! So thank you, thank you, thank you!
Personally, I think I will stay with the sweeter red and maybe yellow peppers. The complexity of taste and flavors was really nice.
Thanks for coming back to report on the results, Glory. Love that you customized a bit to suit your tastes. I agree with you about the sweeter red and yellow peppers.
Paula, this sounds right down my alley! I have never eaten a combination of black beans and corn in a southwestern dish I did not like, and I am going to take your word that the cauliflower is camouflaged since my husband won’t eat it. I am always on the lookout for things that can be frozen ahead. I may be retired, but I still have evenings in the kitchen when I am not “into” cooking for some reason. Thanks so much for this recipe! Everything is going on my list for the grocery this week. Tell me how you heat them in the microwave please, and tell me how many watts your microwave is, approximately.
Hi Becky,
Re: the microwave question. It’s a good one but I don’t have a specific answer. There are too many variables: the size of your peppers, how much filling is in them, how much power your microwave has, etc. But…a good place to start would be three minutes if the pepper is frozen. It will probably take more like 4-5 minutes to thaw and heat but you’ll know better once you do it a few times. Thanks for writing. You always ask the BEST questions.
Thanks, Paula, that was a great answer. All I wanted was a place to start. Have a great weekend!