I've had a few stuffed peppers in the past. When I was younger, I remember my mom making some spanish style stuffed peppers that I thought were pretty good even though at the time I wasn't a huge pepper fan.
Oh, how times have changed.
These stuffed peppers are pretty amazing and ridiculously easy to do. With around 10-15 minutes of preparation, you can have these babies set to cook through the day in your crock pot with hardly any fuss at all!
When making my plans for the week, I knew that I wanted to do something that was tomato heavy. I've really been craving a hearty spaghetti sauce lately for some unknown reason.
Peppers have been something I've been experimenting with more and more lately. They're healthy, generally easy to deal with, and the possibilities with them are nearly endless. Since I was wanting some tomato-y heavy omething, I thought... why not make an italian style stuffed pepper?
Avoid the noodles that go along with traditional spaghetti and still feel full and satisfied? I'm in!
I decided to go with green bell peppers for their taste (not being quite as sweet as yellow, orange, or red peppers), color, and cost too! But if you'd like to experiment with others, or only have another color pepper on hand, I'm sure you'd be fine!
As I said, these peppers were fabulous! I've got a leftover one stored away for lunch today and I can barely wait for noon to roll around. I've got the countdown started!
Skinny Italian Stuffed Peppers (Crock Pot)
TheSkinnyFork.com
The Skinny:
Servings: 5 • Size: 1 Pepper • Calories: 313.2 • Fat: 12.8 g • Carb: 26.5 g • Fiber: 6 g • Protein: 25.5 g • Sugar: 4.5 g • Sodium: 972.8 mg
Ingredients:
5 Large Green Bell Peppers
1.25 Lb. Lean Turkey Sausage - 5 Links (Casing Removed)
1/2 Medium Onion, Diced
5 Garlic Cloves, Minced
28 Oz. Crushed Tomatoes, No Salt Added
1/2 Tsp. Dried Basil
1/2 Tsp. Dried Parsley
1/2 C. Instant Brown Rice, Uncooked
10 Tbsp. Reduced Fat Italian Blend Cheese, Shredded
Salt & Pepper to Taste
Direcions:
Cut the tops off the peppers and set aside.
Use a spoon to hollow out the insides of the peppers, removing the seeds and veins as best you can.
Place the cleaned out peppers into the crock pot with about 1-2 inches of water inside at the bottom of a large (7-8 qt.) slow cooker.
Yes, yes... I know I only have 4 peppers here and not the 5 that I have listed in the servings. That is because I only needed four. You will have plenty of filling for all 5 peppers.
Brown the sausage, onion, and garlic in a large non-stick skillet until cooked through.
Add in the crushed tomatoes and seasoning.
Combine sauce mixture with the uncooked rice.
Don't worry! The rice cooks up just perfectly inside the peppers!
Almost fill each pepper with the sauce and rice.
You may or may not have any left over sauce/rice, it really just depends on how large your peppers are!
Place the tops back onto the peppers.
Secure the lid and cook for 6-8 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high.
Once done, remove the tops and place 2 tbsp. mozzarella cheese on top.
Replace the lid and allow the cheese to melt. This should only take 3-5 minutes.
When the cheese has melted, remove the lid and plate.
Serve right away and enjoy!
