(a.k.a. Stuffed Pepper Jack-O-Lanterns)
These Stuffed Peppers make a delicious main that can help you add some vegetables to your menu. Need something cute to headline your Halloween spread? Preferably something that can be prepped in advance? Some quick work transforms them into Stuffed Pepper Jack-O-Lanterns that are sure to impress!
As a kid, I never ate stuffed peppers. They were on my “scary foods” list. Sheesh, was I missing out! Given the weird things that I often got hung up on, my adult self is super curious if I would have liked these ones. Use the orange bell peppers, carve cute little faces on them, call them “Stuffed Jack-O-Lanterns”, and don’t mention the word “pepper”. I strongly suspect I would have liked them. Yeah, I was like that as a child.
Anyway . . . I love this recipe either for a Halloween themed dinner party or just for any other time I need a tasty entrée. While I’m probably only going to carve jack-o-lantern faces in my peppers and limit myself to orange exteriors for special occasions, it’s a great dish for anytime and can be staged for advanced prep if needed.
What You Need to Make Stuffed Peppers (a.k.a. Stuffed Pepper Jack-O-Lanterns)
Ingredients
- Mushrooms – You can use either Baby Bella or White Button.
- Celery
- Carrots
- Red Onion
- Red Bell Pepper
- Yellow Bell Pepper
- Green Bell Pepper
- Salted Butter – This is just for cooking the mushrooms. You could use avocado oil if you prefer. I just prefer the taste of mushrooms cooked in salted butter.
- Ground Pork – You could also change things up and use Sweet, Mild, or Hot Italian Sausage or Chorizo if you prefer. Personally, I’d suggest Hot Italian.
- Avocado Oil – This is just for cooking the veggies and ground meat. You could use regular olive oil if you prefer.
- Kosher Salt – Feel free to adjust to taste.
- Ground Black Pepper – Feel free to adjust to taste.
- Hungarian Hot Paprika – Feel free to adjust to taste. I wouldn’t be concerned about this making the stuffing spicy. There is a lot of veggie volume to spread out the flavor.
- Low Sugar Marinara Sauce – I use Rao’s. I typically stick to the Marinara when developing recipes to cut down on variables, but I like using the Arrabiata sauce when cooking just for the two of us.
- Cauliflower Rice – I use the 12-ounce bags when I can get them. However, sourcing is rarely as easy as I think it should be. If your store only has 10 or 10.5 ounce bags, that’s fine.
- Orange Bell Peppers – For the “Jack-O-Lantern” version, these are going to be your “pumpkins”. Just keep the picture of a regular pumpkin jack-o-lantern in mind while you’re working with them and you should be good. If you’re not making jack-o-lanterns, you can mix and match the stuffed pepper colors as you wish. In that case, keeping the tops or not is up to you.
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Chef’s Knife
- Zip Top Bags – Optional. If you are chopping the vegetables in advance.
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Large Sauté Pan or Skillet
- Spatula
- Paper Towels
- Plate
- Paring Knife – For carving the jack-o-lantern faces into the orange bell peppers.
- 9×13-inch Casserole Dish
- Non-stick Cooking Spray
- Food Processor – Optional to make vegetable chopping faster.
Getting Started with Making Stuffed Peppers (a.k.a. Stuffed Pepper Jack-O-Lanterns)
Vegetable Prep
This recipe has a good amount of chopping. If you have a food processor and want to shortcut the chopping, just run all of the chopped vegetables through a small dice blade. If not, just plan for a bit of cathartic chopping time. Whenever I have a recipe with chopped vegetables, I like to do the chopping the night / day before so it’s out of the way and then I can just cook. However, sometimes the schedule just doesn’t turn out that way.
I would start by wiping and slicing 12 ounces of mushrooms. I use this dishwasher safe, heavy duty, bladed egg slicer to slice my mushrooms quickly and evenly.
Then we’ll move on to dicing ½ cup Celery (70 grams // 2.5 ounces), ½ cup Carrots (70 grams // 2.5 ounces), 1.25 cups Red Onion (170 grams // 6 ounces), 1.25 cups Red Bell Pepper (170 grams // 6 ounces), 1.25 cups Yellow Bell Pepper (170 grams // 6 ounces), and 1.25 cups Green Bell Pepper (170 grams // 6 ounces). While these don’t have to be a miniscule dice, they are smaller than a chop. Set these all aside. If you are prepping in advance, go ahead and stick the diced veggies in zip top bags in the fridge.
Cooking Everything Up
To get cooking, first we’ll heat 2 tablespoons of salted butter over medium high heat and sauté the mushrooms. We’re going to cook them through until they’ve released their juices, then remove them from the heat and set them aside.
Next up, we’re cooking the ground meat (pork or other of your choice). Once it’s done, remove it from the heat to a paper towel lined plate.
To the same pan, we’ll toss in all of the diced vegetables–celery, carrots, red onion, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, and green bell pepper. Add some avocado oil if needed to keep the pan from getting too dry.
Once those vegetables are softened, we’ll stir in the marinara sauce and cauliflower rice. Mix it until everything is evenly distributed. Then we’ll cover the pan and allow the cauliflower to cook through. This usually takes about 10 minutes for me.
Remove the stuffing mixture from the heat and allow it to cool enough for you to work with it.
Assembling the Stuffed Peppers (a.k.a. Stuffed Pepper Jack-O-Lanterns)
Before we start the assemble process, you’ll want to preheat the oven to 300°F.
To make the “pumpkins”, we’re going to cut the tops off of 12 Orange Bell Peppers, leaving the stem intact. Then we’ll remove the seeds and membranes from inside.
On whichever face / side is the flattest, we’ll use a sharp paring knife to carve a “jack-o-lantern” face in the side.
If you’re not making the Jack-O-Lantern version of this recipe and just want Stuffed Peppers, you can skip this step.
Next, spray a 9×13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray and stand the orange bell peppers up in it. Then we’ll spoon the prepared stuffing mixture into each orange bell pepper. Set the pepper tops / lids back on top. (Note: If you’re not making the Jack-O-Lantern version, you don’t have to put the “lids” back on.)
Baking and Serving
You’ll want to bake the stuffed peppers at 300°F for 1 hour. The exterior bell peppers will have softened a bit and started to wrinkle.
Lori Note: The lower temperature and longer time is deliberate and intended to give the exterior peppers a chance to fully cook through.
Serve warm.
Related Recipes
Looking for some ideas of what to serve with your Stuffed Pepper Jack-O-Lanterns? If you’re going for a Halloween theme, you might want to try:
- Eyeball Hors d’Oeuvres (a.k.a. Prosciutto and Mozzarella Nests)
- Bloody Coffin Brie (a.k.a. Melty Chili Garlic Brie)
- Sugar Free Witch Finger Cookies
- Keto Black Bat Crackers with Blood Moon Soup (a.k.a. Roasted Tomato Poblano Soup)
Take a look at my Casual Halloween Dinner Party for the full menu and shopping list.
Stuffed Peppers (a.k.a. Stuffed Pepper Jack-O-Lanterns)
Ingredients
- 12 ounces Mushrooms Sliced. You can use either Baby Bella or White Button. 340 grams // 12 ounces // ~5 cups
- ½ cup Celery Diced. 70 grams // 2.5 ounces
- ½ cup Carrots Diced. 70 grams // 2.5 ounces
- 1.25 cups Red Onion Diced. 170 grams // 6 ounces
- 1.25 cups Red Bell Pepper Diced. 170 grams // 6 ounces
- 1.25 cups Yellow Bell Pepper Diced. 170 grams // 6 ounces
- 1.25 cups Green Bell Pepper Diced. 170 grams // 6 ounces
- 2 tablespoons Salted Butter
- 1 pound Ground Pork You could also use Sweet, Mild, or Hot Italian Sausage or Chorizo if you prefer. I’d suggest Hot Italian, personally.)
- 1 – 2 tablespoons Avocado Oil Or Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
- 2 teaspoons Hungarian Hot Paprika
- 22 ounces No Sugar Marinara Sauce I use a 22 ounce jar of Rao’s.
- 24 ounces Cauliflower Rice 2 (12-ounce bags. If your store only has 10 or 10.5 ounce bags, that’s fine.)
- 12 Orange Bell Peppers Tops neatly sliced off with stems left intact, seeds and membranes removed. If not making jack-o-lanterns, you can mix and match the stuffed pepper colors as you wish and keeping the tops is up to you.
Instructions
- Clean and slice 12 ounces Mushrooms. Set them aside. Dice ½ cup Celery, ½ cup Carrots, 1.25 cups Red Onion, 1.25 cups Red Bell Pepper, 1.25 cups Yellow Bell Peppers, 1.25 cups Green Bell Pepper. Set them aside.12 ounces Mushrooms, ½ cup Celery, ½ cup Carrots, 1.25 cups Red Onion, 1.25 cups Red Bell Pepper, 1.25 cups Yellow Bell Pepper, 1.25 cups Green Bell Pepper
- Heat 2 tablespoons of Salted Butter over medium high heat in a large sauté pan and toss in the mushrooms. Cook until the mushrooms are cooked through and release their juices. About 6 – 8 minutes. Remove from heat and set them aside.2 tablespoons Salted Butter, 12 ounces Mushrooms
- Add the ground pork to the same pan and cook it through. About 8 – 10 minutes. Remove it to a paper towel lined plate and set aside.1 pound Ground Pork
- Add 1 – 2 tablespoons Avocado Oil to the pan. Then toss in 1.25 cups Red Bell Pepper, 1.25 cups Yellow Bell Pepper, 1.25 cups Green Bell Pepper, ½ cup Celery, ½ cup Carrots, and 1.25 cups Red Onion. Cook until all of the vegetables have softened.½ cup Celery, ½ cup Carrots, 1.25 cups Red Onion, 1.25 cups Red Bell Pepper, 1.25 cups Yellow Bell Pepper, 1 – 2 tablespoons Avocado Oil, 1.25 cups Green Bell Pepper
- Stir in 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper, and 2 teaspoons Hungarian Hot Paprika.1 teaspoon Kosher Salt, 1 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper, 2 teaspoons Hungarian Hot Paprika
- Pour in 22 ounces No Sugar Marinara Sauce and 24 ounces Cauliflower Rice. Stir and then combine the mushrooms and ground pork back into the pan. Mix until everything is evenly distributed. Cover and cook until the cauliflower is cooked through. About 10 minutes.)22 ounces No Sugar Marinara Sauce, 24 ounces Cauliflower Rice
- Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Cut the tops off of 12 Orange Bell Peppers, leaving the stem intact. Remove the seeds and membranes from inside. On whichever face / side is the flattest, use a sharp paring knife to carve a “jack-o-lantern” face in the side. Spray a 9×13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray and stand them up in the dish.12 Orange Bell Peppers
- Spoon the prepared stuffing mixture into each Orange Bell Pepper. Set the pepper tops / lids back on top of each pepper
- Bake at 300°F for 1 hour. The exterior bell peppers will have softened a bit and started to wrinkle.
- Serve warm.
Equipment
- Zip Top Bags Optional. If you are chopping the vegetables in advance.
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Paper Towels
- Plate
- Paring Knife For carving the jack-o-lantern faces into the orange bell peppers.
- Non-stick Cooking Spray
Notes
- Speeding up the Chopping
- If you want to speed up the process of vegetable chopping and have a food processor, you could use a small dice blade and just run the veggies listed for dicing through that.
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