These delicious and juicy peppers packed with spiced meat and rice have always been one of my mom’s favourite home-cooked meals. When I was a child, that was a seasonal dish which she prepared in late summer with peppers from our garden. Nowadays, we are blessed to have fresh vegetables available in supermarkets all year round and can cook this tasty dish anytime. My protein-based recipe produces a substantial, but light, full-of-flavour, gluten-free meal. With a slight modification of the same recipe, you can even prepare a superb vegetarian dish. Just omit the meat. Beautifully cooked stuffed peppers taste great straight out of the oven, and even better when left in the fridge for a couple of days for the flavours to sink in. The dish is suitable for freezing, which makes it a quick and easy meal when needed.

HISTORY OF STUFFED PEPPERS

You may wonder where the stuffed peppers originated. It surely is a dish common in many cuisines. Have you noticed that each country’s recipes come with unique fillings? Traditionally, Spanish stuffed peppers are loaded with baby tomatoes, local cheeses, chicken or cod, and the Mexican recipes make the fillings with cheddar cheese, spices, eggs or mincemeat. My rice-based recipe, regardless of whether it’s made with meat or not, is directly linked to an iconic Ottoman dish that was introduced to the Balkan region during Ottoman rule and became deeply rooted in the local cuisines.

In the 14th century, rice was not widely available in Europe. Soon after their conquest of the Balkans, the Ottomans started rice cultivation in the Central Balkan region and employed peasants to work in the rice fields granting them certain privileges. In the 16th century, rice production flourished in the regions of Nis (Serbia) and Banat (Hungary).

There is evidence that in the 17th century, the Turkish sultan who was a big fan of rice-based dolma dishes, employed an army of chefs to develop recipes. Dolma refers to stuffed vegetables, including stuffed peppers. If you are curious to read about another popular Balkan dolma dish, made with vine leaves, visit my post Balkan-Style Stuffed Vine Leaf.

HOW TO MAKE DELICIOUS STUFFED PEPPERS

Stuffed peppers are not a complicated dish to make. First, you need to prepare the filling, blanch and stuff the peppers, then roast them in the oven. Stuffed peppers are well-complemented with bechamel sauce. Find out instructions on how to make the sauce below, as well.

📋 INGREDIENTS IN THIS RECIPE

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Peppers: Back home, we use a specific local variety of green pointy peppers for stuffing. They have very thin and silky skin and wonderful fresh green flavour. Unfortunately, these peppers are not easily available in the UK and I tend to stuff bell peppers here instead. Bell peppers hold a lot of filling and are a reasonable substitute for the Balkan peppers, even though they have a slightly sweeter taste.

Meat: The original Turkish stuffed peppers (Biber Dolmesi) are prepared as a vegetarian dish or with lean beef. However, this is a Bulgarian recipe, and Bulgarians often cook it with pork or a blend of pork and beef mincemeat. Even though I’ve seen many recipes calling for lean meat, I prefer to use meat with some fat because fat gives flavour. Meat with 15% fat works fine for me. Alternatively, use lean meat and add some pancetta to make a lovely flavoured and moist filling.

Spicing: Create a flavourful stuffing with an assortment of dry spices of your choice. Most of the traditional recipes for stuffed peppers in Bulgaria use the savory spice. I love this powerful spice’s flavours. It’s a Balkan herb that comes in two varieties: summer and winter savoury. Summer savoury has a unique and strong flavour, best described as peppery with a hint of mint and oregano. You may find it interesting that scientists believe consuming summer savoury is beneficial because of its biological properties. They include antimicrobial and antioxidant activities, protective effects against Jurkat T Cells, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, infection, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and cholesterol. Savoury spice may be difficult to find in the shops, but you can source it online.  Although it’s not going to taste the same, as an alternative, you can use dry mint spice instead of savoury. Additional spices required here are sweet paprika and black pepper. They are easily available and have beautiful aromas that elevate the flavours in the rice filling with smoky and piquant tones.

Vegetables: Onion and carrot add texture and flavour to the rice filling. And even though brown onion is the traditional choice for cooking, strong red onions have beautiful flavours and sweetness and I often use it in cooking. To add a hint of pleasant and light acidity to the dish, use a fresh tomato or substitute the fresh tomato with a canned chopped tomato.

For the bechamel sauce: Even though the bechamel sauce is optional and you can replace it just with plain yoghurt, it is a good addition to the dish because it adds flavour and makes a slightly dry dish moist. To prepare the sauce, you’ll need eggs, yoghurt, flour and just a pinch of salt. Use good quality fresh eggs, natural plain yoghurt (not full fat) and all-purpose flour.

📖 STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

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Follow the easy steps below to create a mouthwatering dish. You can double the recipe if you cook for a larger group of people or freeze leftover stuffed peppers for a quick and easy meal on a busy day.

STEP 1: GATHER ALL INGREDIENTS.

Take the meat out of the fridge one hour before cooking. You need to bring it down to room temperature to cook better.

Wash the peppers well, cut the tops to make improvised lids (as seen in the image above) and remove the seeds.

Although not essential, it’s a good idea to blanch the peppers for a couple of minutes in boiling water before stuffing them to help them cook better. You do not have to blanch the improvised lids as you won’t be eating them. They are used to prevent the stuffing in the peppers from falling out and drying out while the stuffed peppers are roasted. You can remove them before serving the dish.

Soak the rice in a pot with cold water for 15 minutes, then transfer it to a colander in your kitchen sink and dispose of the dirty water. Run cold water from your kitchen tap over the rice and rub the grains between your fingers until the water comes clean.

Peel, wash and dice the onion and carrot. If you do not like the texture of chopped onion, you can grate it. Wash, dice or grate the fresh tomato. Alternatively, substitute the fresh tomato with 1/3 can of chopped tomato.

Combine all dry spices.

Take the eggs and yoghurt out of the fridge ahead of cooking and allow time to get to room temperature.

STEP 2: PREPARE THE MEAT AND RICE FILLING.

Sautee the diced onion and carrot in heated olive oil. When the carrot is almost soft, add the mincemeat and break lumps in the meat to cook evenly. Reduce the liquid released from the meat and brown it. Then, add the rice and the dry spices. Stir well and cook for a couple of minutes.

Pour water into the pan and add salt. Let the rice simmer until nearly cooked, then add the tomato. Stir again, and let the mixture cook for the final two minutes. Remove from the heat.

STEP 3: STUFF AND BAKE THE PEPPERS.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 356 degrees Fahrenheit. Pack the peppers with filling tightly, arrange them into a baking dish and place the improvised pepper lids on top to cover the filling. Pour water into the roasting pan up to the middle of the peppers and roast in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven.

STEP 4: MAKE THE BECHAMEL SAUCE.

Whisk the eggs with the yoghurt and add a pinch of salt to the mixture.

Heat oil in a saucepan at medium heat and saute the flour for a few minutes until it’s golden colour. Then, pour the leftover juices from the oven dish with the roasted stuffed peppers into the saucepan with the toasted flour and stir continuously to dissolve the flour. Ensure no lumps are left in the mixture. Pour small splashes of blended yoghurt and egg with the liquid flour and stir continuously to combine. Return the saucepan to the hob, reduce the heat to low, and keep stirring the sauce vigorously until it thickens.

🍲 WHAT TO SERVE WITH STUFFED PEPPERS

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These beautiful peppers with flavorful stuffing are commonly served as a main course, garnished with bechamel sauce or plain yoghurt and fresh parsley. Having this dish with a simple green salad is a great easy option. However, if you have the time and are willing to put in the extra work, you can make a fabulous spread with stuffed peppers, a variety of salads and vegetable dishes, sauces and beautiful fresh bread.

Here are a few suggestions of dishes that complement stuffed peppers well:

Bulgarian Shopska salad – a beautiful fresh salad with an assortment of fresh vegetables and grated feta cheese.

Easy Bean Salad – a simple salad made with canned old beans, gherkins and red onion.

Air-fryer Zucchini chips – thin zucchini slices sprinkled with spices and cooked in the air fryer. If you do not own an air fryer, you can cook them in the oven.

Greek Tzatziki – a delicious yoghurt dip that compliments stuffed peppers beautifully.

I am confident that you will enjoy all of these fantastic salads from the Balkan cuisines. They are all scrumptious!

Enjoy! 👨‍🍳👨‍🍳👨‍🍳

More Delicious Recipes on my Blog: Turkish Falafel, Batter-Fried Zucchini, Serbian Cevapi

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