Leftover Stuffed Peppers

This Leftover Stuffed Peppers recipe is delicious, easy to make, and a healthy way to utilize leftover ingredients. Plus, these are versatile. There is no hard and fast rule in making stuffed peppers. You can stuff literally any ingredient into them, top them up with cheese, scallions, and parsley, cook them in the oven, and the result is a fancy and tasteful plate of food.

Looking for Thanksgiving leftover stuffing ideas? Worry not! This leftover stuffed pepper recipe is just the right idea for you!

What to do with Leftover Stuffing?

One of the major things you have at hand after a delicious Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner is the amount of leftover stuffing and meat. No matter how much you try to keep things simple, you will always have some leftover items. So, the main question is what to do with these things?

Well, there are several things you can make with these leftover ingredients. For instance, you can make a casserole, sandwich, pizza, or pasta. However, among the many Leftover stuffing ideas, the one I love the most is stuffed peppers. It is super convenient, easy, and utterly tasteful. You can turn the leftover stuffing into something new, and no one will know you used the leftover ingredients. It is actually a pretty smart and tasteful dish.

Stuffed Peppers Ideas

When making stuffed peppers from the leftover stuffing, ideas are infinite. You can use whatever you feel works well with the bell peppers. Here are a few ideas that you will love:

Meat: you can use any meat. Whether it is beef, lamb, turkey, pork, chicken, or even shrimps, whether roasted, grilled, or boiled, it doesn't matter as long as they are cooked.

Vegetables: you can also use leftover roasted vegetables. Roughly chop them and add them to the mixture.

Grains: you can use leftover white or brown rice or even quinoa as well.

Chili: stiff leftover chili into the peppers and top with cheese.

Cheese: you can use any cheese. From stringy mozzarella to sharp cheddar, everything works well.

Cheese sauce: pour delicious, creamy, cheesy sauce over cooked stuffed peppers to create a new delicacy.

Tomato sauce: you can also add tomato sauce to the peppers for more flavor.

Tips and Tricks for Making Stuffed Peppers

Although making stuffed peppers are super easy, here are a few things you should keep in mind:

Make sure all of your stuffing ingredients have the right texture and smell. Don’t use an ingredient that seems to have gone bad.

Make sure the meat you are using is perfectly cooked. Semi-cooked or raw meat will take more

time in the oven and may turn the stuffed peppers soggy.

Never store hot or warm stuffed peppers in the refrigerator or freezer; wait until they reach room temperature first.

Always store the leftover stuffing in an airtight container.

You can use either green, yellow or red bell peppers for this recipe. The colors make the dish visually appealing.

Can you Freeze Leftover Stuffed Peppers?

Yes, you can definitely freeze leftover stuffed peppers. In fact, these are one of the ideal dishes to freeze. That's because the bell peppers easily retain their natural taste and texture. Here is how you can freeze them:

Once the stuffer peppers are cooked, wait till they reach room temperature.

Place them in a casserole dish, cover the dish with aluminum foil and place it in the freezer for about 3 to 4 hours. This process is called flash freezing.

Once the bell peppers are frozen, take them out of the freezer, wrap them individually in aluminum foil, and place them in a zip-lock plastic bag. Place back in the freezer, and they are good to go for three months.

If you want to freeze them without cooking, you can do that as well. For that you will have to:

Blanch the bell peppers in boiling water for about 3 to 5 minutes until they are a bit soft. Remove from the water and let them cool.

Fill the bell peppers with leftover stuffing, place them in a casserole dish, cover with aluminum foil and freeze for 3 to 4 hours.

Remove from freezer, wrap individual bell pepper in aluminum foil, and place in a zip lock bag.

Store in the freezer for up to three months.

How to reheat leftover stuffed peppers?

You can quickly reheat frozen leftover stuffed peppers by first thawing them completely. You can do that by placing them in the refrigerator a night before or at room temperature. Once they are thawed, place them on a baking tray and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes at 350-degree F until they are entirely cooked/reheated.

Leftover Stuffed Peppers Recipe

Whole Green Bell Peppers, Cored and Caps Removed

Leftover Cooked Rice

Chopped White Onions

Minced Garlic

A Pinch of Chili Flakes

Leftover Meat, Diced or Shredded

Chopped Scallion

Shredded Cheese, mozzarella or cheddar cheese

Salt, to taste (Optional)

Black pepper, to taste (Optional)

Preparation Steps for Stuffing Peppers

Wash the bell peppers and pat dry. Using a sharp knife, remove the top and the core of the bell peppers. You can do that by placing the knife upside-down along the sides of the cap and cut in a circular motion.

In a bowl, add leftover cooked rice, chopped white onions, minced garlic, shredded leftover meat, chili flakes, scallions, cheese, salt, and black pepper and mix well using your hands until all the ingredients are well combined.

Scoop in the prepared filling into the bell peppers.

Top them up with more shredded cheese and chopped scallions.

Place these bell peppers on a parchment-lined baking tray.

Place the baking tray in a preheated oven at 400 degrees F for about 40 to 45 minutes.

Once the cheese gets a golden color, remove the baking tray from the oven.

Serve the bell peppers hot. Enjoy!

Just in case you need some vegan protein options, here are few:

1. Firm Tofu
2. Cooked Chickpeas
3. Cooked Lentils
4. Tempeh
5. Jackfruit