What do you get when you combine savory sausage, keto-friendly vegetables, spices, tomato sauce, cauliflower rice, and cheese in a bell pepper half and roasted in the oven? A fantastic, super easy keto meal! No pre-cooking of the peppers needed here. It’s one dish and you’re done!
Keto Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients List
- 3 large red, orange or yellow bell peppers
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped celery
- 1 pound bulk hot or mild Italian pork sausage
- 1½ tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 8 oz can keto-friendly (no-sugar-added) tomato sauce
- 1½ tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
- 10 oz bag frozen cauliflower rice, unthawed
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 3/4 cup (3-oz) shredded provolone cheese
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and carefully remove the core, seeds, and ribs with a paring knife or spoon. Arrange the peppers, cut-side up, in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish or other rimmed dish in which they fit snugly. Set aside.
- In a large (12-inch) skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Crumble in the sausage and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon, until no longer pink, for 5 to 6 minutes. Add the onion and garlic powders and the oregano. Stir for 1 minute.
- Add the tomato sauce, salt, and pepper and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the frozen cauliflower rice and half of the Parmesan cheese. Stir for 1 minute.
- In a small bowl, combine the remaining Parmesan cheese with the shredded provolone. Set aside.
- Fill each pepper half with the sausage mixture. Pour ¼ cup water into the bottom of the baking dish, wrap the dish tightly with foil, and bake until a paring knife easily pierces a pepper, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove the foil, spoon any accumulated juices onto the peppers, then sprinkle the cheese mix evenly onto the peppers. Bake until the cheese is melted and beginning to brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Let the peppers cool for 5 minutes, then serve.
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Found these to be bland and to salty. Next time I would use ground beef for better flavour. Not a fan of the sausage
Not sure I understand why this recipe is done using sausage or ground turkey and not the traditional chopped meat. I am no chef but it seems if I follow mom’s traditional stuffed pepper recipe ,substituting cauliflower rice for white rice and using a low or sugar free sauce, I would get the same or better result. Please correct me if I’m wrong, Thank you.
Thanks for your comments, Stanley. This recipe calls for sausage due to its unique flavor, but you’re welcome to use ground meat in its place if you wish, of course.
Why must everything be cooked in advance if it’s going to cook in the oven?
Thanks for your question. The sausage needs to be fully cooked for food safety, and sautéing the celery and seasonings first develops their flavor and ensures the filling cooks evenly. The cauliflower rice isn’t actually precooked, though; it’s simply stirred into the hot filling before everything goes into the oven. Hope that helps!
I cannot tolerate sausage (too greasy). Do you think the taste would be bland if I substitute ground turkey in place of the sausage?
Hi Marianne, You can try substituting ground turkey for the sausage. You may want to consider increasing the spices slightly, though. Good luck!
They sell turkey sausage and chicken sausage, which are less greasy.
They were very good except, for me, were too salty. Will make again but will decrease salt
Ok, that was awesome. Just got done making, waited the 5 minutes, and yum. I’ll be making this again.
Thanks for the recipe.
Thanks for sharing, Pamela!
Great family recipe. Tasty, easy. I used Country Style Pork Sausage and then I added some red pepper flakes. Also added a few chopped mushrooms and used Raos Marinara instead of tomato sauce because I had it opened. Next time, I might put a little marinara sauce on top before the cheese at the end.