Lasagna Stuffed Peppers Without Rice are an easy-to-make Italian-style recipe that your whole family will love. Marinara sauce, sausage, herbs, and melted cheese come together in a perfect healthy serving that tastes delicious! Because no rice is added, this is a gluten free, low carb, sugar free, keto-friendly recipe!
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🎥 Watch Video
You'll ❤️ These Stuffed Peppers Without Rice
If you want more stuffed peppers without rice, be sure to make these taco stuffed peppers or this cheeseburger version - delish!
Easy
Quick and easy stuffed peppers stuffed with your favorite lasagna ingredients are the way to go! Just make your stuffing mixture and spoon it into precooked peppers. Bake until hot and bubbly - this will be in and out of your oven in no time.
Make Ahead Recipe
Another perfect make-ahead stuffed pepper recipe. In fact, I make these all the time on the weekend and let them sit in the fridge, ready for baking a few days later. Super convenient!
Upgraded Classic Stuffed Peppers
This lasagna version is a great alternative to classic stuffed peppers!
The beauty of bell peppers is that they taste great, and you can stuff them with so many delicious things!
Low Carb and Keto Stuffed Peppers
Lasagna stuffed peppers are low carb, keto, and gluten free. They are a healthy recipe that you'll feel good about serving.
Following a low carb and keto diet means I sometimes miss pasta - but not in this recipe. I love the lasagna taste but with no pasta!
A nutritional analysis is below, but here is a summary:
net carbs 9.2 g | fat 23.6 g | protein 15.6 g
🥘 What You'll Need
Here are the ingredients you will need to make lasagna stuffed peppers without rice:
Bell Peppers - Use any color you like. Green bell peppers are less sweet the red, yellow, or orange - but only slightly.
Italian Sausage -
Garlic
Marinara Sauce - If you are following keto make sure your marinara has no added sugar.
Mozzarella - freshly grated mozzarella melts the best
Parmesan Cheese - use freshly grated if possible
Whole Milk Ricotta or cottage cheese - most people use ricotta, but cottage cheese works just as well and adds great flavor to lasagna.
Dried Italian Seasoning Blend
Salt and Pepper to taste
Optional: fresh basil for garnish. I also like to set aside extra sauce for topping off my peppers after they are baked.
For exact ingredient quantities, please see the recipe card below!
🔪 How To Make Them
Here's how to make lasagna stuffed peppers without rice. Please follow the recipe card for detailed instructions.
Prep
Preheat oven to 350° F. Assemble ingredients. Wash peppers. Slice peppers lengthwise in half through the middle and remove the seeds.
Cook The Peppers
Place peppers in a microwave-safe dish with 3 to 4 tablespoons of water. Cover and microwave for 5 to 8 minutes or until peppers are soft.
Cook The Meat
In the meantime, brown the Italian sausage until cooked through.
Make Lasagna Filling
In a bowl combine meat, garlic, 16 oz of marinara sauce, ricotta, 1/8 cup parmesan, 2 cups mozzarella, and Italian seasoning.
Stuff
Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with nonstick spray. Place cooked peppers inside the dish and generously stuff with meat and cheese mixture.
Top With Cheese
Top with the remaining cheese.
Bake
Bake 350 ° F for 20-30 minutes until peppers are heated through and cheese is melted.
Serve
Serve with the remaining marinara sauce and a garnish of basil. Yum!
🥗 How To Serve
Lasagna stuffed peppers without rice are really intended to be a meal in one but if you are looking for a little more here are a few ideas:
- Serve with extra marinara sauce and garnish with some fresh basil.
- Make a simple side salad and toss with Zesty Italian Dressing.
- If you have nonlow carb or keto followers in your house, serving with garlic bread is tasty.
📖 Variations
There are several ways you can customize this recipe to suit your tastes.
- Don't like Italian sausage? Substitute ground beef.
- Use ricotta cheese or cottage cheese. Both have great flavor.
- Feel free to add a cup or cup and a half of diced vegetables such as mushrooms, onion, zucchini. Cook the vegetables with the sausage until tender. Drain any excess liquid.
- Make it spicier by using a spicy Italian sausage or by adding red pepper flakes.
- Freeze the stuffed peppers for later. Place in an airtight freezer proof container and freeze up to 3 months.
- Cook in your slow cooker. Stuff raw peppers then place in a lightly oiled crockpot and cook on low until the peppers are tender. (Note: with this cooking method you do not need to pre-cook the peppers.)
💭 Top Tips
- Many recipes will not ask you to cook the bell peppers in advance. This is fine - but the recipe will take much longer to bake. If you microwave the peppers (6 to 10 minutes) until they are crisp tender, they will bake much faster.
- Make this recipe in advance by following the recipe - but save the baking step for when you are ready. Cover the unbaked stuffed peppers with foil or plastic wrap and keep in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake and serve. Remove from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Bake until they are warm and the cheese is melted.
FAQs
Steamed broccoli or a salad with a low carb or keto-approved salad dressing go really well with these lasagna stuffed peppers.
Of course, if you have non-keto followers and carb lover's in your house serve with a side of pasta marinara. This will make everyone in your family happy.
To reduce the baking time, you can boil peppers before stuffing them or you can steam in the microwave for 6 to 10 minutes until crisp tender. Make sure to slice your peppers in half and take the seeds out, per the recipe instructions.
I like steaming in the microwave because it is quicker and hands-off which makes my life easier.
How Do I Reheat Stuffed Peppers?
You can reheat stuffed peppers in the oven, by covering them with foil and baking at 350° F until warm inside. An alternative is warming in the microwave oven.
Can You Freeze Stuffed Peppers?
You can freeze stuffed peppers. My preferred method is to make the recipe first - stuffing and baking the peppers, then freezing in airtight containers. Thaw and bake until heated through at 350° F
Freeze them individually for the perfect make-ahead lunch or single-serving dinner!
How Long Will Stuffed Peppers Keep In The Fridge?
Stuffed peppers will keep in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
How Long Can You Freeze Peppers?
Peppers can be frozen up to 8 months, but I prefer to use stuffed peppers within 3 to 6 months.
How Long Do Stuffed Peppers Take To Cook?
This recipe takes anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to bake, but the bell peppers are steamed in advance while I'm preparing the lasagna filling.
More Bell Pepper Recipes
Here are a few more bell pepper recipes that I think you'll love!
- Instant Pot Chicken Fajitas
- Roasted Red Pepper Soup
- Cajun-Style Sausage and Peppers Recipe
- Italian Crockpot Sausage and Peppers
- Chicken Fajitas Bake
- Taco Stuffed Bell Peppers
- Chicken Fajita Soup
📋 Recipe
Lasagna Stuffed Peppers (Without Rice)
Ingredients
- 4 medium bell peppers (any color)
- 1 pound italian sausage
- 1 teaspoon garlic (minced)
- 24 ounces marinara sauce (no added sugar)
- 2 cups mozzarella (fresh grated)
- ¼ cup parmesan
- ½ cup ricotta or cottage cheese
- 2 teaspoons dried italian seasoning
- salt and pepper to taste
- fresh basil for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Assemble ingredients. Wash peppers. Slice peppers in half through the middle and remove seeds.
- Place peppers in a microwave-safe dish with 3 to 4 tablespoons of water. Cover and microwave for 5 to 8 minutes or until peppers are crisp tender.
- While peppers are cooking, brown the italian sausage until cooked through.
- In a bowl combine meat, garlic, 16 oz of marinara sauce, ricotta, 1/8 cup parmesan, 2 cups mozzarella, and Italian seasoning.
- Spray a 13 x 9 baking dish with nonstick spray. Place cooked peppers inside the dish and generously stuff with meat and cheese mixture. Top with remaining cheese.
- Bake 350 ° F for 20-30 minutes until peppers are heated through and cheese is melted. Serve with the remaining marinara sauce.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
© 2023 Seeking Good Eats™
kelly kline says
can i use half hamburger and half sausage
seekinggoodeats says
Yep! That would be good!
Franca says
Your recipe calls for 24 oz of marinara; however, the amount of sauce in the accompanying video looks like much less. What is the proper amount?
seekinggoodeats says
It's 24 oz of marinara. 16 oz goes in the meat, and the rest is used as a topping after they are done. Enjoy!
Mer says
I made this tonight and it was a big hit! I doubled the sauce for later. Thank you for sharing this recipe! It's a keeper!
seekinggoodeats says
You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed it - it's one of my favorites!
Brenda says
This is a great recipe, and super simple!
Kori says
Thank you so much! I'm super happy you loved the lasagna stuffed peppers. Have a great day 🙂
Tara Wolff says
We made this and wanted to mention that if you prefer a more al dente pepper, try baking the washed peppers in the oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees before stuffing, instead of microwaving them.
Kori says
Thanks for your idea! 🙂 You technically don't even have to cook the peppers at all beforehand but it just adds to the baking time. It's easier to boil, microwave or bake the peppers in advance to speed the process along.
Heather M. says
These were delicious and satisfying! The whole family loved them. It was easy and quick making this a great go-to for weeknights.
Kori says
Thank you so much! Any recipe you can get the whole family to enjoy is so great! I'm glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Chelsea says
I have made this a number of times tweaking it a little each time and it’s always turned out very delicious! I love cooking down some chopped onion and fresh garlic when browning the meat as my family LOVES fresh garlic and cooked onion! Pro tip, use left over filling with cooked pasta if you don’t fear carbs!
Kori says
Thank you! So glad you're enjoying this pepper recipe! 🙂 I love your ideas!