Jack-o’-Lantern Stuffed Peppers

Turn orange bell peppers into a satisfying, Halloween-themed dinner with this easy, fun, and kid-friendly stuffed pepper recipe.

This Jack-o’-lantern stuffed pepper will look just as cool no matter how great your filling is. But while the kids might be impressed enough with the appearance to forgive a less than stellar inside, we discerning adults are going to want the full package. What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t love this stuffing, and hope you use your favorite recipe instead, whether that’s one of ours or not.

I think a lot of it had to do with the extra-lean ground beef I used, but it was also not sautéing the onions and garlic, or adding herbs, or any number of other things I could’ve done if I hadn’t been trying to make the easiest stuffing possible. All things considered, it was still pretty good, but I guess I’m feeling like it wasn’t worthy of the hand-carved delivery system.

Speaking of which, be sure to pick out some nice big bell peppers to make the knife work easier. And if you wanted to Halloween things up a bit, you could do some bucatini “worms” coming out of the eyes or mouth or serve these (to adults) with a steak knife plunged into the pepper menacingly. Anyway, if you’re looking for a fun and not that frightening way to serve stuffed peppers, I hope you give these a try soon. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Original recipe (1X) yields 4 servings

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 4 large orange bell peppers
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 3 pinches cayenne pepper, or to taste
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• ⅓ cup thinly sliced green onions
• 2 tablespoons salted butter, melted
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 2 cups seasoned tomato sauce, warmed

Directions

1. Gather all ingredients. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C), and oil a baking dish with olive oil.ALLRECIPES / BAHAREH NIATI
2. Use a small knife to cut eyes, nose, and mouth into the flattest side of each pepper, just like a jack-o’-lantern. Cut around the seedpods and remove the tops, trimming and discarding any seeds from under the stems. Trim the white membrane from the inside of each pepper and shake out any seeds. Place in the prepared baking dish.ALLRECIPES / BAHAREH NIATI
3. Mix together ground beef, salt, pepper, cayenne, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, green onions, melted butter, ketchup, Cheddar cheese, and rice in a bowl until well combined.ALLRECIPES / BAHAREH NIATI
4. Stuff mixture evenly into peppers and cover with the pepper tops.ALLRECIPES / BAHAREH NIATI
5. Wrap the baking dish loosely with foil and place on a sheet pan, and bake in the upper center of the preheated oven for 1 hour.ALLRECIPES / BAHAREH NIATI
6. Remove the foil and continue baking until peppers are tender and ground beef is cooked through, 10 to 15 more minutes.ALLRECIPES / BAHAREH NIATI
7. Place stuffed peppers on a few tablespoons of warm tomato sauce. Serve immediately with more sauce on the side.ALLRECIPES / BAHAREH NIATI
8. Serve and enjoy!