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These stuffed bell peppers are such a fun Halloween dinner! Orange bell peppers are turned into little jack-o-lanterns and filled with beef, Rice-A-Roni, and mozzarella for an EASY dinner the whole family will love.
Why I Love These Halloween Stuffed Bell Peppers
I had to share these because they are SO fun for Halloween! 🎃
A few years back, Taste of Home Magazine featured this easy Halloween dinner. I have had SO much great feedback!
These jack-o-lantern stuffed bell peppers are such an easy dinner, but they make a regular October night feel a little more special too.
I love how EASY these are to make. Just carve little jack-o’-lantern faces into the orange bell peppers, fill them with the beef and rice mixture, add some mozzarella, and pop them in the oven.
I mean, who doesn’t love a happy jack-o-lantern?!
The filling is SO good with the seasoned ground beef, beef-flavored Rice-A-Roni, and just a little sweetness from the tomato paste and brown sugar.
And then the mozzarella gets allllll melty on top, and you can broil it for a few minutes to get the cheese slightly crispy to perfection!
I love that these stuffed bell peppers are fun for Halloween, but still feel like a real dinner. They would be so cute to serve at a Halloween party, too! Or you can even make them at home for a fun family dinner as well. These are the good old days!
For the jack-o-lantern bell pepper faces, don’t overthink it. Two eyes, a little nose, and a fun grin are all you need.
And make sure you keep the tops of the peppers! You’ll put them back on before baking. They will look so cute!
If you’re planning a Halloween dinner, make these alongside my Spider Web Bean Dip. A cute jack-o-lantern dinner and a spooky dip? SO fun! 🕷️🎃
As always, LMK if you have ANY questions whatsoever! Happy baking and making memories!
How to Make These Jack-O-Lantern Stuffed Bell Peppers
Jack-O-Lantern Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 orange bell peppers
- 3/4 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1 box Rice-A-Roni Beef Flavor
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- Shredded mozzarella, for topping
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Cut the tops off the bell peppers and set them aside. Remove the seeds and membranes, then carefully carve jack-o-lantern faces into the sides of the peppers.
- Cook ground beef, onion, and garlic in a skillet and season with salt and pepper.
- Prepare the Rice-A-Roni according to the package directions, using the 2 tablespoons butter.
- Mix Rice-A-Roni and cooked ground beef together.
- Mix tomato paste, water, and brown sugar and combine the mixture with rice and ground beef.
- Spoon mixture into each bell pepper, top each pepper with cheese, and put the top of the bell pepper back on.
- Add 1/4 inch of water to a large baking dish and arrange the stuffed peppers inside. Cover with foil and bake for about 40 minutes.
- Remove the foil and pepper tops. Broil for a few minutes, watching closely, until the cheese is lightly browned.
Notes
- Keep the tops of the bell peppers after cutting them off so they can be placed back on before baking.
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I can’t wait to make this recipe this week! How can I prevent the peppers from getting super wrinkly in the baking process? Or don’t they really do that?
I have no clue what temperature to bake the pepper at Melissa. You never included it and I’m stupid so you need to include it.
Thank you SO much for catching this, Mattie. I have updated the recipe card. You can bake it at 400 degrees for about 40 minutes.
This Jack-O-Lantern Stuffed Bell Peppers is delicious and fun, I enjoyed making it so much.
so happy to hear
Hi! Thanks for sharing this great recipe. I tried this last weekend for my guests & they loved it.