Portions: 4 servings Calories: 507kcal |
This stuffed cubanelle peppers recipe has it all: beautiful presentation, lovely flavor, healthful ingredients, and a low-effort, convenient preparation. It is an excellent dish for freezing and finishing later, serving to guests, bringing to a potluck, or just serving for dinner.
Why I ā¤ļø it ā¢ Recipe ā¢ Ingredients ā¢ Preparation
Stuffed cubanelle peppers.
Why I ā¤ļø it
Although I love Ā Dominican niƱos envueltos (Dominican cabbage rolls), they are a lot of work, so I decided to make a recipe inspired by those, but with some changes to make them easier and faster. If you love stuffed pepper recipes, then you found your the answer to the question, "what to do with cubanelle peppers?".
Another plus of this recipe is that it is made with brown rice, which is an excellent option forĀ anyone looking to serve something more nutritious. The result is tender cubanelle peppers stuffed with juicy meat and flavorful brown rice. Ā Eat well, eat tastily. This beautiful dish will be a success at the dinner table.
Stuffed cubanelle peppers recipe
This free recipe contains Amazon affiliate links, and I receive a small commission when you purchase, at no cost to you. Thank you!
Utensils and tools
Ingredients
To make the tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cups tomato, peeled and seeded
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- Ā¼ teaspoon oregano (dry, ground)
- 1 teaspoon salt, (or to taste)
- Ā¼ teaspoon pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground), (or to taste)
To make the stuffing
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large red onion, grated
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 pound ground chicken breast, [0.45 kg] or ground turkey
- 1Ā½ teaspoon salt, (or more, to taste)
- Ā½ teaspoon black pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground)
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes or chili powder
- Ā½ cup of chicken stock
To assemble the stuffed peppers
- 8 cubanelle peppers
- A bunch of basil leaves or fresh parsley or cilantro to garnish
Preparation
Before starting, please make sure you have all the ingredients and utensils ready.
Step 1: Make the tomato sauce
To make the tomato sauce, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over low heat.
Add the tomatoes and garlic. Cover and simmer until the tomatoes are cooked through. Mash them with a potato masher. Add oregano, salt, and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Step 2: Soak the rice
In a large bowl, soak the rice in enough water to cover it, plus an inch. Let it rest for an hour.
Heat the oil over very low heat in a skillet, add the onion and garlic, and cook and stir until they release their aroma. Stir in the chicken, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Increase heat to medium and simmer covered for five minutes.
Step 3: Cooking the rice
To cook the rice, remove all rice from the water. Add the rice to the skillet and stir. Add 1 cup of the water in which the rice was soaked and a cup of the tomato sauce you prepared previously (set the rest aside), and chicken stock.
Simmer until almost all the liquid evaporates. Cover tightly, lower heat to the minimum, and simmer for five minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Mix in the chopped basil.
Step 4: Heat oven
Preheat oven to 400 ĀŗF [200 ĀŗC].
Step 5: Clean peppers
To clean the cubanelle peppers, cut a slit in the cubanelle peppers and scoop out the seeds and white parts with a small spoon.
Stuff the peppers with the chicken mixture.
Step 6: Bake
Pour the remaining tomato sauce into a baking pan big enough to accommodate the peppers, or divide it between two smaller pans (which is what I did).
Place the peppers in the tomato sauce. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes.
Step 7: Serve
Remove from the oven, garnish with the basil leaves, and serve.
Variations
If you want to try a different stuffed cubanelle peppers version, use ground beef instead of ground chicken, and if you want something a bit richer, you can use Italian sausage stuffing in its place.
Top tips
- If you want to top these stuffed cubanelle peppers with some mozzarella cheese, go right ahead before going into the oven, it goes great in this dish too.
- Anaheim peppers are a good cubanelle pepper substitute in this recipe if you can't find cubanelle peppers, but bear in mind that while cubanelles are not spicy, Anaheim chiles are medium spicy. You can also use sweet bell peppers.
- You can save time by using a jar of your preferred tomato pasta sauce instead of making it from scratch.
- Use leftover rice instead of cooking it from scratch for this recipe, and it will save you most of the cooking time.
- White rice is fine if you don't like brown rice.
- You can store them in the refrigerator stuffed before baking them using an oven-safe airtight container. Bake before serving to finish cooking and reheating.
Serving suggestions
This aji relleno recipe produces a main dish that already contains several elements of a complete meal. The only thing I would add would be a salad, or, better yet, some avocado slices.
Nutritional information
Calories: 553kcal - Carbohydrates: 23g - Protein: 36g - Fat: 35g - Saturated Fat: 14g - Cholesterol: 116mg - Sodium: 1642mg - Potassium: 765mg - Fiber: 2g - Sugar: 13g - Vitamin A: 1030IU - Vitamin C: 9.1mg - Calcium: 587mg - Iron: 2.2mg
FAQs
What is a cubanelle pepper?
Cubanelle peppers Italian frying peppers, or Cuban peppers ā known in Spanish as cubanelas or ajĆ cubanela ā is a sweet pepper popular in Spanish Caribbean cooking (Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Dominican). Cubanelles are yellowish-green peppers similar in shape and color to Anaheim peppers.
Which is spicier poblano or cubanelle?
Cubanelle peppers aren't spicy, so poblano peppers are hotter.
Are Cubanelle peppers hot?
They are not, though slightly more bitter than bell peppers; cubanelle is not a type of hot pepper. It is often confused with Anaheim peppers because they look very similar, but Anaheim peppers are spicy.
What to do with cubanelle peppers?
Cubanelles are used in my traditional cuisine to make sazĆ³n or sofrito, or to add to many Dominican dishes. It can also be served stuffed.
What is a good substitute for a cubanelle pepper?
Green bell pepper is my preferred substitute for cubanelle peppers in most dishes, and they work well in these stuffed cubanelle peppers.
Do you have to boil peppers before stuffing them?
Boiling peppers before stuffing them is not generally needed if they will be roasted, baked, steamed, or cooked in any other manner.
Print card
This is just a printer-friendly summary, some useful details are found in the recipe above.
Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers with Brown Rice and Spicy Chicken
Ingredients
To make the tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cups tomato peeled and seeded
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- Ā¼ teaspoon oregano dry, ground
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- Ā¼ teaspoon pepper freshly-cracked, or ground, (or to taste)
To make the stuffing
- 1 cup brown rice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large red onion grated
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 pound ground chicken [0.45 kg] or ground turkey
- 1Ā½ teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
- Ā½ teaspoon black pepper freshly-cracked, or ground
- 1 teaspoon chili flakes or chili powder
- Ā½ cup chicken stock
To assemble the stuffed peppers
- 8 cubanela cubanelle pepper
- A bunch of basil leaves to garnish
Instructions
Step 1
- To make the tomato sauce, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over low heat. Add the tomatoes and garlic.Cover and simmer until the tomatoes are cooked through, mash them with a potato masher. Add oregano, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Step 2
- Make the filling by soaking the rice in enough water to cover it, plus an inch. Let it rest for an hour.Heat the oil over very low heat, add the onion and garlic, cook and stir until they start to release their aroma. Stir in the chicken, salt, pepper, and chili powder. Increase heat to medium and simmer covered for five minutes.
Step 3
- To cook the rice, remove all rice from the water. Add the rice to the pan and stir. Add 1 cup of the water in which the rice was soaked and a cup of the tomato sauce you prepared previously (set the rest aside), and chicken stock.Simmer until almost all the liquid evaporates. Cover tightly, lower heat to the minimum, and simmer for five minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Mix in the chopped basil.
Step 4
- Preheat oven to 400 ĀŗF [200 ĀŗC].
Step 5
- To clean the cubanelle peppers, cut a slit in the cubanelle peppers and scoop out the seeds and white parts with a small spoon.Stuff the peppers with the chicken mixture.
Step 6
- Pour the remaining tomato sauce on a baking pan big enough to accommodate the peppers, or divide between two smaller pans (which is what I did). Place the peppers in the tomato sauce. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes.
Step 7
- Remove from the oven, garnish with the basil leaves and serve.
Nutrition
By , published Oct 7, 2015 on Tia Clara
Noelle
My family loved this! Used some leftover baked chicken breasts and cubanelles and tomatoes from our garden. Rice was just a little al dente, might simmer a bit longer next time. Will definitely make again. Thanks
Tia Clara
I am so glad to hear you liked it, and great job adapting the recipe to your taste.
Christina Kasprzak
This was really a fantastic recipe. I swapped in ground turkey and I sprinkled goat cheese on top when serving and thy were amazing!
Tia Clara
Those are some great ideas, thanks for sharing!
plasterer bristol
Sounds really good. Love spicy rice, thanks for posting.
Simon
Virginia a
Cubanelles for me are an entirely different taste than green peppers