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Stuffed Cubanelle Peppers with Spicy Chicken and Brown Rice

  • Español
Portions: 4 servings

Calories: 507kcal

This stuffed cubanelle peppers recipe is a loving homage to one of my favorite dishes. It has it all: beautiful presentation, lovely flavor, healthful ingredients, and a low-effort, convenient preparation. It is a great dish for freezing and finishing later, serving to guests, bringing to a potluck, or just serving for dinner.

Why I ❤️ it • Recipe • Ingredients • Preparation

Why I ❤️ it

Although I love  Dominican niños envueltos (Dominican cabbage rolls), the fact is that 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 to make, but still with lots of flavors and beautiful presentation. If you ever wondered what to do with aji cubanela, and love stuffed pepper recipes, then you found your answer.

Another plus of this recipe is that it is made with brown rice, which is an excellent option for anyone looking to serve something more nutritious. The result is tender cubanelle peppers, stuffed with juicy meat and flavorful brown rice.  Eat well, eat tastily. This beautiful dish will be a success at the dinner table.

Stuffed cubanelle peppers recipe

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Learn how to make these wonderful stuffed cubanelle peppers, made with ground chicken (or turkey), brown rice, and a rich assortment of seasonings.

Course: Dinner, Lunch
Inspiration: Caribbean
Category: cubanelle peppers recipe, pepper stuffed with brown rice, stuffed pepper recipe with rice, stuffed pepper rice recipe
Author: Clara González

Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time40 mins
Total Time55 mins

Utensils and tools

  • Lasagna baking dish
  • Mixing bowl
  • Large skillet
  • Aluminum foil
Stuffed cubanelle peppers.
Stuffed cubanelle peppers.

Ingredients

To make the tomato sauce

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cups tomato, peeled and seeded
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • ¼ teaspoon oregano (dry, ground)
  • 1 teaspoon salt, (or to taste)
  • ¼ 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
  • 1½ teaspoon salt, (or more, to taste)
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground)
  • 1 teaspoon chili flakes or chili powder
  • ½ cup of chicken stock

To assemble the stuffed peppers

  • 8 cubanelle peppers
  • A bunch of basil leaves to garnish

Preparation

Before starting, please make sure you have all the ingredients and utensils ready.

Step 1

To make the tomato sauce, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over low heat.

Making the tomato sauce.
Making the tomato sauce.

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.

In a skillet, 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 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.

Filling for cubanelle peppers.
Filling for cubanelle peppers.

Step 4

Preheat oven to 400 ºF [200 ºC].

Step 5

Cleaning the peppers.
Cleaning the 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

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).

Stuffing the cubanelle peppers.
Stuffing the cubanelle peppers.

Place the peppers in the tomato sauce. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake for 25 minutes.

Step 7

Stuffed cubanelle peppers.

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.

Use Anaheim peppers (medium heat) or bell peppers if you can't find cubanelle peppers.

Serving suggestions

This aji relleno recipe produces a main dish that already contains several of the elements of a complete meal. The only thing I would add would be a salad, or, better yet, some avocado slices.

Stuffed cubanelle peppers (cubanela).
Stuffed cubanelle peppers (cubanela).

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, known in Spanish as cubanelas or ají cubanela, is a type of sweet pepper very popular in the Spanish Caribbean. Cubanelle are light 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 cookery to make sazón 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

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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
  • ¼ teaspoon oregano dry, ground
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • ¼ 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
  • 1½ teaspoon salt (or more, to taste)
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper freshly-cracked, or ground
  • 1 teaspoon chili flakes or chili powder
  • ½ cup chicken stock

To assemble the stuffed peppers

  • 8 cubanela cubanelle pepper
  • A bunch of basil leaves to garnish

Instructions

  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Preheat oven to 400 ºF [200 ºC].
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Remove from the oven, garnish with the basil leaves and serve.

Originally published on Oct 7, 2015

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Comments

  1. Noelle

    August 23, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    5 stars
    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

    Reply
    • Tia Clara

      August 24, 2020 at 11:03 pm

      I am so glad to hear you liked it, and great job adapting the recipe to your taste.

      Reply
  2. Christina Kasprzak

    August 11, 2020 at 11:12 pm

    5 stars
    This was really a fantastic recipe. I swapped in ground turkey and I sprinkled goat cheese on top when serving and thy were amazing!

    Reply
    • Tia Clara

      August 12, 2020 at 6:50 pm

      Those are some great ideas, thanks for sharing!

      Reply
  3. plasterer bristol

    December 09, 2015 at 3:40 am

    Sounds really good. Love spicy rice, thanks for posting.

    Simon

    Reply
  4. Virginia a

    July 26, 2018 at 7:09 am

    Cubanelles for me are an entirely different taste than green peppers

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Tía Clara! I have been a recipe developer, and recipe writer for 20 years, and here I share easy recipes you'll love.

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