Try our easy recipe for peppers stuffed with lamb and creamy feta. It's perfect for springtime, especially around Easter. Just stuff those peppers with ground lamb, rice, and cheese and cook them in a rich tomato sauce on the stovetop. Easy and delicious!
These peppers stuffed with lamb are a delightful twist on the classic stuffed peppers, an easy recipe we only cook in spring, around Easter.
Stuffed with a tasty blend of rice, ground lamb, and feta, this recipe can be customized with any ground meat. The Greek stuffed peppers with lamb can be prepared ahead of time. You can store them in the fridge or freeze them and then reheat them to enjoy later. You can add extra chopped veggies to extend the filling or use leftover filling to stuff other veggies like tomatoes or zucchini.
The delightful tomato sauce makes the lamb stuffed peppers perfect for serving with mashed potatoes or crusty bread.
Try more delicious lamb recipes this Easter, for instance, these amazingly flavorful Mediterranean Lamb Chops, tender Turkish Lamb Chops, or super-fast Lamb Chops in the Air Fryer.
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📋Recipe ingredients
- Ground lamb: To keep the stuffed peppers juicy, I recommend choosing minced lamb with a fat content between 15-20%.
- Check out these Lamb Wraps or Ground Lamb and Potatoes, too.
- Bell peppers: Red, yellow, or orange ones are all great. Green ones also work, but I prefer the smaller Turkish green peppers when using green. They are sweeter than regular (unripe) green peppers.
- Choose medium bell peppers that are similar in size to ensure even cooking.
- Next time, try more bell pepper recipes, such as Halloumi Fajitas or Chicken Fajitas.
- Plain white rice that needs to be cooked before you add it to the stuffing mixture. You can also use a mix of white and wild rice cooked according to the packet's instructions.
- Feta: Good quality feta cheese in brine (not pre-crumbled feta cheese).
- Tomatoes: Tomato puree or passata and tomato paste to make the sauce.
- Herbs and spices: Dried mint and oregano, sweet paprika powder, a bit of sugar, fine sea salt or kosher salt, and ground black pepper.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
🫑Variations on the recipe
- Other types of ground meat include ground beef, turkey, chicken, and pork. Add some sausage meat for extra flavor. For a classic stuffed peppers recipe, use ground beef or a mixture of beef and pork and leave out the feta.
- Other types of cheese: You can use Cheddar, Gouda, or another tasty, melty cheese instead of feta.
- Add pine nuts or chopped almonds to the filling.
- Mexican stuffed capsicum: Season the stuffing with taco seasoning or other Mexican spices and mix in black beans and corn.
👩🏻🍳How to make lamb stuffed peppers?
Step #1: Cook and drain the rice. Let the cooked rice cool while you prepare the rest.
Step #2: Soak the bread in cold water and squeeze it well before adding it to the filling.
Step #3: Cut off the tops and scoop out the seeds and membranes (use a small pairing knife). Dice the leftover tops and add about ½ of them to the filling.
Step #4: Place all the filling ingredients in a large bowl.
Step #5: Mix everything.
Step #6: Stuff the peppers with the lamb mince mixture.
Step #7: Sauté onion, garlic, and paprika in olive oil for a few minutes on medium heat. Add passata, chicken broth, and tomato paste and stir to combine.
Step #8: Simmer stuffed peppers, flipping them regularly until tender but still holding their shape. Check with a fork.
🔊Expert Tips
Pot size: Use a large Dutch oven or another heavy-bottomed, deeper pan. The one I used measures 11 inches (28 cm) in diameter and is nearly 3 inches (7 cm) tall.
Make ahead: Prepare the filling, peppers, and sauce up to a day in advance. Stuff the peppers with the lamb mixture and refrigerate them in an airtight container until ready to cook. You can also prepare the whole dish beforehand, let the food cool, and refrigerate the covered pot until the next day. Reheat gently but thoroughly before serving.
Pre-boil peppers: I seldom do this, but you can if you want to slightly reduce the cooking time. Prepare them as instructed and blanch them in boiling water for a few minutes. Drain them immediately and fill them as instructed. This helps to soften them slightly and reduce the cooking time.
Stuff other vegetables: If you have some leftover stuffing mixture, use it to stuff a couple of medium-sized tomatoes or zucchini.
❓Recipe FAQs
Sure. Beef, pork, a mixture of beef and pork, turkey, or sausage meat work great in this recipe.
Refrigerate them in an airtight container for 3-4 days.
Reheat them on the stovetop, flipping them several times in the sauce while reheating them. You can also reheat them in the microwave.
Both the lamb stuffed peppers and the tomato sauce freeze well. Place them in airtight containers and freeze them for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator and reheat before serving.
🍽️What to serve them with?
Make a complete menu
- Starter: Cajun Deviled Eggs and Feta Spinach Muffins
- Side: Soda Bread without Buttermilk
- Dessert: Easter Mini Egg Brownies
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Give my quick recipes a try for your next family meal! Feel free to reach out if you need any assistance!
📖 Recipe
Peppers Stuffed with Lamb
Equipment
- Large Dutch oven or another heavy-bottomed pot, Note 1
Ingredients
Lamb stuffed peppers:
- 6 bell peppers color of your choice
- ⅓ cup white rice 3 oz/ 80 g
- 2 slices bread crusts removed, about 2 oz/ 60 g
- 9 oz ground lamb 250 g, Note 2
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder
- ½ teaspoon dried mint
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup feta 4 oz/ 120 g Note 3
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt, more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Tomato sauce:
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder
- 1 cup passata or tomato puree, 240 g
- ⅓ cup tomato paste 2.5 oz/ 75 g
- 1 ⅔ cups chicken stock or vegetable stock, 400 ml
- 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt, more to taste
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
Instructions
Lamb stuffed peppers:
- Cook the rice according to the packet's instructions. Drain it and let it cool while you prepare the rest.⅓ cup white rice / 80 g
- Bread: Tear it into smaller pieces and soak it in cold water while you prepare the peppers. Squeeze the bread well before adding it to the filling.2 slices bread / 60 g
- Prepare the peppers: Cut off the tops of the peppers and scoop out the seeds and membranes from the inside, leaving the peppers intact (use a small pairing knife). Dice the leftover pieces from the tops of the peppers very finely. Add approximately half of these diced pieces to the filling mixture (Note 3).6 bell peppers
- Lamb mixture: In a large bowl, mix ground lamb, diced pepper tops, cooled rice, squeezed bread, finely chopped onion and garlic, egg, herbs, spices, and crumbled feta.9 oz ground lamb / 250 g + pepper tops + rice + bread 1 medium onion + 2 garlic cloves + 1 egg + 1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder + ½ teaspoon dried mint + 1 teaspoon dried oregano + 1 cup feta / 120 g + ½ teaspoon fine sea salt + ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Stuff the peppers with the lamb mixture.
Tomato sauce:
- Sauté the finely chopped onion in the olive oil for about 3 minutes or until translucent. Add the minced garlic and paprika and stir for another minute.1 medium onion + 2 tablespoons olive oil + 3 garlic cloves + 1 tablespoon sweet paprika powder
- Add sauce ingredients: Pour in passata and stock. Dissolve the tomato paste into this mixture. Add the sugar, salt and pepper.1 cup passata / 240 g + ⅓ cup tomato paste / 75 g + 1 ⅔ cups chicken stock / 400 ml + 1 teaspoon granulated sugar + ½ teaspoon fine sea salt + ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Simmer stuffed peppers: Place the stuffed peppers in the pot. Cover the pot tightly and simmer for 15 minutes. Carefully flip the peppers on the other side (it works well if you use two large spoons or one spoon and a spatula). Cook for another 15 minutes. Flip them again and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Check with a fork; the peppers should be tender but still hold their shape and not become mushy (Note 4).
- Adjust the taste of the tomato sauce with more sugar, salt, and pepper if necessary. The amount of sugar you use depends on the acidity of your tomatoes.
Notes
- Pot: My Dutch oven measures 11 inches (28 cm) in diameter and is nearly 3 inches (7 cm) tall.
- Ground lamb with a fat content between 15-20%. You can prepare this stuffed pepper recipe with other types of ground meat, such as beef, pork, a mixture of beef and pork, ground turkey, or sausage meat.
- Feta: I always recommend using feta in brine and never pre-crumbled feta. You can also use other types of cheese, such as Cheddar, Gouda, or another tasty, good-melting sort.
- Leftover pepper top pieces: Save the remaining diced tops for other recipes; they can be added to soups, salads, or sandwiches.
- Cooking time: If you parboiled the peppers before stuffing them, they'll cook faster. Flip them every 10 minutes and check with a fork to see if they're soft enough. Adjust the cooking time as needed.
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