These low-carb and gluten-free Ham and Cheese Stuffed Peppers will make the most amazing dinner for any night of the week.

Tender-baked bell peppers filled with the ultimate cheese ham and cheese cauliflower rice. You won’t believe how easy this stuffed bell pepper recipe is and how much your entire family will love this recipe!

How To Make Ham & Cheese Stuffed Peppers

I made stuffed bell peppers into an oooey gooey cheesy m of delicious flavors! These bell peppers are stuffed with everything that makes hame and cheese lovers excited.

They are the perfect weeknight dinner because they are easy and pretty quick to put together and bake. Not to mention you can always make them ahead.

These low-carb ham and cheese stuffed peppers are full of juicy cubed ham, healthy cauliflower rice, some flavorful seasonings, and of course the best part lots of cheese!

The process of making stuffed peppers is straightforward. Choose your filling and the color of bell peppers you want to use then prepare them.

The peppers will need to be cut, cleaned, and blanched before stuffing them. So I tend to do this step first in a medium to large pot.

This way when the peppers are done, I can drain the water and use that same pot for mixing up the filling while the peppers are cooling and draining.

Once the filling and peppers are ready, choose your baking dish and assemble them by dividing all the ham and cheese filling between each of the peppers.

Lastly, you’ll either place them in the oven to bake or prep them for the freezer if you are saving them for another busy night down the road.

It is that simple to make easy stuffed peppers and you’ll love having such easy recipes in your meal rotation!

Preparing The Peppers For Stuffing

When it comes to getting the peppers ready for this recipe and for stuffed peppers, there is no right or wrong method. I’ve seen a lot of recipes that use the whole pepper when they stuff them but just slice on the top as a lid.

For me though, I prefer cutting my peppers in half, so if there is one person that doesn’t want to eat a whole big pepper they can take just a half and be satisfied.

I also find that it is easier to blanch the peppers before stuffing them when they are cut into halves. In my opinion, they also look much prettier this way when all the melted cheese is on top.

You will notice I didn’t use green peppers for my recipe. I did this for a few reasons. I love the bright beautiful colors as well as the flavor of the colored peppers more than I do the green ones.

I understand that if you are being very careful with carbs, the colored variety may add a little more carbs, so if you feel better using the green, then go right ahead. They will still be delicious when you serve them.

Once you decide which way you want to cut your peppers for stuffing it is time to clean them. Wash them thoroughly and remove the stems, seeds, and all the white membranes of the peppers.

Next, you need to bring some water to a boil in a medium to large stock pot. I like to add some salt to my water also so that it can season the peppers as they blanch. It will also help the water come to a boil faster.

Once the water is at a hard boil carefully place the peppers into the water and let them boil for 5 minutes. The goal here is to soften them but not turn them into mush.

It might now sound very long, but keep in mind that these peppers will cook an additional 25 minutes in the oven later after you stuff them with the ham and cheese filling.

So the 5 minutes is perfect for just softening them up a little and avoiding those crunchy peppers after the recipe is finished baking.

Once you remove them from the boiling water, make sure you drain them very well and give them time to dry a bit before moving on to the next step of the recipe.

This will help ensure there is no excess water in the filling after baking. The peppers release a lot of liquid as they cook and pre-boiling them and draining them well will help with that.

What Types of Rice Work With Stuffed Peppers

So in this recipe, I’m keeping things low carb by using cauliflower rice that I pick up from the freezer section at my local grocery store, but if you aren’t watching carbs, then you may be wondering what other types of rice will work for stuffed peppers?

Growing up, my mom always used just plain short-grain white rice in her peppers and they were delicious. But since I was married 15 years ago, I’ve used many kinds of rice for stuffed peppers.

So many of the basic rice varieties of long or short-grain rice should work okay. If you want to keep it a bit healthier then go with a nice short-grain brown rice instead of the white.

The cauliflower rice in this recipe cooks up fast and I just mix the filling in the same skillet I cook the “rice” in, so if you decide to use a real variety of rice the process will take longer.

Depending on w which rice you choose you’ll be adding at least 25 to 45 minutes of cook time to this recipe since you’ll have to cook the rice first.

For those that follow a Trim Healthy Mama diet, keep in mind that adding grain to this higher-fat recipe will take you over into their “crossover” mode.

Can Stuffed Peppers Be Frozen?

You may be wondering that same thing I was back when I first started making stuffed peppers! Can stuffed peppers make good freezer meals?

The answer is, sure! You make these ham and cheese stuffed peppers then freeze them! Just be sure that everything is cooked fully and that you cool them before freezing the peppers.

Also, an important part of preparing any freezer meal is how you get the recipe ready for the freezer. So what this pepper recipe you’ll need to be sure to wrap them very well in plastic wrap and aluminum foil.

Doing this will prevent freezer burn when you store them away. If you don’t want to do all that wrapping, you could also transfer them to an airtight container and freeze them that way too.

But if you aren’t needing to freeze them you can make them ahead of the day you want to serve them and then store them in the refrigerator.

But only keep them in the fridge if you know you’ll be reheating and serving them within 3-5 days, otherwise, I highly recommend you freeze them so they don’t go bad.

Sides to Serve with Stuffed Peppers

When I make meals like these low-carb ham and cheese stuffed peppers I don’t usually make many sides to serve with them. They are filled with proteins, and the peppers and cauliflower rice are your veggies.

One serving could easily be two halves of stuffed pepper, and that is pretty filling since it is packed full of that game and cheese “rice” mixture.

So most of the time if I do any sides at all, I always keep it simple. That means I serve it with a fresh tossed salad or a side of steamed green beans.

Yield: 6 Servings

Ham & Cheese Stuffed Peppers

Colorful stuffed bell peppers that are filled with a cheesy ham and cauliflower rice filling. The freshness from the peppers and the creamy hame and cheese filling balance out for the perfect comfort food meal.

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Ingredients

• 3 large bell peppers, any color
• 12 ounces of cauliflower rice
• 10 ounces of cubed ham
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast (optional)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• salt and pepper to taste

Topping

• 1/3 cup shredded cheese

Instructions

1. Wash the bell peppers and cut each of them in half. Remove the stem and clean out all the seeds and the white flesh.
2. Next, blanch the peppers. Bring a medium to a large pot of water to a boil on the stove and boil the cleaned pepper halves in the water for 5 minutes. Carefully remove them after they have been in the boiling water and let them drain well.
3. As the peppers are draining drain the water out of the pan you boiled the peppers in and add in the oil.
4. Turn the burning to medium under the pan with the oil and add in the cauliflower rice, garlic powder, onion powder, and nutritional yeast.
5. Stir the cauliflower, cubed ham, and seasonings and cook until the cauliflower is slightly tender.
6. Next add in the heavy whipping cream, one cup of shredded cheddar cheese, and the parmesan cheese. Mix well until all the cheese is melted and the mixture is nice and thick.
7. At this point, you can taste the ham and cheese rice mixture and add any salt and pepper to your liking.
8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheight. While the oven is preheating add the pepper halves to a 9x13 baking dish.
9. Using a 1/3 cup measurement add the ham and cheese filling to each of the pepper halves. Make sure to use all the mixture between the six peppers.
10. Once you have each pepper full of the ham and cheese filling top each of them with a sprinkle of the remaining 1/3 cup of shredded cheddar if desired.
11. Place the Ham and Cheese Stuffed Peppers into the oven and bake for 25 minutes then remove them from the oven and serve hot.

Nutrition Information

Yield

6

Serving Size

1 half
Amount Per ServingCalories 287Total Fat 18gCholesterol 73mgSodium 890mgCarbohydrates 7gNet Carbohydrates 4.67gFiber 2.3gSugar 2gProtein 18g

I am not a nutritionist. If you have strict dietary needs I always recommend using an online nutrition calculator to calculate your totals using your exact brands you're using in this recipe as values may vary per brand.

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Keri Bucci

I am a southern girl through and through that loves to laugh, cook, read and spend time with family. My passions outside of home schooling my son are ministering to those in need and creating art in the kitchen! Every day is an adventure in our little house and I wouldn’t trade it or the chance to share here with you for anything!