Sausage Stuffed Peppers Slow Cooker with 5 Ingredients

Sausage Stuffed Peppers Slow Cooker with 5 Ingredients. Add raw halved bell peppers, 4 other ingredients to the slow cooker to get a meal so good that your family will be begging to get another one.

It is my type of a weeknight miracle: you just literally pop the raw halved bell peppers into the slow cooker, stuff in an extremely easy sausage filling and leave it. When you need to ask everybody what smelled so good, you have soft and warm stuffed peppers and virtually no cooking and dishes.

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• huge bell peppers, cut in half and gutted → 4
• Italian sausage (mild or hot, casings removed as necessary) → 1 pound
• cooked rice (brown or white) → 2 cups
• marinara or pasta sauce → 2 cups (divided)
• shredded mozzarella cheese → 1 cup (divided)

Sausage Stuffed Peppers: Directions

1. Place the cut half of the bell pepper, cut side up, in the bottom of a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, placing them tight against each other in a single layer so that they create small cups. It is fine that they touch each other in a few places or lean against each other.
2. Add the Italian sausage, cooked rice, 1 cup of the marinara sauce and 1/2 cup of the shredded mozzarella into a medium bowl and stir until all is blended. The compound will be paste-like and somewhat sticky.
3. Evenly spoon the sausage mixture into each of the raw pepper halves, pressing it down so that it fills the peppers up to the rim.
4. Add the rest 1 cup marinara sauce in the peppers and slightly over the tops, allowing it to drip at the bottom of the slow cooker. Cover using the lid.
5. Bake on Low between 4-6 hours or on HIGH between 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours until peppers have softened and the sausage stuff is cooked through and no longer pink inside.
6. Approximately 15 minutes prior to serving, sprinkle the rest of 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella evenly on the tops of the peppers. Once more cover until the cheese melts.
7. Taking the stuffed peppers off is a very careful affair, but one should use a big spoon or a big spatula to remove it, a little of the bottom of the slow cooker sauce should be placed on the top and eaten hot.

Variations & Tips

1. When your family likes spice, you can use hot Italian sausage or it is possible to add a pinch of red pepper flakes into the filling.
2. To make it lighter, replace turkey or chicken sausage with part-skim mozzarella.
3. You may switch the grain, too: cooked quinoa, farro or even cauliflower rice will substitute the cooked rice–they just should all be equally in amount.
4. To get in a couple more veggies without introducing any more ingredients, go with a chunky marinara that includes onions and peppers in it.
5. When you are preparing two peppers, make the entire batch, and cut the remaining peppers into single-serving bags; they can be heated up easily in the microwave to have on-the-fly lunches.
6. To make it easy to clean-up during the busier nights, line the slow cooker with a slow-cooker liner or lightly sprayed with cooking spray before placing the raw halved peppers in it.

Spring Thyme Beef Roast Slow Cooker

Old-school spaghetti