This recipe is loosely inspired by stuffing that has become traditional in some parts of Puerto Rico for Thanksgiving. We incorporated several of the usual ingredients – ground meat, raisins, apples, eggs, and even peppers. Some of the other traditional ingredients that we didn’t use included plantains, olives, and various forms of pork. There are a lot of steps that you can do ahead of time with this recipe so that assembling on Thanksgiving is easier. You can bake this in a dish, like Holly, or make it extra fancy by stuffing it into peppers, like Chrisie. This recipe can easily be made gf/df free by using bread that doesn’t contain gluten or dairy. You can make it vegetarian by using plant based beef crumbles instead of meat.
We talk you through making this stuffing in Episode 261 of our podcast. If you like this Stuffing Stuffed Peppers recipe, you may also like our recipes for Sausage Apple and Bread Stuffing and Cornbread Sausage and Sweet Potato Stuffing with Cranberries.
Ingredients
4-6 hard boiled eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil or butter
1 chopped onion
2-3 chopped garlic cloves
1 lb of ground beef, ground turkey, or plant based ground meat
1 apple, peeled and cubed
1 cup of golden raisins
1 cup of long grain white rice, cooked
1 tablespoon of ground sage
1 teaspoon of allspice
pepper and salt to taste
3 cups of bread cubes or gluten free bread cubes
2 ½ – 3 cups of broth or stock (reserve 1/4 cup if stuffing peppers)
4-6 peppers, green, red, yellow, or orange, tops removed, seeded, and blanched in boiling water for 5 minutes (omit the peppers if you’re baking this stuffing in a dish.)
¼ cup of pecan bits, roasted (optional, for sprinkling on top before serving)
Instructions
Peel and roughly chop your eggs, then set aside.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil, sauté onion and garlic over medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Add ground beef and cook until brown. Stir in the apple, raisins, rice, sage, allspice, salt and pepper.
Add bread cubes to a 2 quart (at least) baking dish. Pour the meat, veg, and rice over top and add the chopped hard boiled eggs. Add enough broth to moisten everything, about 2 ½ – 2 3/4 cups of broth, using two large spoons to toss everything together. The next steps depend on whether you want to bake your stuffing in a dish, or stuff your peppers with it.
Bake, uncovered, in a 375 degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until heated through. Remove from the oven and serve.
For stuffed peppers – pour ¼ cup of broth in your baking pan. Fill each pepper with a generous scoop of stuffing. You want it pretty much filled to the rim. Place them in the pan and bake at 400 F for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 more minutes. Arrange your cooked stuffed peppers on a platter and pour some gravy on top. Enjoy!