Whether you are camping or need a family friendly dinner, these campfire Dutch oven Italian Stuffed Peppers include ground beef, Italian sausage, quinoa and tomatoes and topped with cheesy goodness all served in a sweet bell pepper.
Find my delicious cast iron campfire Dutch oven recipes.
About a month ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Baloian Farms in Coachella Valley, California. It’s hard to believe that in the middle of the driest part of California, home of Palm Desert and the Salton Sea, is some of the lushest farms producing bell peppers, green beans, eggplants, grapes, figs, dates and even corn.
I was lucky enough to watch red and yellow bell peppers get harvested in the field. When I came home from my farm tour I was given a large box full of vegetables, including a huge variety of bell peppers.
So, I decided to use green, yellow and red bell peppers to make these Dutch oven stuffed peppers. You can use any color variety of bell peppers to make these Italian stuffed peppers. Just remember that the green bell peppers are not as sweet as the yellow, orange or red variety.
The Dutch oven is super easy to cook and bake in, so if you are new to using them, check out my post here where I share my tips on how to cook in a Dutch oven.
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Recipe highlights
- Economical: Camping grub can get expensive, but this recipe uses inexpensive ingredients like ground beef and bell peppers to feed your hungry crowd. I do use quinoa instead of rice, making this a very hearty and protein rich meal – perfect for big appetites on a camping trip!
- Simple: Think of a Dutch oven as a small oven. You can cook with it as you cook in a regular pot on your stove at home, or you can bake with it like you would in your oven at home. You can easily find all the ingredients you need for these stuffed peppers at most grocery stores.
- Versatile: This is a fabulous meal to enjoy at home or while out camping. And for camp food, hello, it beats boring hot dogs and burgers. Because it is protein rich and baked in bell peppers, this dish makes a great one pot meal. If you want, you can serve it with some fire roasted vegetables or a salad on the side.
- Flavor: There are many variations of this dish, so I decided to make it the way I personally liked it: with a lot of herbs, some spicy sausage and of course melty cheese! The kids didn’t notice I used quinoa instead of rice and ate it all up!
Ingredients you need
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- Bell peppers: You can use all red peppers or use a variety of colors, like I did. Choose bell peppers that can stand upright. You don’t want them to tip over while they cook and spilling out your delicious Italian stuffing.
- Uncooked quinoa: Instead of using rice, I like to use quinoa. I has less carbohydrates and more protein, making it more filling.
- Onion: All tasty things start with onions! I use regular brown onions.
- Garlic: I use real garlic for better flavor, but you can use garlic powder if you must.
- Ground meat: I used a combination of ground beef and Italian pork sausage. You can use just ground beef or mix with ground turkey… any combination you like.
- Cheese: I top my stuffed peppers with both shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
- Pantry staples: Extra virgin olive oil, canned petite diced tomatoes, dried oregano, dried basil, salt, ground black pepper and red pepper flakes (optional).
Step-by-step directions
- Prepare the stuffing: Quinoa cooks quickly, so bring a small pot of water to boil and add quinoa. Cook until fluffy, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a mixing bowl.
- Prep the peppers: Cut tops off the bell peppers, remove stem and dice remaining pieces of bell pepper. Reserve. Remove seeds and membranes from peppers. Place peppers in your 12-inch Dutch oven, cut side up, and make sure the tops of the peppers are below the rim of the Dutch oven. Remove hollowed peppers and reserve.
- Brown the meat: Sauté the chopped onions and reserved bell peppers in olive oil. When softened, add garlic and ground meat. Break down meat while it cooks. Stir in seasonings and canned tomatoes. Add meat mixture to the quinoa mixture and mix completely.
- Assemble peppers: Place hollowed out peppers, cut side up, inside Dutch oven and fill up each pepper with meat mixture. Top each stuffed pepper with shredded parmesan cheese, finishing with a generous helping of shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Light the coals: In chimney starter, light up 30 charcoal briquettes.
- Cook peppers: Place lid on Dutch oven and transfer to a fire ring or fire safe container. When briquettes are mostly gray (about 15 minutes), place 12 briquettes evenly underneath the Dutch oven and 18 briquettes evenly on top. Bake until cheese is browned, approximately 45 minutes.
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Expert tips and recipe FAQs
Whether you are cooking these Italian stuffed peppers at home or while camping, they are very easy to throw together. If you are camping, you have two choices in preparing the stuffing. You can cook everything on site in the Dutch oven, requiring some cleaning before baking the peppers back in the pot.
Or you can cook the stuffing at home, place the meat mixture and cooked quinoa in containers and just mix everything in a bowl before stuffing. Either way you prepare the Italian stuffed peppers, the stuffing mixture does need to be cooked first.
As I mentioned earlier, the Dutch oven is incredibly versatile and easy to cook and bake with. You can sauté in it like a cast iron skillet or bake in it like mini oven. I used a 12-inch cast iron Dutch oven in this recipe because my bell peppers were huge and wouldn’t fit in the 10-inch size.
The key to cooking in a cast iron Dutch oven is the coal count. For the 12-inch sized pot, use a chimney starter and light up 30 charcoal briquettes. When they all start to turn gray, about 8-10 minutes, they are ready to be placed on and below the Dutch oven.
If you do use smaller peppers, I give cooking instructions for the 10-inch pot in the recipe below. Using long handled tongs, place 18 hot coals evenly on the lid of the Dutch oven and 12 evenly underneath. Bake the stuffed peppers for 45 minutes or until the cheese tops are browned.
The stuffed peppers are just as easy to cook at home. Just place the stuffed peppers in a casserole dish that is large enough to hold all of the peppers and bake it in the oven for 400ºF/204ºC for 45-60 minutes, or until the cheese tops are browned and bubbling.
If you like this recipe try some of my other dutch oven meals like my cowboy chili with cornbread, campfire osso bucco or my chicken cacciatore. You can also bake in a dutch oven so be sure to try my lemon blueberry clafoutis, delicious baked apples and this peach crisp.
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: If you are home, you can store any leftovers in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days. If you are camping, place leftovers in a cooler with ice.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Transfer cooled leftovers to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.
You can also assemble the peppers all the way through the recipe til they are topped with cheese. Then place the assembled peppers in an airtight container and freeze. Just thaw completely prior to baking. And of course, you can also freeze any leftover cooked peppers for up to 6 months. They should keep in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
The real question is what CAN’T you cook in a cast iron Dutch oven – the list is shorter! If you can fit it in a Dutch oven, you can cook it. Some people say not to cook acidic foods in cast iron. All this does is wear away the seasoning, which is easy to replace. I bake cakes, breads, cookies, cobblers… almost any dessert in my Dutch oven. And for meals? The possibilities are endless!
Please do not place your fancy enamel cast iron pots and pans over a campfire. The only pots and pans that can go directly over a campfire or hot coals are cast iron. For Dutch ovens, look for pots that have little feet so that it can sit above the hot coals and air can circulate. For lids, make sure yours has a lip around it as you put hot coals on top and you don’t wash ash to trickle into your food when you life the lid.
Camping Cookbook
And if you didn’t know, I have a new cookbook out that is perfect for whenever you cook outdoors, whether you’re camping, at the beach, park or lake house: The Camp & Cabin Cookbook (Countryman Press 2018). I have 100 recipes that are all prepared outdoors and over fire using multiple techniques, including the beloved Dutch oven. Learn more about my camp cookbook!
Campfire Dutch Oven Italian Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 7 large bell peppers
- ¾ cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 medium onion diced (approximately 2 cups)
- 3 garlic cloves diced
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb Italian sausage casings removed
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes optional
- 30 oz canned petite diced tomatoes
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 ½ cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Place quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and rinse with water.
- In a fire safe pot add 1 ½ cups water with your rinsed quinoa. Cover pot, bring to boil and then reduce heat to low and continue cooking until water is absorbed and quinoa is fluffy.
- Remove from heat and transfer quinoa to a large mixing bowl.
- Cut tops off the bell peppers, remove stem and dice remaining pieces of bell pepper. Reserve.
- Remove seeds and membranes from peppers.
- Place peppers in your 12-inch Dutch oven, cut side up, and make sure the tops of the peppers are below the rim of the Dutch oven. Remove hollowed peppers and reserve.
- Heat Dutch oven over medium high heat and add olive oil. When oil is hot add diced onions and bell pepper. Cook until vegetables are softened about 5-8 minutes.
- Stir in garlic and sauté for an additional minute.
- Add ground beef and Italian sausage and continue cooking and breaking down meat until crumbly in texture and cooked through.
- Stir in dried oregano, basil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (if using).
- Stir in canned tomatoes and remove from heat.
- Add meat mixture to the quinoa mixture and mix completely.
- Quickly rinse and wipe down Dutch oven.
- In chimney starter, light up 30 charcoal briquettes.
- Place hollowed out peppers, cut side up, inside Dutch oven and fill up each pepper with meat mixture.
- Top each stuffed pepper with shredded parmesan cheese, finishing with a generous helping of shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Place lid on Dutch oven and transfer to a fire ring or fire safe container.
- When briquettes are mostly gray (about 15 minutes), place 12 briquettes evenly underneath the Dutch oven and 18 briquettes evenly on top.
- Bake until cheese is browned, approximately 45 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
Disclosure: This post does include affiliate links. I was paid to visit Baloian Farms and share what I learned with you all. The story I have written is all true, and the opinions are truly mine. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t blog about it!
I love that this stuffed pepper recipe is gluten free!! I can’t wait to try it!
Hard to believe The Professor is just about to start college! The years do fly by, don’t they? Anyway, this is a wonderful dish — fun to make, and more importantly really tasty. Thanks!
I fit under his chin now! But he’s still my baby giant!