These stuffed peppers contain lean ground bison, meaty mushrooms and chewy farro to create a hearty, satisfying twist on a comfort food classic.
We didn’t grow up eating stuffed peppers but my Middle Eastern relatives have been stuffing vegetables for years. My all time favorite is Lebanese Stuffed Kusa Squash but I’m also a huge fan of Stuffed Eggplant with Beef and Pine Nuts, Stuffed Cabbage Rolls and Meat Stuffed Grape Leaves. (Are grape leaves a vegetable?)
Anyway, my husband recently requested stuffed peppers so I decided to create a meaty, protein-packed stuffing. We had ground bison on hand (my newest obsession), some leftover cooked farro and mushrooms. If you’ve never tried ground bison, it tastes just like ground beef (much more so than ground turkey) but it has fewer calories and less saturated fat and cholesterol per serving.
Farro is one of my husband’s favorite ancient grains and it’s packed with protein and fiber. It’s much more nutritionally dense than brown rice or white rice so I decided to use it in these peppers. Feel free to swap with anything from bulgur wheat to quinoa to white rice to spelt! The goal is to simply turn whatever you have on hand into a new and delicious dish your whole family will love.
Your fork is waiting.
Bison and Mushroom Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 red peppers (halved & seeds and stem removed)
- 1 medium onion (diced)
- 1 carrot (diced)
- 3 cloves garlic (grated)
- 20 ounces ground bison ((or beef turkey, etc.))
- 2 cups sliced mushrooms
- 2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon chili flakes
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 14 ounce can tomato sauce (low sodium)
- 1 cup cooked farro ((or brown rice,bulgur, spelt, etc.))
- ½ cup shredded parmesan cheese
- fresh parsley (minced – optional garnish)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and place red pepper halves in a large glass baking dish; set aside.
- Heat a large sauté pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray and add diced onion and carrot. Cook onion until softened, 3-4 minutes.
- Add grated garlic to the pan and heat 30 seconds before adding ground bison. Bump heat up to medium-high and brown the bison while breaking it down with a wooden spoon. While bison is browning, throw in the mushrooms and spices (oregano through chili flakes.)
- Once mushrooms have lost most of their moisture and bison is nicely browned and starting to form a crust (after about 10 minutes), stir in the tomato paste. Use wooden spoon to help incorporate paste into the meat mixture.
- Pour in the tomato sauce and cooked farro. Stir to combine and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes until mixture is warmed through. Check for seasoning and adjust accordingly before removing pan from the heat.
- Fill each pepper half with a heaping half cup of the bison and farro mixture. If there is leftover mixture simply add it to the pan around the peppers.
- Sprinkle a tablespoon of shredded parmesan on top of each stuffed pepper. Cover pan with foil and bake until peppers are soft, about 30-40 minutes.
- Optional: Once peppers are cooked, remove foil from the pan and broil peppers for 30-60 seconds to brown the cheese and form a bubbly crust on top.
- Garnish with freshly minced parsley to serve.
Is the nutritional value based on 1 whole bell pepper or half? Trying to count macros.
WOW. I tried this recipe. I had both mushrooms and Bison in my fridge and this is the recipe that came up. I normally don’t even follow recipes. I get distracted and improvise. But I tried this one and am so happy I did. Thank you so much!! I used this recipe while I had company over. They were so happy. I served the majority of the farro as a side and paired with corn bread and broccoli. The whole dish is as earthy and perfect. Pact full of taste. Thank you again! I will definitely be making this again!
So glad you enjoyed it!
Hey Liz,
When is the whole-grain mustard incorporated? It’s in the ingredients, but not the directions. I made it without the mustard and it was still delicious ????.
Hi Will!! In step three you’re to add everything listed between oregano and chili flakes in the ingredients list. Basically ALL the things. ;) That’s including the mustard. I’m so glad it was still delicious!!
Does this keep for leftovers well? How would you recommend — I live alone so think I’m only going to make 2 peppers, but obv will only eat one at dinner, so… any recommendations? Make just the bison and don’t combine until ready, maybe?
Yes they stay good for up to 4 days!!! You could also freeze!
LOVE Bob’s Red Mill Farro. It’s such a nice change from brown rice/quinoa/brown rice again. And now I’m thinking I need to give ground bison a try. Hope I can find it at my store.
I am totally #TeamFarro!
This sounds amazing! I have a pack of ground bison in my freezer though it may be passed its prime & freezer burnt. (Shame on me, i hate wasting anything!) Alas, i bet venison (in this case, white-tailed deer) meat would be scrumptious in this recipe as well! In our house we eat more venison than farmed meats which is very lean & loaded with fiber. I cant wait to give this recipe a whirl! Yum!
Venison would be great too! Let me know what you think!
Over the top deliciousness!
This looks so hearty and delicious!
Liz! You have inspired me to try Bison–I haven’t tried it before but I have a Costco membership. This looks awesome! :)
Oh I hope you try it! I know you’ll love it!
Love how meaty and filling these look and damn I love stuffed peppers!
Bison is a new obsession of ours, too. We recently traveled to our local bison farm and stocked up. The steak is amazing. I’ll be making a roast in the slow cooker this week. Love these peppers!
I’m jealous of your bison roast!!
Love that you put farro in these peppers! These look fantastic! I’m obsessed with stuffed peppers yet haven’t made them in forever!
We are so farro obsessed lately!! It’s crazy!! I hope you like these – my boys devoured them!
Farro is a favorite of mine and these stuffed peppers look incredible!
Thank you so much Ashley!!
Bison is such a wonderful protein. Great recipe!
I agree – I am so smitten with bison!
Holy YUM, Liz! This is our kind of dinner :)
Thanks Friend!! xo
Hey Liz,
When is the whole-grain mustard incorporated? It’s in the ingredients, but not the directions. I made it without the mustard and it was still delicious ????.
Oh man I could definitely eat one of these or maybe two.
I might have had three…woops!
I’m in love with this recipe but especially excited by the grape leaves recipe. I was just walking through whole foods the other day thinking what a shame it is that I couldn’t have grape leaves anymore and didn’t think to look up a paleo option! Thanks!
Grape leaves are the best!!! Let me know how you make yours!
We use ground bison/buffalo quite frequently too but I haven’t tried stuffing a pepper with it yet. This sounds so tasty + hearty!
I need to use it more often!! It’s my new favorite!!