Bison Stuffed Peppers

Lean protein packed ground bison stuffed peppers are filled with rice, shredded zucchini, carrots, onion and tomato sauce for a deliciously hearty meal with a melted cheesy topping. A healthier alternative to beef and an easy meal to make!

The whole while I was making these bison stuffed peppers I was thinking back to these cheesy mushroom stuffed peppers from my first year of blogging.

I had just gotten my first DSLR camera, was “teaching” myself how to use it and vividly remember taking those pictures and thinking they were BOMB.

Oh my gosh, how laughable.

Best part is, a blogger friend at the time who was also an artist was running a competition and she offered to paint the winning photograph. I’m pretty sure I submitted the first photograph in that post and somehow….it won.

LOL.

She never sent the painting but I can’t say I’ve been too bothered by that over the years.

WHAT MAKES A GOOD STUFFED PEPPER?

We never ate stuffed peppers growing up. Sausage and peppers were a regular skillet meal but mom never stuffed them.

So, it’s sort of weird to me I have such strong opinions on how a stuffed pepper recipe should be made.

Firstly, I have major issues when the pepper itself is still crunchy and undercooked.

The peppers must be soft and cooked through in a good stuffed pepper recipe!

This is one of the reasons that I like making poblano stuffed peppers as they’re a great pepper to work with.

Secondly, the filling better not be dry! 

This is gonna sound gross, but I like my stuffed pepper filling to be wet.

That usually means using tomato sauce to go along with the meat (in this case bison) and rice to keep things moist. A dry crumbly filling is just no bueno, you know?

Third of all, the ratio of meat to “filler” has to be balanced.

This goes for whatever “filler ingredient” you use: white rice, brown rice, farro, wheat berries, etc.

Similar to a breadcrumb heavy crab cake, the filler can’t overpower the meat in stuffed peppers. There should be enough to bind the filling together but the meat should still be the star of the show.

And lastly, cheese.

Most mix in parmesan cheese to the filling directly and while I like that approach when making meatballs, I prefer a nice melted cheese topping in this situation. I used a goat’s milk cheddar on top of these bison stuffed peppers. These Philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers offer a nice piece of melted provolone which is also delicious.

SHORTCUTS AND SUBSTITUTIONS FOR MAKING BISON STUFFED PEPPERS

SHORTCUTS

If you want to take the prep time down a bit, here are a few suggestions:

Use pre-cooked rice.

This can be leftover rice from another meal or one of those microwave convenience bags. The recipe calls for dried rice and walks you through cooking it in the directions so just skip that part if you’re using cooked rice.

Use a food processor to grate/chop the onion, zucchini and carrot.

Make quick work of vegetable prep by using the food processor. You can either use the shredding attachment or just the regular blade for more of a minced approach. It doesn’t matter.

SUBSTITUTIONS

Use dry rosemary or another herb.

Fresh is always nice if you have it. But, if you don’t or don’t want to be bothered with chopping another thing, just use dried.

If you don’t like rosemary, just swap it out for an herb you do like. Thyme, oregano or basil are all great options, fresh or dried.

Substitute another ground meat.

If you don’t have bison, you can use ground beef for the most similar taste. Even ground chicken, turkey or pork will work too though.

Skip the zucchini.

I like adding “secret” vegetables to recipes for added nutrition. The grated zucchini sort of melts into the bison filling in this and can’t even be detected.

That said, if you don’t have it, just skip it! Or, sub it out for a yellow summer squash, some cooked eggplant or even some extra carrot.

WHY BISON?

I’ve been loving ground bison lately in place of beef. Over the last couple years, bison has become a lot more commonplace in the grocery store. And not just specialty stores like Whole Foods but even regular grocery stores.

Bison and beef are very similar in many ways but the two main differences come down to fat content and farming methods.

Bison is leaner than beef (and therefore lower in calories) making it a great option for those looking for less saturated fat in their diets.

More importantly to me, however, is the typical farming methods of beef vs. bison. Most bison you find in the store will say grass-fed/pasture-raised. While with beef that’s something you have to seek out, it’s almost the norm when it comes to bison.

In fact, that grass-fed, pastured diet is probably what explains the difference in leanness between the two red meats.

Organic, grass-fed and pasture raised meat is always something that’s important to me but having just finished reading the book, Eating Animals (very enlightening and I personally think a must read for anyone that consumes meat in this country) it’s even more front of mind right now.

I find bison to be a touch more tender and delicate tasting than beef and I like its subtly in these bison stuffed peppers.

The filling is hearty without being overly “meaty” if that makes sense.

Love this bison stuffed pepper recipe? Try these too:

Spinach sausage and ricotta stuffed peppers
Cheesy Chicken Stuffed Eggplant
Bruschetta Hummus Stuffed Zucchini
Black Garlic Cheese and Turkey Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms
Cheddar Stuffed Turkey Zucchini Meatballs