Who Pre-Cooks Their Peppers? Hands Up!
Do you do it? Do you pre-boil your peppers before stuffing them? If not, we bet you will next time!
There are hundreds of different ways to make Stuffed Peppers. Creating different fillings, slicing the pepper in half or leaving it whole, and the most debated, to pre-cook or to not pre-cook. To blanch or not to blanch.
Note first off that pre-cooking is not the same as blanching. To blanch you get the water boiling first. Then add your veg. It goes in for a short short time and then is transferred to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Blanching helps vegetables retain a nice bright color but it doesn’t really cook the vegetable.
Video: Soften Up Those Peppers – Boil Like This
You can absolutely blanch your bell peppers before stuffing them. It would result in a nicer color for the finished product but it wouldn’t help you in terms of cooking time or any other thing a busy person might need. We don’t blanch our peppers but we won’t make a big deal about it if you do. We just don’t know why you’d bother. Pre-cooking, on the other hand. That’s where it’s at!
Why Pre-Cook Peppers?
Pre-cooking is different than blanching. Pre-cooking is the idea of quick-starting the cooking process of your stuffed pepper. Since stuffed peppers can take as long as 45 minutes to bake, shortening that down with a quick boil really helps me out. Once filled, the pre-cooked peppers will only need 25 minutes in the oven. Just make sure your filling is warm otherwise it won’t be hot in the middle in that time.
So pre-cooking shortens the baking time. Does it do anything else? Yes! It softens the peppers so that they’re more tender even after that short bake. And also, some people find that it makes the peppers less bitter in flavor, more mild.
How to do it? Cut the tops off of your peppers and get them ready for stuffing. Then follow the instructions below.
Stuffed Pepper Recipes To Try
Once you have your peppers ready, or if you’ve decided to not pre-cook them, I have some really amazing stuffed pepper recipes for you to try:
- Classic Stuffed Peppers With Beef and Rice
- Mac and Cheese Stuffed Peppers
- Easy Chicken Stuffed Peppers With Cheese
Podcast Episode About Pre-Cooking Peppers
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make these peppers, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
How to Pre-Cook Peppers (Instructions)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 minutes
- Total Time: 13 minutes
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- Peppers, either halved or whole and hollowed
Tools
- Large Pot
- Pot Cover
- Slotted Spoon
- Large Bowl filled with Ice Water
Instructions
- In large pot, fill peppers with water (to prevent floating), and fill pot around peppers with water until peppers are fully covered.
- Cover pot and bring to a rolling boil on high heat. Bring the temperature down to medium-low and let peppers hard simmer for three minutes, or until tender.
- Using slotted spoon, transfer peppers to ice water to cool.
- Spoon peppers out of water and shake off excess. Place in baking dish and stuff.
- Proceed with recipe, cooking for 25-30 minutes.
So it doesn’t do anything for the taste of bell peppers just cuts down on time when baking them?
Correct, Margaret, saves some time on the dish. Let me know if you try it!
I’m going use left over meatloaf, rice
And beans , and spaghetti tomato sauce mixed with some seasonings then parboiled and baked
That sounds delicious! Come back and let me know how it turns out 🙂
Yes! And my family feels like the peppers aren’t as bitter and don’t produce as much gaseous issues if they are parboiled before stuffing and baking. Thank you!
Thanks for sharing, Jean!
A little bit, the time that you spend part boiling the bell pepper saves you immense time in baking them. Great job.
Thank you, James!
Would like the recipe for stuffed peppers. Parboiling to save time. I used ground turkey and brown rice.
The current recipes we have for stuffed peppers can be found here, Ann – https://thecookful.com/category/course/main-dish/stuffed-bell-peppers/ Enjoy!
Our friends are doing a build your own stuffed pepper night with our garden fresh peppers. Can I fully cook peppers by boiling? If so how long? Or do I need to still bake them without being filled? Thank you for the help!
You can boil them with these instructions, Susan, and then they will get baked WITH the fillings inside. Sounds like lots of fun, enjoy!
I have learned something at 74, that I didn’t need to pre-blanch the peppers, all these years, the extra work and time, I tried it your way today, and they were perfect, delicious. Thank you. Denise Ramey
You’re welcome, Denise! I’m so happy you liked the results. Thanks for coming back to let me know 🙂
My son was happy that I found this. He loves stuffed peppers but, they are always to hard. Now we cook them first, cut them in chunks, and just spoon the filling over. Thank you!!
So glad it was helpful for you, Amy!
Thank you for your thoughts on pre-blanching green peppers or not to blanch
But my situation, I already seasoned and browned the turkey burger.
Most recipes call for uncooked meat…….Soooo.
I should precook the peppers and rice, then add to the cooked turkey burger and fill the cooked peppers.
Any suggestions that you have when your meat is already seasoned and browned??B
No problem, Billie! You could follow the basics of our Classic Stuffed Peppers and just skip the cooking of the meat step. The baking will help meld the flavors and heat everything back through. Enjoy!
I really appreciate how to cook and fill the bell pepper.
Now I must go get some bell peppers and cook and enjoy them
I really enjoyed this video.
So glad you enjoyed it, Maryjo!
Can I parboil green peppers and put them into fridge for later
Absolutely! Just make sure that you’ve chilled them as instructed before putting them into the fridge, Angela. The temperature of the fridge air doesn’t act the same way as an ice bath to stop them from cooking and retain their nice color.
I never made stuffed bell peppers. They came out juicy, and held their form very well. They were a hit. Thank you.
Fantastic, Maria! I have a variety of different stuffed pepper recipes for you to experiment with too.
It’s so nice that Christine’s pointer triggered more stuffed-pepper making! 🙂
I agree that pre-cooking the peppers makes the best stuffed peppers. But pre-ROASTING is so flavorful!
Just apply extra-virgin olive oil to the inside and outside, sprinkle with s+p inside, and roast the trimmed pepper halves, cut side up, at about 425 F, until they’re tender and have a little bit of charring on the edges. Pour out the collected juice when you can handle them.
I thank you for the information it was greatly appreciate it cause I forgot how to do it I know you boil the peppers first but I didn’t know how long your information helped me a lot thank you for being there
You’re welcome, Irene!
What a great idea!
Thank you, Roger!