Romanian Stuffed Bell Peppers
Stuffed bell peppers are one of Romania's most common home-cooked main courses, built on the same rice-and-minced-meat filling found across the former Ottoman lands, from Turkish biber dolması to Balkan punjena paprika. In Romania the dish is especially tied to late summer and early autumn, when bell peppers are cheapest and most abundant at outdoor markets, and home cooks stuff and freeze batches of peppers to eat well into winter. What distinguishes the Romanian version is the tomato-based broth the peppers simmer in, rather than a dry bake, and the dollop of sour cream stirred in at the table. Many families keep a few peppers meat-free for vegetarians, substituting extra rice, mushrooms or vegetables, while the meat-and-rice version remains standard on Sunday lunch tables across the country, often served with a side of crusty bread to mop up the sauce.
Whole peppers, hand-stuffed
Bell peppers are hollowed out and packed tightly with a seasoned rice and pork filling before simmering.
Rice cooks inside the pepper
Raw rice is mixed directly into the filling, absorbing the tomato broth as it cooks and swelling inside the pepper.
Simmered in tomato broth
The peppers stew slowly in tomato juice, which thickens into a rich sauce ladled over the top at serving.
Finished with sour cream
A dollop of sour cream and fresh dill is added just before serving, balancing the tomato's acidity.
Ingredients 4 servings
- 6 large bell peppers, tops removed and seeded
- 500g ground pork (or a pork-beef mix)
- 200g rice, rinsed
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, grated
- 700ml tomato juice or crushed tomatoes
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh dill
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
How to make it
- 1Sauté the chopped onion and grated carrot in sunflower oil until softened.
- 2Combine the sautéed vegetables with the ground pork, rinsed rice, dill, salt and pepper in a large bowl.
- 3Stuff each hollowed-out bell pepper firmly with the meat and rice mixture, leaving a little room at the top for the rice to expand.
- 4Stand the stuffed peppers upright in a large pot, packing them close together so they hold their shape.
- 5Pour the tomato juice over the peppers until they are almost fully covered, adding water if needed.
- 6Cover the pot and simmer gently for about an hour, until the rice is tender and the peppers have softened.
- 7Serve the stuffed peppers hot, topped with a spoonful of sour cream and extra dill.
Nutritional info
per serving (~350 g)
Estimated nutritional values.
Pairs perfectly with
