Albanian Stuffed Peppers with Meat and Rice
Peppers filled with minced beef, rice, mint and paprika, baked slowly in a light tomato broth until soft and fragrant. Serve with a spoonful of yogurt.
Speca të mbushura — stuffed peppers — are made all over the Balkans, and in Albania they are summer food, cooked when peppers are cheap and plentiful. Families often stuff tomatoes and courgettes in the same pan.
The filling is simple: minced beef, rice, onion, paprika and a generous amount of dried mint, which is what makes them taste distinctly Albanian. The peppers bake in a thin tomato broth that the rice partly absorbs, so the filling ends up tender and the pan juices become a light sauce.
Pale green, thin-skinned peppers are traditional, but ordinary bell peppers work well.
Albanian Stuffed Peppers with Meat and Rice
- Prep Time
- 25 min
- Cook Time
- 1 hr 15 min
- Resting
- 10 min
- Total Time
- 1 hr 50 min
- Servings
- 4 · 8 stuffed peppers
- Calories
- 450 kcal*
- Difficulty
- Medium
Equipment
- Baking dish that holds the peppers snugly upright
- Large frying pan
- Foil
Ingredients
For the peppers and filling
For the cooking broth
Instructions
Prepare the peppers
Cut the tops off the peppers and keep them as lids. Pull out the seeds and membranes. If a pepper won't stand up, trim a very thin slice off the base without cutting through.
Start the filling
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 6–7 minutes until soft. Add the garlic for 1 minute, then the beef, and cook, breaking it up, until it just loses its pink color, about 5 minutes.
Add rice and seasoning
Stir in the rice, grated tomato, tomato paste, paprika, dried mint, salt and pepper. Add the 150 ml water and simmer for 5 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Take off the heat and stir in the parsley.
Stuff the peppers
Heat the oven to 190°C / 375°F (170°C fan). Spoon the filling into the peppers, filling them only about three-quarters full — the rice will swell. Put the lids on and stand them upright in the baking dish.
Add the broth
Whisk the tomato paste and salt into the hot water and pour it around the peppers. Drizzle the tops with a little olive oil.
Bake
Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 20–25 minutes, basting once or twice with the pan juices, until the peppers are soft and lightly charred on top and the rice is tender.
Rest
Let them rest for 10 minutes before serving with the pan juices spooned over.
Tips & Tricks
- Don't overfill. Packed peppers split, and the rice in the centre stays hard.
- Check a pepper after 60 minutes: taste a little filling from the centre to be sure the rice is cooked.
Substitutions
- Vegetarian: Replace the beef with 150 g extra rice, 1 grated courgette and a handful of chopped dill; increase the water in the filling to 250 ml.
- Meat: A mix of beef and lamb, or beef and pork, is also traditional.
- Tomatoes: Hollow out large firm tomatoes and stuff them alongside the peppers; they need about 15 minutes less.
Storage Instructions
- Stuffed peppers taste even better the next day. Refrigerate in their juices for up to 4 days and reheat covered in the oven or microwave.
- They freeze well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve with thick plain yogurt and crusty bread.
- Add a slice of byrek or a simple Balkan salad for a full summer lunch.
Nutrition Information
Per serving
- Calories
- 450 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 33 g
- Protein
- 27 g
- Fat
- 23 g
- Saturated fat
- 8 g
- Fiber
- 5 g
- Sugar
- 11 g
- Sodium
- 820 mg
* Nutrition values are estimates calculated from the ingredient list and will vary with brands and portion sizes. See our disclaimer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to pre-cook the rice?
No. The rice goes in raw and simmers briefly in the filling, then finishes cooking inside the peppers in the oven. That's why it's important not to overfill them.
Can I make stuffed peppers on the stove?
Yes. Stand them in a wide heavy pot, add the broth, cover and simmer gently for 50–60 minutes, until the peppers are soft and the rice is tender.
