Unstuffed Pepper Casserole (Keto, Gluten-Free)

This recipe for an unstuffed pepper casserole has some delicious flavorful ingredients. Think classic comfort food combined in a baking dish. At 4g net carbs per serving, it's one of my favorite low-carb casseroles for dinner!

Article Index

• Ingredients Needed For Unstuffed Pepper Casserole
• How To Make Unstuffed Pepper Casserole
• Frequently Asked Questions About Unstuffed Pepper Casserole
• Other Low Carb Casseroles To Try
• Recipe

As many of you know, I’m big on casseroles because they can be such big-time savers. They are dishes that can be prepared ahead and frozen for easy meals later.

For example, I came up with a baked dish for a lazy man’s keto unstuffed cabbage rolls. Now, I’m sharing a stuffed bell pepper casserole as an easier way to make keto stuffed bell peppers!

This casserole is going to feed your entire family and even give you enough for leftovers. It's a win-win!

Ingredients Needed For Unstuffed Pepper Casserole

All of the ingredients are easy to find and will nourish your body with essential vitamins and protein.

Tomatoes

This is where most of the carbs come from. Save yourself time and use canned tomatoes. You can use fresh tomatoes too, it just takes more time to chop them up.

Cheese

Try to use fresh mozzarella cheese. If you get it sliced from the deli, you won’t have to slice it at home.

Spices

Since this is an Italian dish, I used Italian spices. Add Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and paprika. If you want it to have a bit more heat, add some red pepper flakes!

Cauliflower Rice

For the best taste, make your own cauliflower rice. If you don’t have much time, you can use frozen cauliflower rice. Just make sure that you get as much water out of it as possible.

Olive Oil

You need some type of oil so use either olive oil or avocado oil.

Aromatics

I call the combination of garlic, peppers, and onions aromatics because as you saute them together, they release the most incredible aromas. Use green bell peppers and LOTS of fresh garlic.

Meat

I used both ground pork and ground beef. You can use just one of those or use ground turkey or chicken instead. If you like pork stuffed peppers, just leave the beef out.

Please note: Check out the recipe card at the bottom for a full list of ingredients used to make this low-carb recipe.

Quick Tips:

• For even more flavor, use fresh herbs instead of dried.
• If you want the cheese to have a nice golden color, leave the casserole under the broiler for a minute or two.
• To save yourself prep time, pre-brown the meat with the peppers, garlic, and onion. Store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

How To Make Unstuffed Pepper Casserole

It’s so easy to make this low-carb dish. All the details are in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post. First, I have some step-by-step pictures so you can see how I made it.

Brown The Meat With The Veggies

You simply brown the ground meat with seasonings, then stir in uncooked riced cauliflower and tomatoes.

Spread It Into A Casserole Dish

Then, spread the prepared meat and cauliflower rice mixture into the bottom of a casserole pan.

Top it all with cheese and bake it for about a half-hour.

That’s all there is to making an undone stuffed pepper casserole!

What To Serve With Unstuffed Pepper Casserole

This casserole is the main course that will feed a large family. I suggest serving a low-carb side dish with it. Start out with spinach strawberry salad with vinaigrette. It’s the perfect chopped salad for this dinner.

Then, add some southern green beans to the table. They are topped with bacon, and everyone loves them. This keto fathead garlic bread will be perfect for the Italian sauce in the casserole too!

Frequently Asked Questions About Unstuffed Pepper Casserole

Before we get to the recipe in the printable recipe card, here are some questions people often ask about how I made it. If you don’t see your question here, please leave it in the comments.

Is one kind of bell pepper healthier than another one?

You’ve probably seen bell peppers in the grocery store in a variety of colors. Green, yellow, orange, and red are the most common varieties.

Do you know that all those bell peppers are actually the same plant, just at different stages of ripeness? Green bell peppers are the least ripe, yellow and orange are half ripe, and red bell peppers are completely ripe.

Aside from the different colors and varying levels of ripeness, there are some other differences between bell peppers:

• Nutrition: Because they have had a chance to ripen and mature, red peppers have the best nutritional value of the four. One red bell pepper has up to nine times more beta-carotene and twice the amount of vitamin C than a green bell pepper. However, this doesn’t mean that green peppers are a slouch in the nutritional department. One serving of green bell pepper provides nearly 200% of your suggested daily intake of Vitamin C.
• Taste: Green bell peppers, being the least ripe, are less sweet than the others and have a slightly bitter taste. Some people prefer the bitter flavor and it works better in some recipes, like recipes for stuffed bell peppers. The red bell peppers are the sweetest of the four. Since the green ones have the least amount of natural sugar, they are the best for low carb!
• Price: Generally, green bell peppers are less expensive because technically, they are not fully ripened vegetables.

Is riced cauliflower better for you than rice?

You will notice that I use riced cauliflower in this stuffed pepper casserole recipe, whereas many recipes for stuffed bell peppers use traditional rice. Using riced cauliflower is the key to making this stuffed bell pepper recipe low carb!

There are only 25 calories in 100g of cauliflower (as opposed to 130 calories in 100g of white rice). You’ll also only be getting 5g of carbs in that 100g of cauliflower while the same amount of rice has 28g of carbs.

Cauliflower rice also has 10% of the suggested daily intake of Vitamin B6 and a whopping 80% of the recommended daily amount of Vitamin C!

Can I make the unstuffed pepper casserole recipe ahead of time?

Yes! This casserole would be great to have in your freezer for those busy days or weeks when you don’t have time to create a meal from scratch but you still want to eat healthy.

Cook the casserole as directed in the recipe, but don’t top it with the mozzarella cheese. Add the mozzarella before you reheat the casserole.

Let the casserole cool before wrapping it tightly, first in plastic wrap and then foil. The cooked casserole will keep well in the freezer for up to five months.

How do you store leftovers?

You can safely leave leftover stuffed pepper casserole in the refrigerator for up to five days. If you don’t plan on using it during that time, it’s best to freeze the leftovers for future use.

Divide the leftover casserole into meal-sized portions and place them into airtight freezer-safe containers or heavy-duty freezer bags. The cooked unstuffed peppers casserole will stay fresh in the freezer for up to five months.

How do I thaw a frozen casserole?

There are several ways to thaw your frozen stuffed pepper casserole.

• Overnight. This is the preferred method. Place the frozen casserole in your refrigerator and allow it to thaw overnight.
• In the oven. You can cook the casserole from frozen, but you’ll need to add extra cooking time – approximately 30-45 minutes (or more).
• In the microwave. If you don’t have time to thaw the frozen casserole overnight, use your microwave for a “quick thaw.”
  • Unwrap the frozen casserole and cover it with a piece of microwave-safe plastic wrap. Poke a few holes in the plastic.
  • Use your microwave’s defrost setting to thaw the casserole.
  • Halfway through the thawing, test the casserole by sticking a knife into the middle. If it doesn’t go all the way through easily, replace the plastic wrap, put the casserole back into the microwave and continue defrosting.

Other Low Carb Casseroles To Try

If you love this easy low carb casserole recipe, you should try these too. They are some of my favorite keto casserole recipes of all time!

• Chicken Vegetable Casserole is low in carbs and packed with heart-healthy vegetables.
• Low Carb Eggplant Lasagna Casserole tastes just like lasagna, but it's naturally gluten-free.
• Paleo Buffalo Chicken Casserole with Ranch Sauce is really popular for a game-day dinner or for kids that love buffalo wings.
• Keto Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole has all the classic cheeseburger toppings and flavors but in a low-carb casserole.
• Low-Carb Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole is super cheesey and only has 2g net carbs per serving.

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Recipe

First published on September 16, 2019. Updated on October 12, 2021, with new images and additional recipe information.