Air Fryer Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers
Air Fryer Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers are stuffed full of rice, Italian sausage, and cheese and air fried until tender. A wonderful, healthy air fryer recipe!
Can be made start to finish in under 30 minutes. It’s a really great end of summer meal when bell peppers are cheap and plentiful.
If you’d rather make stuffed peppers in the oven, take a look at these recipes: Lasagna Stuffed Peppers, Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers, Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Peppers, and Jambalaya Stuffed Bell Peppers.
How To Make Air Fryer Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers
- Make the filling. Cook some rice and brown the Italian sausage. Add in the onion and garlic and cook until soft. Add seasonings, pasta sauce, and diced tomatoes. Stir in rice.
- Pre-Cook the peppers in the air fryer. You want to get a head start on cooking the peppers. This can be done while the filling is cooking. You want to air fry them for about 5 minutes to get them partially cooked.
- Fill the peppers with filling and air fry another 5 minutes. Sprinkle cheese on top and air fry 1 minute.
Use Any Color Bell Pepper You Like
Red, Yellow, and Orange are my favorite because they are sweeter, but green bell peppers are great too and they usually cost less.
Prep in Advance
The filling can be made up to 48 hours in advance.
Adjust the Cooking Time
Use the cooking time as an estimate. Different air fryer brands and models cook at different rates. Plus some people like their peppers to still have a little crunch while others like theirs totally soft.
Variations and Additions
This recipe is totally customizable
- Use ground beef or ground turkey instead of sausage,
- Add Parmesan cheese for extra flavor.
- Use a plant-based substitute to make it vegetarian.
- Add a few splashes of hot sauce to make them spicier.
- Use cauliflower rice instead of white rice to make it lower carb.
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Air Fryer Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers
Materials
- 1 pound Italian sausage, removed from casings
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ to ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1/3 cup pasta sauce
- 1 ½ cups cooked white rice
- 3 bell peppers
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Brown and crumble the Italian sausage with the onion.Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, diced tomatoes, and pasta sauce. Simmer for 3 to 5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in rice.
- Cut each bell pepper in half and scoop out the seeds and membranes.
- Brush peppers with a little oil. Place cut side down in air fryer and air fry at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.Note: You may have to cook them in batches if they won't all fit in your air fryer basket.
- Turn peppers cut side up. Spoon sausage mixture into them mounding it up as much as you can.Air fry at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
- Sprinkle cheese on top and air fry 1 minute.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve.
