Name: The BEST Way To Reheat Stuffed Peppers
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Ingredients: 1 portion stuffed peppers; 1 tbsp water

Table of Contents

Have you ended up with one too many stuffed peppers? Or maybe you’re making next week’s meal prep a little fancy?

Whatever your reason, I’m here to show you the very best way to keep your leftover stuffed peppers (just about) as good as day one.

In this article, I cover:

The 3 best ways to reheat your stuffed peppers (and my experiment results)
My tips for storing and freezing stuffed peppers

In a rush? Here’s the short answer.

What’s the best way to reheat stuffed peppers? The best way to reheat stuffed peppers is in the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C) and arrange the peppers in a baking tray. Sprinkle a tablespoon of water over the peppers and cover them with foil. Reheat the stuffed peppers for 20-30 minutes, or until they’re piping hot throughout.

A note on my experiment

I cooked a batch of stuffed peppers on my meal-prep Sunday and left them in the fridge overnight. The next day I took to my kitchen to test different ways of reheating them.

I tested:

The oven (best overall)
The microwave (best if you’re in a hurry)
The air fryer (my favorite, but relies on you having an air fryer)

All the methods produced good results. I would happily use all of them again.

I used a traditional recipe for the stuffing made with minced beef, rice, courgettes, onion, garlic, and tomato sauce. But these reheating methods will work for any fillings.

Related: How To Store Ground Beef

Just be aware that the denser your fillings and the more meat you have, the longer the stuffed peppers will take to reheat.

Reheating stuffed peppers in the oven

Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and arrange the peppers in a baking tray. Sprinkle a tablespoon of water over the peppers, and cover with foil. The stuffed peppers will take 20-30 minutes to reheat. To speed the process up, microwave the peppers for 20 seconds before putting them in the oven.

The chances are that you cooked your stuffed peppers in the oven – so it makes sense that you can also reheat them in the oven.

The peppers will come out nice and tasty.

Note if you have a lot of stuffed peppers to reheat, the oven is the most practical option.

How to reheat stuffed peppers in the oven:

Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C).
Nuke the stuffed peppers in the microwave for 20-30 seconds (optional step, recommended for bigger stuffed peppers).
Arrange the stuffed peppers in an oven-proof dish, sprinkle over a tablespoon of water, and cover with foil (or a lid).
Cook the stuffed peppers in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until they’re heated all the way through. If you skip the microwave step, the peppers can take up to half an hour to fully reheat.
Remove the foil for the last 5 minutes of heating to allow the cheese to crisp up.

To check the stuffed peppers are piping hot, use a food thermometer. You want the inside to reach 165°F (74°C). You can also stick a knife in and feel how hot it is when it comes out.

The oven is slow, and the middle of the stuffed peppers will take the longest to heat. If your stuffed peppers are on the large side, they can benefit from 20 seconds in the microwave before moving them to the oven.

The microwave will heat the inside of the stuffed pepper so it doesn’t take as long to warm up in the oven.

Another way to cut down on heating time is to cut the peppers in half before heating them.

You can also reheat stuffed peppers from frozen in the oven. It should take around 40-45 minutes, depending on the size of the pepper.

Verdict

The oven was a bit slow for my liking, but the pepper that came out tasted great.

Again, the pepper was a little softer than before, but this didn’t bother me.

The filling stayed moist, and overall it wasn’t much different from the original stuffed pepper the day before.

Reheating stuffed peppers in the air fryer

To reheat stuffed peppers in the air fryer, preheat it to 350°F (180°C) and arrange the stuffed peppers in the basket so they’re not touching. Heat the peppers for 15-20 minutes until the middle is piping hot. You can speed the process up a bit by microwaving the peppers for 30 seconds beforehand.

The air fryer is a good compromise between the oven and the microwave. It’s faster than the oven and slightly more flavorsome than the microwave.

How to reheat stuffed peppers in the air fryer:

Preheat the air fryer to 350°F (180°C).
Microwave the stuffed peppers for 20-30 seconds before putting them in the air fryer (optional but recommended for big stuffed peppers).
Arrange the stuffed peppers in the air fryer basket so they’re standing upright and not touching.
Heat the stuffed peppers for 10-15 minutes in the air fryer or until they’re heated all the way through. If you skip the microwave step, the heating time will be more like 15-20 minutes.

Always check the internal temperature of the stuffed pepper before serving because the outside can feel really hot, but the inside may still be lukewarm.

I use a food thermometer, but you can also stick a knife into the middle and feel how hot it is when you pull it out. 165°F (74°C) is the temperature you’re looking for on the thermometer.

Because stuffed peppers are so dense, it takes a while for the middle to heat up.

The microwave step cuts down on the time you need in the air fryer because it gives the middle of the pepper a head start.

It’s not a necessary step but is definitely worth it if you have huge and meaty stuffed peppers.

You can also reheat your stuffed peppers from frozen in the air fryer. Simply increase the heating time by 10-12 minutes.

Verdict

The stuffed peppers tasted really nice out of the air fryer. There wasn’t much (if any) difference between the reheated peppers and the freshly cooked peppers.

I was worried the filling would dry out too much, but this didn’t happen.

That said, my filling was pretty moist to begin with. If you’re starting with a dry filling, this is something to be mindful of.

The pepper itself was slightly softer, and the cheese was more browned, but those were the only differences.

Reheating stuffed peppers in the microwave

To reheat stuffed peppers in the microwave, cut the peppers in half before putting them on a microwave-safe plate. Cover the exposed rice with a damp paper towel and microwave the peppers for 30 seconds. Check on them, then carry on heating them in 10 seconds intervals if needed.

The microwave is the quickest way to reheat stuffed peppers and gives decent results.

Microwave one stuffed pepper at a time.

How to reheat stuffed peppers in the microwave:

Cut the stuffed pepper in half (optional).
Place the pepper halves on a microwave-safe plate.
Cover the exposed rice with a damp paper towel.
Microwave the peppers on full power for 30 seconds. Then carry on heating them in 10-second intervals until they’re heated through.
Let the peppers stand for a minute before serving.

I cut my stuffed peppers in half before I microwaved them because this enables them to heat much more evenly. It’s also much easier to tell if the peppers are hot all the way through.

My stuffed peppers took around 40 seconds to reheat in the microwave.

The damp paper towel helps to create steam which keeps the filling moist. Without it, the filling could come out rather dry.

If you want to brown the cheese, pop the peppers under the broiler for a minute or two before serving them.

Verdict

The stuffed peppers out of the microwave were surprisingly good. I was worried the texture of the rice would suffer, but it was fine.

The pepper was slightly less flavorful than the air fryer or the oven peppers, it didn’t have that just-roasted sweetness, but the difference was minor.

The cheese melted but didn’t brown up, which was a slight disappointment.

But, the microwave was by far the fastest method, so if you’re in a rush or just can’t be bothered to wait long, this is your answer.

How to store stuffed peppers

To store stuffed peppers, place them in a tightly sealed airtight container and put them in the fridge. The stuffed peppers will last for up to 4 days in the fridge. If you can’t find a container big enough to fit the peppers in, wrap them tightly in a double layer of plastic wrap and put this in the fridge.

Can you freeze stuffed peppers?

To freeze stuffed peppers, wait for them to cool to room temperature and then wrap each one in plastic wrap followed by foil. Place the wrapped peppers in an airtight container or big freezer bag, then put this in the freezer. The stuffed peppers will last for up to 3 months.

You can also freeze unbaked stuffed peppers in exactly the same way.

If you want to save on packaging, flash freeze the peppers on a baking tray before putting them uncovered in a heavy-duty freezer bag.

Arrange the stuffed peppers on a baking tray so they’re not touching each other. Put them in the freezer for 2-3 hours until they feel solid. Then transfer them to a freezer bag and squeeze as much air out as you can.

I use a straw to suck all the air out – it’s much more effective than squeezing!

The less air that can access the stuffed peppers, the lower the chance of freezer burn.

If you know you’re going to freeze some of your stuffed peppers, then don’t put the cheese on those ones.

Wait until just before serving them to sprinkle the cheese over.

Stuffed peppers freeze surprisingly well.

The only differences you might notice are the pepper being a little softer and the filling having slightly more liquid in it.

How to reheat frozen stuffed peppers

The best way to reheat stuffed peppers from frozen is in the oven (or air fryer). Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and put the stuffed peppers in an oven-safe dish. Cover the dish tightly with a lid or some foil. Heat the stuffed peppers for 40-45 minutes until they’re piping hot throughout.

For the air fryer, put the stuffed peppers in the air fryer basket and heat them at 350°F (180°C) for 20-25 minutes.

If you have huge stuffed peppers, they’re going to take a long time to reheat. These times are estimates based on medium-sized stuffed peppers.

To reduce cooking times, you can thaw the stuffed peppers before heating them. To thaw stuffed peppers, leave them in the fridge overnight.

Also, consider cutting them in half (if they’re not already) before freezing them.

I don’t recommend using the microwave to heat stuffed peppers from frozen because they become overly wet, and the texture is really mushy.

But you can use the microwave for 30-40 seconds to slightly thaw the inside of the stuffed pepper and reduce the heating time in the oven.

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