Romanian Stuffed Peppers (Ardei Umpluti) uses sweet yellow Hungarian peppers, stuffed with a mixture of ground pork, rice and herbs and slowly cooked in a simple tomato sauce with sour cream. It’s a taste of the old country that is to die for!
Romanian Stuffed Peppers
People always ask me what are some of the authentic Romanian dishes and I have a few recipes here on the blog and to this day, one of my favorite has to be these stuffed peppers. This is my mom’s recipe that she’s been making ever since I can remember and she thankfully passed it down to me. Luckily for all my readers my mom also taught me to share, so share this delicious recipe I will!
If you’ve never tried Romanian Stuffed peppers then you are in for a treat, these savory little flavor bombs are packed full of delicious ground pork and fluffy white rice. It’s all cooked down in a tomato sauce that is so good you’ll be tempted to sip it right out of the pan.
What Is Ardei Umpluti?
If you’re trying to learn a new language, here’s a little Romanian for you! So “ardei umpluti” literally means stuffed peppers. Now stuffed peppers are a dish that exists all around the world using a variety of meats, starches, and cheeses, but none are quite like their Romanian brother.
This recipe is chock full of fresh dill and parsley studded ground pork stuffed into sweet peppers, all swimming in a delicious tomato sauce made creamy with a little sour cream.
Ingredients In Romanian Stuffed Peppers
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
Peppers
- Peppers – We’re using medium sized Hungarian yellow sweet peppers but if you can find any regular yellow bell peppers will work just fine.
- Pork – We’re looking for ground pork, as fat as possible. The reason for this is so that our meat in the stuffed peppers is nice and juicy and not hard like a brick.
- Rice – Use any kind you’d like just be sure it’s uncooked. I usually prefer to use a long grain rice.
- Onion – Chopped up, be sure to look for something that cooks down well like white or yellow onion.
- Egg – This will bind all of our filling ingredients together nicely.
- Herbs – Fresh dill and parsley chopped up fine. The more fresh dill the better. Trust me on this one.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper to taste.
Sauce
- Tomato – Either puree and passata either can be used interchangeably in this recipe.
- Sour cream – Just a dollop of this will add some creamy tang to our dish.
- Water – To thin out our sauce and give us a better consistency.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper to taste.
How To Make Romanian Stuffed Peppers
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found on the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Preheat your oven: Arrange a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 375 F degrees.
- Prepare the peppers: Prepare the peppers by cutting off the tops of the peppers. Remove and discard any seeds and membranes from the insides of the peppers. To keep the peppers from falling over while cooking, cut a small flat piece off the bottom of the pepper so that it has a more even bottom and they’ll stand up nicely.
- Combine the filling: In a large bowl combine the ground pork, rice, onion, egg, dill, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well. Stuff each pepper really well and arrange them in a big pot standing up.
- Prepare the sauce: To make the sauce whisk together the tomato puree with the sour cream, water, salt and pepper. Pour this over the peppers. Add more water if needed, there should be enough water to come about half way up the peppers.
- Cook the peppers: Cover the pot with a lid or aluminum foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours covered. Remove the lid and continue baking for another 45 minutes to an hour uncovered. The peppers are ready when you insert a fork in a pepper and it goes easy through the skin of the pepper and meat, and the rice is cooked.
- Finish the dish: Serve these hot with lots of sauce and a dollop of sour cream on top, along side some crusty bread for dipping in the sauce.
How Else Can I Cook Romanian Stuffed Peppers?
You don’t just have to make these in the oven, they cook up perfectly in the slow cooker or pressure cooker! If you’re worried about the sour cream in the sauce, just be sure to combine the sauce before adding it to your slow/pressure cooker – it should be fine if pre mixed!
Slow cooker
- Follow this recipe instructions listed above but instead of using a pot or dutch oven, place the peppers and sauce in your slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Pressure Cooker
- Follow the directions as listed above but place your peppers on the trivet provided to prevent them from burning.
- Close the lid of your pressure cooker according to the manufacture instructions.
- Cook for 8 minutes on the manual setting and allow the pressure to release naturally when done cooking
How To Serve Served Stuffed Peppers
If you want some carbs to bulk up this meal and soak up all that delicious sauce, I have a few suggestions.
- Traditionally this meal is served with an extra dollop of sour cream and some good crusty bread.
- Some soft dinner rolls.
- Spooned over Mashed Potatoes.
- Served over fluffy white rice to soak up all that delicious sauce.
What Else Can I Use In Romanian Stuffed Peppers?
If you want to be traditional, just stick with the recipe I’ve outlined here but there are other options when creating this dish!
Meat
I’ve personally tried stuffing these peppers with different meats, although my favorite will always be pork.
- Ground beef
- Turkey
- Ground chicken
- You can even mix any combinations of the ground meat!
Tips For Making The Best Romanian Stuffed Peppers
- These stuffed peppers are best when made with sweet yellow Hungarian peppers or sweet yellow dove bell peppers.
- If you do not have tomato puree or passata you can also use tomato paste instead, about 3 or 4 tbsp and just whisk it with enough water to cover the peppers about half way through. Tomato juice will also work.
- I have personally tried stuffing these peppers with chicken, turkey, or beef – but my favorite is always pork! Pork stays so juicy and moist, so make sure it’s not the extra lean, the fattier the pork the juicier the stuffed pepper. Same with cabbage rolls.
Storing Leftover Romanian Stuffed Peppers
Fridge
These peppers will keep for 3 – 5 days if stored in an airtight container in the fridge.
Freezer
Be sure the meat is cooked all the way through and that the peppers are entirely cool before placing in the freezer. Put the peppers in a freezer safe container or wrap them individually with plastic wrap before placing in a freezer bag. This will keep for 6 – 8 months. Allow the dish to thaw completely in the fridge before allowing to warm back up to temperature in the oven.
More Delicious Recipes To Try:
- Romanian Meatball Soup
- Cabbage Rolls
- Creamy Polenta
- Romanian Meatballs
- Traditional Romanian Polenta
- Cabbage Soup
- Beef Bourguignon
- Hungarian Goulash
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Romanian Stuffed Peppers (Ardei Umpluti)
Ingredients
For Peppers
- 10 medium peppers
- 1 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1/2 cup rice uncooked
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup fresh dill chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
For Sauce
- 2 cups tomato puree or passata
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 2 cups water
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp pepper or to taste
Instructions
- Arrange a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 375 F degrees.
- Prepare the peppers by cutting off the tops of the peppers. Remove and discard any seeds and membranes from the insides of the peppers. To keep the peppers from falling over while cooking, cut a small flat piece off the bottom of the pepper so that it has a more even bottom.
- In a large bowl combine the ground pork, rice, onion, egg, dill, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well. Stuff each pepper really well and arrange them in a big pot standing up. I used a large 5 quart oval Dutch Oven with a lid.
- To make the sauce whisk together the tomato puree with the sour cream, water, salt and pepper. Pour this over the peppers. Add more water if needed, there should be enough water to come about half way up the peppers.
- Cover the pot with a lid or aluminum foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours covered. Remove the lid and continue baking for another 45 minutes to an hour uncovered. The peppers are ready when you insert a fork in a pepper and it goes easy through the skin of the pepper and meat, and the rice is cooked.
- Serve these hot with lots of sauce and a dollop of sour cream on top, along side some crusty bread for dipping in the sauce.
Oana Gabriela says
Cooked it for my inlaws and it was a hit! I served the peppers & sauce on top of some plain jasmin rice.
Thank you for the recipe. Definily a keeper😊
Ric Pelkey (Calgary, Canada) says
Now making this recipe for the second time. Delicious! Love it soooo much.
Marie J. Taylor says
Made these last night for dinner as we are tired of BBQing. Excellent, I used beef and large yellow and orange peppers and lots of dill. I used diced tomatoes in puree. My husband said that this recipe is a keeper.
Thanks Jo.
Charlotte says
Hello ,
Just wondering I’m not a fan off dill is there something I can substitute with or am I better to just leave It out?
Thank you so much
Nicole Beaulieu says
You can use any fresh herb(s) that you like best 🙂
Oana Gabriela says
I used lovage for the meat mixture.
Larry Sabo says
I grew up on these to some degree as I am of Hungarian heritage. Would like to add a variance for any folks that like a little kick to the recipe – instead of sweet Hungarian peppers, try Hungarian medium hot peppers if you can find them – adds a little zest to the meal. Been eating for more decades than I like to admit to.
Nicolette says
So good. We ate these all the time growing up and this is the closest I’ve found to my moms recipe. However, I did make a few changes to mimic more closely to how we ate it. I used V8 instead of passata and water, added in 2 bay leaves, and 2 tablespoons of sugar into the tomato sauce to make it sweet.
Joanna Cismaru says
Yeah my mom sometimes uses V8 too, so I know it works great!! 🙂
Aniela says
I grew up with these as well. I love your simple recipe. My husband is lactose intolerant. Would you have a sour cream substitution by chance?
Joanna Cismaru says
I think you can find lactose free sour creams and yogurt, I’d try those first. 🙂
Carol Anderson says
I am of Yugoslavian decent & would love to see more recipes from your area
Auri says
If I use ground chicken, how long will I have to bake it for?
Nicole Beaulieu says
The same time and temperature!
Honey says
Can I make this using green bell peppers? I have a lot from fall harvest still sitting in my counter. Thanks.
Joanna Cismaru says
You can, though we usually use Hungarian yellow sweet peppers for them which have a thinner skin.
Barb says
Yes, we make ours with pork as well….but put crushed tomatoes in the mixure; simmer in water/sour cream. Then top with sour cream as well!
Andrew Vamos says
Great flavour. Very close to my gandma’s (Hungarian).
We added nutmeg for more flavour.
Mimi says
Hi Joanna, I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your recipes! My Romanian partner had given me a Romanian cookbook but it was so complicated so I decided to follow your recipes instead. I don’t have any cooking experience but I tried my best and he absolutely loved the meatball soup and stuffed peppers. He said they tasted better than his mom’s!!
Joanna Cismaru says
Aw, that’s the best compliment. Thank you so much! Keep cooking!