Italian Sausage and Pepper Ring Mini Meatloaves have all the taste of slow cooked sausage and peppers, in a fun and quick-cooking mini meatloaf.
“I had an abundance of red bell peppers in my garden this year so I used them to make this recipe for dinner last night and it was absolutely delicious! Leftovers for lunch today were also excellent!”
When life gets busy, and putting a home-cooked meal on the table feels next to impossible, I turn to recipes like Italian Sausage and Pepper Ring Mini Meatloaves which are not only family-friendly, but make-ahead too.
This is a fantastic meal to assemble several days ahead of time then pop into the oven before calling the crew to dinner.
Easy-peasy, and plates will be licked clean – I promise!
Watch How to Make Them
Family Friendly Mini Meatloaves
If you need to know one thing about me, it’s that I LOVE mini meatloaves. Not only are they prep-ahead but my family loves them, plus they come with built-in portion control.
My Italian Sausage and Pepper Ring Mini Meatloaves are no different. Plus they taste like slow-cooked sausage and peppers but bake in just 30 minutes.
What’s Inside
Ground beef and Italian sausage are mixed with fridge and pantry staples including dried herbs and spices, garlic, and onion then pressed into thickly-sliced bell pepper rings which create mini meatloaf shells (hence the name “pepper ring” mini meatloaves!)
The mini meatloaves are blanketed with shredded cheese then baked until sizzling and bubbly. This dish is a home run from start to finish.
Tips for Success
- Prep-ahead: make the meatloaf filling then press it into the pepper rings and store right in the baking dish up to 3 days ahead of time. Cover the tops with sauce just before baking.
- Choose lean: use the leanest ground beef you can find, as high-fat meat will shrink inside the pepper rings. I use 93/7 or 90/10 ground beef.
- High quality sauce: spring for a jar of high quality marinara sauce, or use homemade if you can. This is what makes sausage and peppers taste like sausage and peppers. Locals, I love Gino’s, otherwise Mezzetta, Bove’s, and Roa’s are great options.
Ready to eat?!
Pin this now to find it later
Pin ItServe with Gluten Free Focaccia
How to Make This Recipe
Step 1: Prep the bell peppers.
Start by slicing the tops and bottoms off 2 medium-sized bell peppers then run a knife along the insides to remove the seeds. You can use whatever color of peppers you like – I usually use 1 red and 1 green.
Slice the hollowed out bell peppers into 1″ thick rings then place them in the bottom of a 9×13″ baking dish with 1 cup marinara sauce spread in the bottom. You should be able to get 3-4 rings per pepper, though you’ll only need 6 rings total.
Step 2: Make the meatloaf filling.
To a large mixing bowl add lean ground beef, ground sweet Italian sausage, minced gluten free bread, egg, minced shallot, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and a pinch red pepper flakes if you want a little zip.
Use your hands to mix until just combined then score the mixture into thirds, and each third in half to create 6 portions.
Recipe Tip
Be sure to use lean ground beef so the meat mixture doesn’t shrink too much during baking.
Step 3: Stuff the pepper rings then bake.
Roll each meatloaf portion into a ball then press it into a pepper ring and top with 1 heaping Tablespoon marinara sauce. Cover the dish with foil then bake for 30 minutes at 425 degrees.
Finally, top each mini meatloaf with a heap of shredded Italian cheese blend then bake uncovered for 5-7 more minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown and bubbly.
That’s all she wrote! Scoop the mini meatloaves onto plates then drizzle with the delectable sauce from the bottom of the pan – it ridiculously delicious. I hope you love this fun and yummy dish – enjoy!
More Mini Meatloaves You’ll Love
- Mini Taco Meatloaf
- Stuffed Italian Meatball Mini Meatloaves
- Mini BBQ Cheddar Meatloaves
- Mini Muffuletta Meatloaves
- Mini Philly Cheesesteak Meatloaves
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 medium-sized bell peppers, any color
- 1/2 lb lean ground beef, 93/7 recommended
- 1/2 lb gluten free ground sweet Italian sausage, Johnsonville recommended
- 2 slices gluten free bread, crusts removed then minced
- 1 egg
- 1 small shallot or 1/2 onion, finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt and pepper
- pinch red pepper flakes, optional
- 4 oz finely shredded Italian cheese blend
- 2 cups marinara sauce, divided
Directions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spread 1 cup marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9×13″ baking dish then set aside. Slice the tops and bottoms off bell peppers then run a knife along the insides to core. Slice hallow peppers into 1″ rings – you should get 3 rings per pepper for 6 rings total – then place in the bottom of the baking dish and set aside.
- To a large bowl add ground beef, Italian sausage, bread, egg, shallot or onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Use your hands to mix until just combined then divide the mixture into thirds, and each third in half. Roll each portion into a ball then press into a pepper ring.
- Spread a heaping Tablespoon marinara sauce on top of each mini meatloaf then cover baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove baking dish from oven then top each mini meatloaf with shredded cheese. Bake uncovered for 5-7 more minutes, or until cheese is golden brown, then serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional values are estimates only. Please read our full nutrition information disclaimer.
This was great! My husband told me five times how much he loved it!
Wohoo! I’d call that a success! ;) Thanks for the feedback, Diane!
If I wanted to substitute bread crumbs for the piece of bread, how much do you think I should use?
I’d go with 1/2 cup!
We have zero plans this weekend, but these are officially on the agenda.
Also, I’m honestly so happy that our boys have summer birthdays so that I can keep them home a year longer. ;)
The recipe looks perfect for dinner. I am so glad you are thinking about waiting a year for your little boy to go to kindergarten. In my state it is 5 by July but I have a sister who was a kindergarten teacher and she would say every year that children born in the spring even need to be held back a year. The successful children were almost always the ones who parents were smart enough to hold them back a year. Good luck to you on your choice. You will not regret it.
Thanks for your note, Michelle. I hear the same thing too – Kindergarten is the new 1st grade, and knowing my son, he’d absolutely benefit from a year of “Jr K”. Of course to each their own – definitely just depends on the child!
I made this last night and changed it up just a little. I doubled the ingredients and used 4 bell peppers cut in half. I added a big portabella mushroom on top. My make shift family said it was better than restaurant food, LOL. I would recommend using lots more marinara sauce as it is was really good smothered in a jar of sauce. Thank you for posting this awesome idea!
Sounds awesome, Melissa! Love the idea of making these kind of “stuffed pepper”-esque!
There hasn’t been a recipe Of yours that I’ve tried and we didn’t like. This one was superb. I NEVER thought to combine Hamburg with Italian sausage. My family loved this. I might try adding rice next time.
I’m thrilled to hear it, Karen!! Thanks so much for leaving a star rating, too! :)
1- Those look awesome…can’t wait to make these, as I love ALL your mini meatloaf recipes!
And 2-I feel ya girl! My oldest is starting the big K and it’s like trying to hold sand in your hand….and the more ya try to hold on, the quicker the sand falls. That’s the only way I can describe parenting young kids;) S*&t is CRAZYYYYY!;)
YES – that is the perfect way to describe it. So heartbreaking. UGHHHHHH.
My husband is going to freak when I show him this recipe. He loves meatloaf and I never remember to make it. But this recipe is like, meatloaf stuffed peppers, and I love stuffed peppers! Can’t wait to make this recipe!
Sounds like a win-win for you both, Christina! Hope you guys enjoy!
Yummy! I love this idea and I have several peppers from the garden I need to eat.
Perfect! Hope you love it, Val. :)
This looks delicious! What can be substituted for the pork? We dont each pork.
Hi Emily! I think I’ve seen Italian-style turkey sausage at the grocery store before – that might be a good option instead of traditional Italian pork sausage.
What a neat idea! Definitely trying this. I am excited to get back into using the oven again now that the weather will be cooling off!
Same – can’t wait to make something as simple and delicious as a roast chicken!
My family loved this recipe!!! Very zesty and full of flavor
So glad, Liz – thanks for your feedback!
Yum! Can’t wait to try this. Love the make-ahead aspect :)
Yes! It’s seriously so handy. Hope you love it, Kristi!