How many calories are in a stuffed bell pepper?
One stuffed bell pepper on a dinner plate, 298 g of pepper, rice and ground meat, is 530 calories. Per 100 g the whole thing runs 178 calories. Cut it in half the way USDA does and you land at 265. The pepper is the bowl. The filling is the meal.
You'd need to walk about 106 minutes to burn the 530 calories in one stuffed pepper (298 g).
How long does it take to burn off 530 kcal of stuffed pepper?
One stuffed pepper (298 g) is 530 kcal. Enter your weight and the amount you ate to see how long it takes you to burn that off:
lb
| Activity | Time to burn 530 kcal |
|---|---|
| Walking, brisk | 1 hr 46 min |
| Cycling, moderate | 1 hr 6 min |
| Swimming, moderate | 1 hr 16 min |
| Jogging | 1 hr 2 min |
| Weight training, moderate | 1 hr 58 min |
Times are for a 155 lb adult at a steady pace; change the weight to see yours. The amount is set to the portion in the text (298 g); change it to what you actually ate. BodyPal works this out from your steps automatically.
On this page
- Stuffed bell pepper quick facts
- US servings from one ounce to a whole pepper
- What the filling changes
- Frozen and store bought stuffed peppers
- Sodium is the row to watch
- How does a stuffed bell pepper compare?
- Most popular stuffed bell pepper brands
- Stuffed bell pepper FAQs
Stuffed bell pepper quick facts
The record that matches what most people cook is FNDDS 2709073, "Stuffed pepper, with rice and meat". That is a bell pepper hollowed out and packed with seasoned ground meat and cooked rice, baked until the pepper softens. USDA also keeps a meat-only version and a meatless rice version, and both get their own section further down, because the filling is what moves the calories.
USDA's own household serving here is half a pepper with filling, 149 g. Nobody eats half. The 298 g whole pepper in the column below is our own arithmetic from the USDA 100 g figure, not a USDA serving, and it is the number to use when a single pepper lands on your plate.
| Nutrient | Per 100 g | Per 1 stuffed pepper (298 g) | % Daily Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calories | 178 | 530 | — |
| Total fat | 11.66 g | 34.7 g | 45% |
| Saturated fat | 3.49 g | 10.4 g | 52% |
| Carbohydrate | 9.93 g | 29.6 g | 11% |
| Dietary fiber | 0.7 g | 2.1 g | 7% |
| Total sugars | 2.22 g | 6.6 g | — |
| Protein | 7.83 g | 23.3 g | 47% |
| Sodium | 320 mg | 954 mg | 41% |
% Daily Value is based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
Verified nutrition data
Numbers on this page come from USDA FoodData Central, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s food composition database, and from manufacturer labels where a branded product is named. Last verified September 2026. How we verify our data →
Cholesterol comes in at 146 mg per pepper, 49% of the Daily Value, and potassium at 519 mg, 11%. There is no added sugars row and no trans fat row on this page because this FNDDS edition does not publish either for the record, and a blank is more honest than a zero. Daily Values follow the FDA reference amounts.
US servings from one ounce to a whole pepper
| Serving | Weight | Calories |
|---|---|---|
| 1 oz | 28 g | 50 kcal |
| Per 100 g | 100 g | 178 kcal |
| Half a pepper with filling | 149 g | 265 kcal |
| 1 cup | 198 g | 352 kcal |
| One whole stuffed pepper | 298 g | 530 kcal |
Two of those rows come straight from USDA as household measures: the half pepper with filling at 149 g and the cup at 198 g. The whole pepper and the ounce are ours, scaled from the USDA 100 g figure.
The cup is the trap. A cup of stuffed pepper, filling and pepper wall chopped together, weighs 198 g and costs 352 calories. A whole pepper weighs 298 g and costs 530. That is a gap of 178 calories, roughly a slice of bread with butter, and it is easy to log the smaller one while eating the bigger one. If you scoop the filling out and leave the pepper shell on the plate, you are closer to the cup than to the whole pepper.
What the filling changes
Rice is a diluter here, not an addition. Ground meat on its own is denser than meat cut with cooked rice, so the meat-only pepper is the heaviest per gram even though it is the one people assume is "just meat, no carbs."
| Version | Per 100 g | Typical portion | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| With meat, no rice | 198 kcal | half a pepper with filling, 149 g | 295 kcal |
| With rice and meat | 178 kcal | half a pepper with filling, 149 g | 265 kcal |
| Meatless, rice filling | 166 kcal | half a pepper with filling, 149 g | 247 kcal |
| With rice and meat | 178 kcal | 1 cup, 198 g | 352 kcal |
The spread across the three fillings is 48 calories on a half pepper. That is small. What is not small is the protein: the rice and meat version carries 7.83 g per 100 g, the meat-only 9.2 g, and the meatless one 3.75 g. On a 149 g half pepper that is 11.7 g, 13.7 g and about 5.6 g, all scaled from the USDA 100 g figures. Going vegetarian on a stuffed pepper saves you very little on calories and costs you more than half the protein.
Carbohydrate moves the other way. The meatless filling is 12.02 g per 100 g against 9.93 g for rice and meat and 4.23 g for meat alone. If you are counting carbs rather than calories, the meat-only pepper is the outlier worth knowing about.
Frozen and store bought stuffed peppers
The freezer aisle plays a different game. A Stouffer's stuffed pepper with sauce lists 190 calories for a 226 g serving, and the large size 161 calories for 220 g. A Great Value tray is 249 calories for 283 g, and the lean version of the same tray 139. Michelina's stuffed pepper casserole is 270 calories for a 227 g package, and a Brother and Sister refrigerated pepper 160 calories for a 3/4 cup, 165 g.
Per 100 g those retail products run 49 to 119 calories against USDA's 178 for a home stuffed pepper. The trays are lighter as sold and less dense on the plate, with more sauce around a smaller filling. In practice a frozen pepper and sauce at 190 calories is a little over a third of a homemade 530-calorie pepper, which makes it a genuinely different food to log, not a substitute number.
Sodium is the row to watch
A stuffed pepper is a vegetable by name and a seasoned casserole by construction. One whole pepper delivers 2.1 g of fiber, 7% of the 28 g Daily Value, which is unremarkable. It also delivers 954 mg of sodium, 41% of the day, and 146 mg of cholesterol, 49%. That sodium is roughly a little under half a teaspoon of table salt in a single serving.
Saturated fat is the other number worth a look: 10.4 g per pepper, 52% of the 20 g Daily Value, most of it from the ground meat. If you are watching either row, the practical move is not to skip the pepper but to eat half of it and put a plain salad next to it, or to build the filling with leaner meat and unsalted stock. The vegetable itself is doing good work either way, and peppers count toward the MyPlate vegetable group whatever is inside them.
How does a stuffed bell pepper compare?
| Dish | Per 100 g | US serving | Calories |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stuffed pepper, rice and meat | 178 kcal | half a pepper with filling, 149 g | 265 kcal |
| Stuffed pepper, meat only | 198 kcal | half a pepper with filling, 149 g | 295 kcal |
| Stuffed pepper, meatless | 166 kcal | half a pepper with filling, 149 g | 247 kcal |
| Eggplant parmesan casserole | 155 kcal | 100 g | 155 kcal |
Our take: of these four, the eggplant parmesan casserole is the lightest per gram at 155 calories per 100 g, and the meat-only stuffed pepper the heaviest at 198. But the ranking per gram barely matters, because portion size swamps it. A whole stuffed pepper at 530 calories is nearly double the heaviest half-pepper row on this table, the 295-calorie meat-only half, and it is the serving most people actually eat. Decide the portion first, the filling second. For a dinner that has to carry protein, a whole rice and meat pepper brings 23.3 g, more than any half-pepper row here; for a lighter plate, half of one at 265 with a salad does the job better than switching to the meatless filling.
Most popular stuffed bell pepper brands in the United States
Ranked by how widely each product appears among foods sold in the United States, from the BodyPal food database of over 3.3 million products. Calories are the figures printed on each Nutrition Facts label, checked against USDA FoodData Central.
| Product | Calories (per 100 g) |
|---|---|
| Great Value Stuffed Pepper | 88 cal |
| Stouffer's Stuffed Peppers | 84 cal |
| Stouffer's Stuffed Peppers Large Size | 73 cal |
| Michelina's Stuffed Pepper Casserole | 119 cal |
| Brother and Sister Stuffed Peppers with Beef & Rice | 97 cal |
| Great Value Lean Stuffed Pepper | 49 cal |
Brand popularity: BodyPal food database. Nutrition: manufacturer labels / USDA FoodData Central.
Stuffed bell pepper FAQs
How many calories are in one stuffed bell pepper?
One whole stuffed bell pepper weighing 298 g carries 530 calories, based on USDA's 178 calories per 100 g for a pepper filled with rice and meat. That whole-pepper weight is our own arithmetic from USDA's half-pepper serving of 149 g, which lands at 265 calories.
How many calories in a stuffed pepper with ground beef and rice?
A stuffed pepper with ground beef and rice is 178 calories per 100 g, so 530 for a full 298 g pepper. Drop the rice and USDA's meat-only record climbs to 198 per 100 g, which takes a half pepper with filling from 265 calories up to 295.
How much protein is in a stuffed bell pepper?
A whole stuffed pepper delivers 23.3 g of protein, 47% of the 50 g Daily Value, alongside 530 calories. Half a pepper with filling gives 11.7 g. The meatless rice filling drops to about 5.6 g per 149 g half, scaled from USDA's 3.75 g per 100 g.
Are stuffed peppers good for weight loss?
At 530 calories a whole pepper is a full dinner rather than a light plate, though 23.3 g of protein makes it filling. If you are aiming at a 350 to 450 calorie lunch, half a pepper with filling at 265 calories fits, or a cup at 352.
How many calories in a vegetarian stuffed pepper?
A meatless rice-stuffed pepper runs 166 calories per 100 g, so USDA's half pepper with filling is 247 calories against 265 for the rice and meat version. The calorie saving is 18. The protein gap is bigger, falling from 11.7 g to about 5.6 g.
How many carbs are in stuffed peppers?
A whole stuffed pepper with rice and meat holds 29.6 g of carbohydrate, 11% of the Daily Value, plus 2.1 g of fiber. A cup at 198 g works out to 19.7 g. The meatless rice filling is higher per gram, 12.02 g per 100 g against 9.93 g.
How much sodium is in a stuffed pepper?
One whole stuffed pepper carries 954 mg of sodium, 41% of the 2,300 mg Daily Value, or a little under half a teaspoon of table salt. Half a pepper with filling is 477 mg. The pepper contributes almost none of it; the seasoned filling does.
Are frozen stuffed peppers lower in calories?
As sold, yes. Stouffer's stuffed peppers list 190 calories for one pepper and sauce at 226 g, and a Great Value tray 249 for 283 g. Per 100 g those are 84 and 88 against USDA's 178, because the trays are smaller and less densely filled.
Similar foods
- Potato wedges — 138 cal for 3 oz
- Ear of Corn — 99 cal per medium ear
- Sweet Potato — 103 cal per medium, baked
- Papaya salad — 190 cal per plate
- Carrot — 53 cal per cup chopped
- Onion — 46 cal per cup sliced
Count it without the math
Point the camera at the plate and BodyPal counts the pepper and the filling for you.
