Korean Gochujang Beef Stuffed Peppers

About This Recipe

Stuffed peppers aren't a traditional Korean dish, but the flavors that fill them here — gochujang, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce — are straight out of a Korean home kitchen's everyday seasoning shelf, the same combination used in bulgogi marinade and japchae. Ground beef is cooked down with those seasonings until it's deeply savory, mixed with rice for body, then packed into halved peppers and baked until the peppers soften and blister slightly at the edges.\n\nThe technique that makes the difference is browning the beef hard before adding the gochujang, so the meat develops real fond in the pan instead of just simmering in sauce. That browned base gets deglazed with a splash of soy sauce and water, which the rice then absorbs as it mixes in, so every bite of filling is seasoned all the way through rather than just on the surface.\n\nFinish with a scatter of scallions and sesame seeds right before serving — the color and crunch matter as much as the seasoning underneath.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 4 largebell peppers(halved lengthwise, seeds removed)
• 500 gground beef
• 2 tbspneutral oil
• 1onion(finely diced)
• 4 clovesgarlic(minced)
• 2 tbspgochujang
• 2 tbspsoy sauce
• 1 tbspbrown sugar
• 1 tsptoasted sesame oil
• 2 cupscooked rice
• 3scallions(sliced)
• 1 tsptoasted sesame seeds

Instructions

1. 1

   Prep the peppers

   Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Arrange halved peppers cut-side up in a baking dish and roast 10 minutes to soften slightly before filling.

2. 2

   Brown the beef

   Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook 4 minutes, then add beef and cook, breaking it apart, until deeply browned, about 7 minutes.

3. 3

   Season the filling

   Add garlic and cook 30 seconds, then stir in gochujang, soy sauce and brown sugar. Cook 2 minutes until the sauce coats the beef and smells caramelized rather than raw.

   Let the beef sit undisturbed for 60-90 seconds at a time while browning — constant stirring steams it instead of building a crust.

4. 4

   Combine and stuff

   Off the heat, stir the cooked rice into the beef mixture until evenly coated. Spoon the filling generously into the roasted pepper halves, mounding it on top.

5. 5

   Bake

   Drizzle sesame oil over the filled peppers and bake 20-25 minutes until the peppers are tender and the edges are lightly charred.

6. 6

   Finish

   Top with scallions and sesame seeds just before serving.

Variations

• •

  Use ground pork or a beef-pork blend for a richer, slightly sweeter filling.

• •

  Top with a slice of mozzarella or a sprinkle of shredded cheese for the last 5 minutes of baking for a fusion twist.

• •

  Swap the rice for cooked quinoa or cauliflower rice for a lower-carb version.

Storage

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Reheat covered in the oven at 350°F (175°C) for 15 minutes, or microwave until warmed through.

Frequently Asked Questions