Italian Beef and Rice

About This Recipe

Italian Beef and Rice, a meal prep friendly version of the Italian Beef Sandwich. Ground beef mixed with tangy Italian dressing and pepperoncinis served with jammy sweet onions and red bell peppers. Top it with a slice of provolone cheese for even more richness.

Ingredients

• 3¾ cups cooked rice
• 2 lbs ground beef (85/15)
• 6 tbsp Italian salad dressing (buy your favorite bottled dressing)
• ¾ cup sliced pepperoncinis
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 small sweet onions
• 2 medium red bell peppers
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Cook enough rice to have 3¾ cups of cooked rice. 1 cup of dry rice will yield about 2-3 cups of cooked rice depending on what kind you use.
2. In a large skillet over medium high heat, add the ground beef and brown it. Wash and cut your vegetables while the beef is cooking. To save on using oil, we are going to use the grease released by the beef to cook the vegetables.
3. Once the beef has browned, drain away the fat and reserve for the vegetables.
4. Mix in 6 tbsp of Italian dressing and ¾ cup of sliced pepperocinis. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Wash and cut your peppers and onions into thin slices. Try and cut the peppers to roughly ⅛" in thickness.
6. In a large skillet over medium high heat, add in some of the grease from the ground beef. FYI, you don't have to wait until the beef has finished cooking to take this from the pan. You can spoon out the grease as it is produced so that you can cook the beef and vegetables simultaneously to save time.
7. Add in the peppers and onions and salt lightly. Cook the peppers and onions for 10-15 minutes until the onions have deeply caramelized and the peppers are very soft. Make sure you stir frequently to ensure they don't burn.
8. Adding a small amount of water to the pan can help to cook these faster through steam.
9. This recipe makes 5 servings. Each dish gets ¾ cup of cooked rice and you can divide your remaining ingredients evenly between your 5 containers.