Traditional Croatian Summer Cuisine – Stuffed Peppers

We have already written about the queen of Croatian cuisine in wintertime the Croatian sarma. Feel free to check our previous blog How to make Croatian Sarma if you are interested in this treat.

Croatian Sarma

But let us return to the theme of this blog Stuffed peppers.

The recipe for Stuffed Peppers

Basically, you take the green peppers (in Croatia we use Babura kind) approximately 10 pieces and carve the inner parts out and wash them.

Carving the pepper

Afterward, you stuff the peppers with the meat stuffing.

Meat stuffing

The ingredients for the stuffing are similar to the ingredients for the sarma.

Thus, these are the ingredients for the meat mixture:

• 700gr of minced meat (we use half beef, half pork meat, but it is up to you which meat and percentages you prefer, you can use them in different percentages of course)
• 1 bigger onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• a small amount of salt
• a bit of Vegeta (a dried mixture of spices)
• a bit of pepper
• 1 egg
• About 100g of rice
• a bit of fresh parsley.

First, wash the rice and mix it with the meat. Add salt, pepper, and Vegeta. Then cut the onion, garlic, and parsley and add them to the mixture. Finally, put an egg to tie the mixture together and mix everything thoroughly.

Meat mixture

Tip for the mixture: Leave it to rest for some time (at least for half an hour) in the fridge. Then stuff the carved peppers with the mixture.

Tip for stuffing the mixture: Do not stuff the peppers completely. Due to rice cooking, the stuffing will grow and fill the peppers during cooking.

Filling the pepper with the mixture

The cooking process

Peppers in the pot

Put the peppers inside the big pot and add enough water (about 1,5lt) to cover them up.

Add 5dcl of tomato juice and some salt. Tip: add a bit of sugar as well in order not to have heartburn afterward.

Cook them for about 1,15 hours. Just before the end add browned flour (like in the sarma recipe) if you like the sauce thicker. This is optional.

Browned flour

Take a frying pan and put some oil to cover the bottom up. Warm it a bit and then add one tablespoon of flour. When the flour becomes yellow (about half a minute) add a bit of red pepper and remove it from the stove.

Browned flour for stuffed peppers

Add it to the stuffed peppers and mix everything together with some more water. The browned flour should make the sauce thicker.

Cook the stuffed peppers for a few more minutes till the extra added water boils and remove the cooking pot from the stove. Voila, Croatian Stuffed peppers are done.

Croatian Stuffed Peppers

A side dish to stuffed peppers

We usually serve them with mashed potatoes.

How to make the perfect mashed potatoes?

First, peel the skin of the potatoes (about 1kg), slice them into smaller pieces and place them inside the pot and cover them with water. Add a bit of salt and leave it cooking for at least 20 minutes. Potatoes are ready when you can slice them in half with a fork.

Potatoes cooking

Then remove the water and smash them. Add about 50gr of butter and some salt or Vegeta (as we already said this is a Croatian dried mixture of spices). Finally, add about 200ml of milk and stir everything together.

Mashed potatoes

We wish you a Bon appetite!

Where to find the best Croatian stuffed peppers?

In Croatia, you can find stuffed peppers everywhere. But some of the best ones are in Split. We have already written about fine dining restaurants in Split. In some of them, you can find delicious stuffed peppers as well. Feel free to check the blog in case you are interested in the 5 best restaurants in Split City in Croatia.

Villas in the Split area

During your gourmet stay in Split, you should enjoy equally luxurious accommodation. Thus, we wish to recommend you several new villas from our offer.

Beachfront Villa The View

The best feature of this villa is the sea view. Just check the photo below and you will know what we mean.

The pool and the view

As you can see from the photo this is a beachfront villa.

The interior is modern and with 4 bedrooms. All bedrooms have an exit to the balcony with a great sea view.

The interior

There is a great sea view from the living area as well due to the large glass walls. The living area has an open space concept.

Living area

Luxury Villa Storia

Our second choice is the luxury villa Storia with many amenities. This is a 5-star large villa for up to 14 guests.

One of the best features of this villa is the infinity pool. The pool has not one, but two infinity edges.

The pool with two infinity edges

Alfresco dining space with barbecue on woods is also there for delicious outdoor dining!

Furthermore, there is an entertainment room with PlayStation, billiard, and table soccer. Additional amenities are a sauna, gym, and Jacuzzi. The Jacuzzi is on the balcony so you can enjoy the view from it.

The Jacuzzi on the balcony

Villa Calypso

Finally, we wish to recommend you Villa Calypso in Podstrana near Split. Podstrana is a destination with long pebble beaches.

Pebble beach near Split

Villa Calypso is a large villa for 10 guests. There are 5 bedrooms with 5 en-suite bathrooms in the house. The interior is modern and this villa includes lots of amenities as well such as a Jacuzzi, sauna, and barbecue.

Outdoor dining

Furthermore, it includes a lovely view of Split and its Riviera.

Split view from the Jacuzzi

Of course, we have many more villas in Split in our portfolio. If you are looking for something else, you can check them all here: Villas in Split area.

We hope you liked our blog about stuffed peppers and that you will try our recipe. Tell us your opinion on social media and enjoy your meal!