Recipe
🥙 LUNCH
Punjene Paprike
Bell peppers stuffed with spiced rice and meat, braised in tomato sauce, a comforting Montenegrin household staple.
Montenegrin · medium · serves 4
prep 25 min · cook 60 min
~602 cal · 36g protein · 50g carbs · 28g fat · 6g fiber · 9g sugars · 8g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
↓ Jump to Recipe
AI-generated illustration
Punjene paprike, stuffed peppers, are a cornerstone of home cooking across Montenegro and the Balkans, the kind of dish a family cooks on a Sunday and eats happily for days. Hearty and homely, they fill the kitchen with the smell of slow braising.
Whole bell peppers are hollowed and packed with a mixture of rice, minced meat, onion, and herbs, then stood upright in a pot and in a light tomato sauce until the peppers slump and soften and the filling cooks through. Served with a spoon of the sauce and bread or a dollop of sour cream, they are pure Balkan comfort.
Saved recipes and passport stamps are kept on this device. Sign in to keep them across your devices and leave reviews.
Make it yours
✓ Naturally gluten-, dairy-, egg- and nut-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 4
6 bell peppers
1 lb ground beef or pork
3/4 cup rice
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups tomato sauce
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1 handful fresh parsley
3 tbsp oil
Instructions
1
Fry the onion and garlic, then mix with the meat, rice, paprika, parsley, and seasoning.
2
Hollow the peppers, pack them loosely with the filling, and cap each one with a slice of tomato.
✎ Chef’s note
Pack the filling loosely, only about three-quarters full. The rice swells as it cooks and a tightly packed pepper splits, and the tomato slice on top holds the filling in while it braises.
3
Stand the peppers in a pot, pour over the tomato sauce and water to nearly cover, and braise gently until tender, about 1 hour.
4
Serve with the sauce spooned over and bread alongside.
Montenegrin home cooking.
Ratings & reviews
Cooked it? Rate this dish:
No account needed. Sign in to leave a full review with a comment.
Cooked it?
Kept on this device, no account needed. Sign in to leave a review and keep your passport across your devices.
No reviews yet, be the first to cook it.
🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Cetinje. The cheese beside it is not simply hard cheese. Sir iz mijeha is sheep cheese matured inside a skin bag, sharp and crumbly, while tvrdi sir is the firm aged one. Njegusi itself, on the Lovcen road above Kotor, is also the home village of the Petrovic dynasty.
🗺️
Montenegro. Montenegro's cuisine splits between an Adriatic coast of seafood and olive oil and rugged mountains of smoked meats, cheese, and kačamak. Small but varied, it draws on Italian, Balkan, and Ottoman roots.
🌍
Europe. A surprising amount of European cooking is under five hundred years old. Tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, maize, beans and chocolate all crossed from the Americas after 1492, and none of them was trusted quickly: the potato took most of the eighteenth century to be accepted as food rather than animal fodder across much of the north.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Montenegro
KačamakWhipped cornmeal-and-potato mash beaten with young cheese and clotted kaymak until glossy and rich.
PriganiceSmall, airy fried dough puffs served with honey, cheese, and jam, a Montenegrin breakfast treat.
RožataA silky caramel custard scented with rose liqueur, the classic celebration dessert of the Montenegrin coast.
Browse all Montenegro recipes →
Good to know
You’ll need: Pot or saucepan.
Storing it: Stews and braises keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated and often taste better the next day. Reheat gently, adding a splash of water if it has thickened.
Make it a Montenegro meal
RožataDessert
KačamakDinner
Similar dishes from around the world
Karađorđeva ŠniclaSerbia
Milanesa NapolitanaArgentina
Eru (Wild Greens with Waterleaf)Cameroon
Dominica BouyonDominica
Emirati HareesUnited Arab Emirates
SumagiyyaPalestine
Cuisine
Diet
Gluten-Free Recipes from Around the World
Dairy-Free Recipes from Around the World
Nut-Free Recipes from Around the World
Egg-Free Recipes from Around the World
Gluten-Free Lunches from Around the World
Dairy-Free Lunches from Around the World
Nut-Free Lunches from Around the World
Egg-Free Lunches from Around the World
Frequently asked questions
What is Punjene Paprike?
Bell peppers stuffed with spiced rice and meat, braised in tomato sauce, a comforting Montenegrin household staple.
Where does Punjene Paprike come from?
Punjene Paprike is a Montenegrin dish from Cetinje, Montenegro.
Can Punjene Paprike be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Punjene Paprike recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Punjene Paprike safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Punjene Paprike take to make?
About 85 minutes total (25 minutes prep, 60 minutes cooking), serving 4.
Get the Sunday Spin
One dish from somewhere in the world, in your inbox every Sunday. No spam, just dinner inspiration you can cook that day.