Vegan Stuffed Peppers Recipe

We have a fresh twist on a family favorite: Vegan Stuffed Peppers. We love stuffed peppers with a savory blend of Mediterranean goodness. There are many flavors from Italian herbs, vegan cheese, and a delicious mix of veggies and breadcrumbs.

Remember that you can also add the whole grain of your choice. These meatless stuffed peppers are their own complete healthy dinner package.

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Every time we make stuffed red peppers, we are reminded how easy to make them and how versatile this great recipe is. We might eat one stuffed pepper if using it as a side dish.

You can choose to make them a full meal, either having two of them, adding extra protein such as tofu or beans. Another option is to eat a stuffed pepper as a nutritious appetizer.

Whether I choose to make this vegetarian stuffed peppers recipe, Stuffed Onions, or Baked Oven-Baked Polenta with vegan ragout stuffing, we always look forward to dinner (and leftovers!).

They're super tasty and a crowd-pleaser, and are a perfect fall season recipe!

And today, we are sharing these highly addictive sweet stuffed roasted red peppers for your healthy eating and meal prep planning.

Mediterranean flavors and bell peppers are a natural match, so keep that in mind whenever you make variations with herbs and add-ins.

Why you will love these stuffed veggies

Before we dive into this yummy recipe, we want to share our top reasons to consider this pepper recipe an excellent option when seeking hassle-free healthy meals.

• Vegan Stuffed red peppers are a meal prep dream. You can assemble these entirely in advance or also prepare the filling only. Their macronutrients are optimally balanced for protein, fats, and carbohydrates content.
• Scaling. You can choose to scale vegetarian stuffed peppers to any quantity you need.
• These bell peppers are healthy and versatile. Add your favorite vegan protein, such as cooked beans and tofu, and whole grains like cooked orzo, quinoa, or brown rice, while stir-frying, and you have a perfectly balanced meal.
• These Mediterranean peppers with delicious Italian seasoning are easy enough to where if you haven't done any prep at all, you can still have them on the table in less than one hour.
• They freeze and reheat well. We love packing red bell peppers for picnics or lunch during the workweek, as they're easy to reheat in the microwave. You can also bake them early in the week, then reheat them in the oven for healthy, quick dinners.

Ingredients

• Bell peppers
• Onion
• Garlic (or garlic powder)
• Firm tofu
• Brown rice (or grain of choice)
• Black olives
• Capers
• Breadcrumbs
• Fresh chopped Parsley
• Oregano
• Vegan Mozzarella

See the recipe card for exact quantities.

Instructions

To make this absolutely delicious healthy stuffed pepper recipe, we like using Italian seasonings, such as fresh parsley and oregano, you could opt for fresh basil as a replacement or addition to any of the suggested herbs, as they pair well.

Preheat the oven to 325 ºF (160ºC).

Bell Peppers. We like to look for ones that are round, as they are the easiest to stuff.  You can use any color; red bell peppers are sweeter, which pairs well with vegan mozzarella and Mediterranean herbs.

How Do You Cut Peppers for Stuffing? Start by washing the peppers. Then, either cut the top of the peppers with a sawed knife or cut the peppers in half from top to bottom, cutting right down through the stems. Remove the membranes and seeds. After that, the bell peppers are ready to stuff.

Cutting the Top.

Trim off about ⅜ inch (about 1 cm) from the pepper, if you wish to serve your stuffed pepper standing on its own. Just place the pepper halves next to each other so they don't flip while cooking in the baking dish.

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Bell peppers in half.

Halved peppers will have more of their surface exposed to the top with the shredded cheese.

Stuffing. Put the onion, garlic, olives, and in a medium pan and cook on low heat for 5 minutes until the onions are completely soft. You could use olive oil (we are skipping it to make these peppers oil-free, and we think is not needed).

If you choose to use the olive oil, go easy on it, one or two tablespoons are enough for the peppers filling).

Stir the crumbled tofu and your brown cooked rice (or quinoa, or grain of choice) for another couple of minutes.

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Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs, half of the shredded cheese, fresh herbs (freshly chopped parsley), oregano, chopped olives, and capers.

Season with salt and pepper, or ground black pepper or red pepper flakes, if you want. I barely use salt, when I stuff the peppers because capers and olives are salty.

Fill the peppers with the rice mixture, pressing down gently, and finish with the vegan mozzarella pieces.

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Place the stuffed peppers in an ovenproof baking dish (if you chose to remove the tops instead of cutting them lengthwise, add them to the pan, aside from the stuffed peppers).

Add just enough water to the baking dish, so it covers the bottom.

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Bake the peppers for 30 to 35 minutes at medium heat 325ºF (160 ºC). Serve and DIG IN!

Watch the 1-minute Video!

Variations

Whole grains – add a cup of cooked brown rice or orzo to augment the dish's volume and fiber content. If doing so, add one garlic clove, half onion, a teaspoon of each herb, and an extra tablespoon of capers and olives. If you prefer you could use cauliflower rice (recipe, on this site), instead of brown rice, make sure you remove any excess moisture to avoid making the stuffed bell peppers soggy.

Protein – add a cup of crumbled extra-firm tofu. If so, add it after the onion and garlic looks translucent, and cook for 4 minutes more. Similarly, to whole grains, add extra garlic, onion, herbs, capers, and olives to keep the flavor intensity. You can also opt to replace the tofu with black beans, as they are very healthy food.

Breadcrumbs – feel free to use panko instead, which has a dryer and flakier consistency than regular breadcrumbs.

Herbs – I like alternatively using mint and basil. Simply add an extra tablespoon of fresh mint to the mix, or you can replace the oregano quantity for basil.

Cheesy – these easy vegetarian stuffed peppers can be made creamier, adding some vegan or regular mozzarella cheese cubes into the mix before stuffing the peppers. You can also try different meltable cheeses like cheddar and parmesan.

Olives and Capers - you can choose to replace any of these ingredients with sun-dried tomatoes, as they have also a chunky texture and contribute to making up Italian stuffed peppers flavor.

Seasoning - use red pepper flakes as part of the stuffing to give a kick of heat to your stuffed bell peppers. Use salt and pepper to adjust to your liking.

Tips

Whole Foods Plant-Based – to make these vegan stuffed peppers WFPB compliant, simply replace breadcrumbs for entire grains as directed above and omit the use of oil; instead, add some water or vegetable stock while the onions and garlic are cooking to prevent them from sticking and extracting all the flavor sticking at the bottom of the pan.

Vegetarian – for the best vegetarian stuffed peppers, simply use regular cheese instead of mozzarella cheese and top it with vegan parmesan.

How to serve

Main - if you are making this stuffed pepper recipe to have it as a main dish, we recommend having two for a filling lunch or dinner and pairing them with a green salad with a base of arugula and romaine lettuce, and some fresh tomato.

We love also throwing some fresh basil leaves in our green salads as well. You can have your salad with a delicious vinaigrette, made in 5 minutes, while your bell peppers are baking.

Side - if you are using your stuffed pepper recipe as a side dish, serve one, plus some cauliflower rice with the Oregano-based Italian seasoning suggested in the recipe.

Storing

Make this recipe in advance, it is a great recipe for meal prepping.

How long will stuffed peppers keep in the fridge?

The already cooked peppers should stay good in the refrigerator for about 3 days. Place in an air-tight bag or an airtight container for 5 days in the refrigerator after cooking. Freeze them for up to two months.

If you refrigerate them overnight in your fridge first, this means that they take less than five minutes for heating to be complete. The peppers can also be frozen into the freezer or frozen for 2 months.

Can you freeze stuffed bell peppers?

You can freeze these easy stuffed peppers in your freezer. They can be frozen because they keep flavor and texture. The products are kept for several months in airtight containers.

How to Freeze Stuffed Peppers

Do You Freeze them Cooked or Uncooked? We recommend freezing stuffed peppers after cooking them. It makes them easier to reheat and serve for fast, healthy dinners.

To Freeze. Place the baked vegan stuffed peppers in a freezer-safe container cut side up in the freezer for up to one month.

Reheat from Frozen. Let the stuffed peppers thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating. Do it gently in the oven or microwave. To refrigerate, seal frozen peppers and cook in a 350°F oven until crisp, about 5 minutes.

Oven. Place the peppers on in baking dish, cut side up, and warm at 350 ºF for about 10 minutes.

Microwave. Make some cuts to the peppers first to ensure that they warm evenly. Cook from frozen in a microwave for about 3-4 minutes.

FAQ

Calories in stuffed peppers?

The average calories of stuffed peppers are 250-600 calories. The calories can vary depending upon which kind of foods you put them into.

Meat-based peppers tend to have more calories than their plant-based counterparts. This delicious recipe has only 377 calories per portion, and it is oil-free.

Do you have to boil peppers before stuffing them?

After boiling, you can stuff vegan stuffed peppers with the filling and cook them again; however, if you are making vegan stuffed bell peppers from scratch, they can be baked instead of boiled.

How do you make stuffed peppers not soggy?

You can make vegan stuffed peppers that are not soggy by baking them on low heat. As a result, the moisture evaporates and results in tasty vegan stuffed bell peppers that are also crispy on the outside.

What to fill vegan stuffed peppers with?

There are many options of what vegan stuffing to use for vegan stuffed peppers, including vegan cheese, vegan meat, vegan rice, and vegan bread crumbs.

Which color of bell pepper to use?

The green color of bully bell peppers starts out as soon as they are formed. Once maturity and ripeness have advanced, the color transforms.

In general, green peppers are always cheaper since they are harvested when they are less ripe and have a somewhat harsh flavor.

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Yellow, orange, and red bell peppers mellow in flavor as they get older and become sweeter and juicier than green ones.

On the other hand, red bell pepper is generally sweeter since it has been left to ripen longer.

Compared to yellow or orange bell peppers, which are somewhat sweeter and higher in nutrition than green pepper, they are more expensive.

If you love recipes using red bell peppers, don't forget to try the muhammara dip (using roasted peppers and nuts), the roasted red peppers hummus and the traditional Catalonian dish, Escalivada; all of them are big crowd-pleasers.

More recipes using tofu as stuffing

If you try this recipe, let us know! Leave a comment, rate it, and don’t forget to tag a photo #ourplantbasedworld on Instagram. Cheers!

Pint for Later!

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full Nutritional Disclosure here.

Food safety

We sometimes take for granted that we have years (or decades) of cooking experience that the average visitor may not. Add to, or remove from, the list below with health and safety tips.

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full Nutritional Disclosure here.

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