Easy Recipe for Vegan Stuffed Peppers. Filled with tasty Italian flavors, plus protein rich quinoa and lentils for a hearty and delicious lunch, dinner or healthy meal prep idea.
This recipe has been updated from the original that was published on October 25, 2016
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Vegan Stuffed Peppers are the perfect meal when you’re looking for some delicious and healthy comfort food. This satisfying, protein packed meal is going to be your new meatless bestie.
Roasted Bell Peppers are filled with an Italian spiced mixture of quinoa and lentils for the perfect plant-based meal that everyone will love.
You know I’m dedicated to making healthy food taste incredible and this simple stuffed pepper recipe with lentils is no exception. It’s also easy to make with pantry staples and is excellent for healthy meal prep.
Why you’ll love this recipe
- HEALTHY MEAL PREP: I love this recipe because it’s hearty, nutritionally dense, tasty and can be made in advance.
- PLANT-BASED PROTEIN: A great combination of ingredients combined for complete protein.
- EASY: Although the total time to make this recipe is 1 hour, the majority of that time is hands off. Yay, free time while dinner cooks in the oven.
- DELICIOUS: Not only is this super tasty, but your house will smell divine while it’s cooking!
- PERFECT FOR ENTERTAINING: no last minute prep in the kitchen,plus it presents beautifully and each pepper is its own tidy individual package of dinner.
- MEATLESS MONDAY: You don’t have to be vegan to enjoy this tasty meal.
Ingredients
- Bell peppers: More vitamin C than a cup of orange juice! Plus beta-carotene, fiber, potassium, and iron
- Diced tomatoes are loaded with powerful antioxidants.
- Quinoa is gluten-free, high in protein, fiber magnesium and iron. Quinoa is one of the few plants foods that contain all 9 essential amino acids.
- Lentils are low in calories, rich in iron and folate and an excellent source of protein.
- Ground Flax: A superfood that’s packed with fiber, omega 3s, B vitamins and antioxidants.
- Nutritional Yeast: Imparts a dairy-free cheesy flavor and it’s an excellent source of dietary fiber and B vitamins.
- Onions & Garlic: Major flavor boosters that are also antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and support the immune system.
- Italian seasoning: Yum! Plenty of flavor from oregano, thyme and basil.
How To Trim Bell Peppers for Stuffing
Bell peppers are easy to prepare for stuffing. I like to select peppers that are flat on the bottom. However, that’s not always possible. Especially, if you’re using peppers from your garden! That’s OK. Choose a casserole dish, dutch oven or cast iron pan that will fit your peppers snugly inside. They will hold each other up!
Use a sharp knife to cut ¼″ off the top of the pepper. If it comes off in one beautiful piece, awesome! Save it to roast with the stuffed bottom. Otherwise, put it aside to chop and saute with the onions.
Once the top is off, use a small paring knife or your hands to gently scoop out the core, membranes and seeds.
Fit peppers into pan snuggly, so they hold each other up. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Par-bake in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes to soften.
Easy Italian Stuffing for Peppers
While the peppers begin to bake, you’ll have plenty of time to make this simple and healthy stuffing. The stuffing is so easy and so good that I often make it to serve as a side dish.
Traditional Italian stuffing is made with breadcrumbs and cheese. I know that dairy-free can be delicious and I like to choose ingredients that that add both nutrition and taste. I found that ground flaxseeds and nutritional yeast are the perfect combination to impart a classic taste while also adding value.
Saute onions plus any bell pepper scraps, then add spices and garlic.
Mix in quinoa, lentils and tomatoes.
Add veggie stock and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in nutritional yeast and ground flax.
Mix in herbs until wilted. Stuffing mixture can sit at room temp or in the fridge up to 3 days, until ready to spoon into bell peppers.
Spoon quinoa/lentil mixture into par-baked peppers. Cover with lid of dutch oven (or use foil if using a standard baking pan) and bake for 30 minutes.
Vegan Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa and Lentils
I didn’t grow up eating stuffed peppers. Stuffed cabbage, yes! But, I’m not sure my grandmother ever made a stuffed pepper. My mother in-law on the other hand…..they were a staple on her dinner rotation. Hubby often asks me to make stuffed peppers…..and by that, he means stuffed GREEN peppers with MEAT and rice (the way his Mom did).
I don’t particularly care for either, the green peppers, or the meat…..but I’m all about compromise, so I threw in a few green peppers to the rainbow I was making! Not exactly what hubby was looking for, but let me just tell you——-he so appreciated the fact that I bought GREEN peppers, he was willing to overlook the fact that these were meatless. He gave these vegan stuffed peppers a two thumbs up….so I know everyone will love them!
More Meatless Monday Dinners
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📖 Recipe
Vegan Stuffed Peppers Lentils
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 6 bell peppers
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil* divided
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 cup dry quinoa rinsed well
- ½ cup lentils rinsed well
- 1 large can 28 oz diced tomatoes
- 2 cups veggie broth
- ¼ cup ground flax seeds
- 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 2 Tablespoons fresh parsley or basil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Prepare bell peppers by slicing ¼" off the top and removing core and seeds. Save tops that look beautiful, and chop the rest to saute with the onions.
- Choose a cast iron dutch oven or ceramic or glass baking dish that will just fit the peppers snugly, so none tip over, and they hold each other up. Place the tops of peppers askew on top of them, so air can circulate into the peppers. Brush with 1 Tablespoon olive oil (or use vegetable broth) and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Roast for 20 minutes, to soften, while you prepare the filling.
- Meanwhile, MAKE STUFFING: Heat remaining Tablespoon olive oil in large skillet over medium heat and sauté onions, and any chopped bell peppers until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add spices and garlic and stir continuously for 30 seconds, being careful not to burn the garlic. Mix in quinoa and lentils until coated with spices and then add tomatoes and 2 cups of veggie stock. Bring to a low simmer and let cook for 15 minutes, until most of the liquid is absorbed. Turn off heat and then stir in nutritional yeast, ground flax and fresh herbs.
- You can refrigerate the mixture at this point if you’re not ready to stuff the peppers. Mixture can also be frozen for up to 3 months if you have extra or wanted to prep this dish in advance.
- Remove peppers from oven, but leave it on. When peppers are cool enough to handle, spoon quinoa mixture evenly into peppers. Sprinkle with additional nutritional yeast and fresh basil, if desired.
- Cover with lid of dutch oven and bake for 30 minutes, until peppers are soft and filing is piping hot. If using baking pan, cover with unbleached parchment and then aluminum foil before baking.
Notes
Nutrition
Note
The nutrition calculations were done using online tools. To obtain the most accurate representation of the nutritional information in any given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients you used. You are ultimately responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information is accurate, complete and useful.
Emily Flint
These stuffed peppers were a hit with my family! Thanks for such a delicious recipe and for helping me find a way to get more veggies on the table!
Sue
I love stuffed peppers and I agree that the non-green ones are just…better! This vegan filling looks delish, I’ll have to give it a try!
Debra Klein
I knew I wasn’t the only one! Thanks for the validation!
Taleen | Just As Tasty
I love stuffed peppers and the fact that these are vegan make them even more appealing to me!
Kay
Perfect recipe, I love the quinoa stuffing mix!
Debra Klein
Same….I make that for a side dish, even without the peppers,often.
Meesha
Looking for a good vegan stuffed pepper recipe for a while now and this might be it!
Debra Klein
This is my “go to” because it’s so universally liked.
Amy
Had a craving for stuffed peppers and found your recipe. It was so good! Family loved it. And your photography was so enticing! Bookmarking for next time.
Chef Dennis
Oh I m craving right now! This Vegan Stuffed Peppers is the best.
Debra Klein
So easy to scratch that itch with this simple recipe.
Sarah James
Your stuffed peppers look amazing. I not a fan of cheese so your Italian stuffing is perfect for me, thanks for sharing.
Debra Klein
Yay. Glad you found this one…you’ll never find cheese in my recipes, I’m not a fan either.
Michele Peterson
I loved how this recipe was able to use up the bounty of peppers in my garden in such a delicious way!
Swathi
I agree with you pantry staples can make good healthy meals, I like the additon of quinoa in stuffed pepper recipe
Debra Klein
Thank you. This easy pantry recipe makes a regular appearance on our table!
kerri
Stuffed peppers are one of our favorite meals! Love that we can use this as one of our meatless monday staples!
Mama Maggie's Kitchen
It looks delicious. I wish this were in front of me right now.
Amanda Marie Boyle
I’ve recently really started to like quinoa and have been looking for more ways to use it. Love this recipe!
Debra Klein
Great….this stuffing is so good, you can eat it as a side dish on its own too.
Tayo
I just sent this to my friend who is vegan and she loves it!
Debra Klein
Thank you….this is a great one, even if you’re not vegan.
Laura
These are great. I like the quinoa instead of rice in these peppers.
Debra Klein
Thanks…I think it lightens the dish up to use quinoa.
Jessica Formicola
I love that you made this vegan instead of using ground beef! Off to try it for dinner tonight!
Debra Klein
Enjoy…I think it’s very satisfying as a vegan dish.
Marcellina
Yum! My kind of recipe!
Debra Klein
Thanks…mine too!
Chef Dennis
This Vegan Stuffed Peppers Recipe is making my tummy growl!
Leslie
Loving this version of stuffed peppers! Soooo good!
Debra Klein
Agreed….and so easy too!
Maria
This looks fantastic! I can’t wait to try it. Do you use canned or dry lentils?
Debra Klein
Start with rinsed, dry lentils. They will cook in the broth/tomato mixture and then continue to soften when that mixture is stuffed into the peppers.
Alicia Perry
Delicious recipe, thank you so much! I didn’t have any quinoa so just doubled the lentils, yum!
Debra Klein
Love that you were able to modify to work with what you had!