Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut caps off of peppers and reserve. Trim away seeds from inside of each pepper and stand peppers upright in an oven-safe baking dish. Set aside. Heat tomato sauce and simmer on low until use.
Place cooked quinoa, asparagus, beans, zucchini and basil into a medium-sized bowl.
Set a medium-sized skillet on medium-high heat. Once hot, add oil and allow to come to temperature, noted when oil shimmers. Cook onions and garlic until soft and translucent. Add mushrooms and celery, allowing them to cook for a minute before adding the carrot and sweet potato. Sauté until just tender.
Transfer cooked vegetables into bowl of raw vegetables and stir together. Adjust with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer stuffing into peppers, packing down firmly. Spoon tomato sauce onto the stuffed peppers and into the bottom of the casserole dish. Place caps onto the peppers and cover the dish loosely with tinfoil.
Transfer to oven and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and discard tinfoil. Increase oven temperature to 400°F. Return peppers to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and serve in soup plates, spooning additional tomato sauce onto each.
Easy Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
1 cup cooked quinoa
6 large bell peppers, seeded, caps reserved
1 handful green beans, ends trimmed, chopped
1 small zucchini, diced
1 handful asparagus, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ a white onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 cup assorted mushrooms, chopped
2 celery ribs, finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups vegan tomato sauce
Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut caps off of peppers and reserve. Trim away seeds from inside of each pepper and stand peppers upright in an oven-safe baking dish. Set aside. Heat tomato sauce and simmer on low until use.
Place cooked quinoa, asparagus, beans, zucchini and basil into a medium-sized bowl.
Set a medium-sized skillet on medium-high heat. Once hot, add oil and allow to come to temperature, noted when oil shimmers. Cook onions and garlic until soft and translucent. Add mushrooms and celery, allowing them to cook for a minute before adding the carrot and sweet potato. Sauté until just tender.
Transfer cooked vegetables into bowl of raw vegetables and stir together. Adjust with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer stuffing into peppers, packing down firmly. Spoon tomato sauce onto the stuffed peppers and into the bottom of the casserole dish. Place caps onto the peppers and cover the dish loosely with tinfoil.
Transfer to oven and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and discard tinfoil. Increase oven temperature to 400°F. Return peppers to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and serve in soup plates, spooning additional tomato sauce onto each.
Easy Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
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Colourful bell peppers filled with a melange of assorted veggies and quinoa with a flavoured tomato sauce…
EASY VEGETARIAN STUFFED PEPPERS should always be this healthy and delicious!
We worked with our friends at Produce Made Simple to create this post. Head HERE for more information about Foodland Ontario’s fresh fruit and vegetable offerings. Yup, everything is grown in Ontario!
I suggest you add this EASY VEGETARIAN STUFFED PEPPERS recipe to your weekday meal rotation. Thankfully this recipe is easy to make, plus the entire meal is fabulously healthy. Here are a few reasons why everyone who’s tried them loves them so:
100% vegetarian!
can be made vegan too!
gluten-free, as requested
healthy meal idea that has a memorable fresh taste, woot!
light on the tummy so you can enjoy it for lunch or dinner
Before we continue, please remember to bookmark this page for future reference. Judging by how well they’re received whenever I make them, you’ll be coming back to this recipe often. And feel free to PIN this page to PINTEREST or share pics of your finished dish on Facebook or Instagram. Use #weekendatthecottage when you do. Thanks!
There are a lot of highlights in this dish, so let me first offer a suggestion on how to approach it – make this recipe your own. Aside from baking them as suggested, use your imagination and build your own unique flavour profiles. Promise you’ll make it with a collection of your favourite vegetables.
‘Nuff said. Let’s make EASY VEGETARIAN STUFFED PEPPERS:
Readily available ingredients and healthy fresh veggies make these stuffed peppers extra-tasty.
INGREDIENTS
Gathering these ingredients will be easy. As always, we suggest looking for locally grown vegetables whenever possible. We believe in buying local and love supporting growers and farmers close to home.
Look for the Foodland Ontario sticker when selecting your bell peppers.
BELL PEPPERS
Red, green, yellow or orange bell peppers are an excellent source of vitamins A and C plus dietary fibre. Ultimately though, bell peppers are key to this recipe for their appearance and function. The shape and hollow interior of the peppers are the perfect vessels for our gluten-free filling. The colours you pick will be key to the bold and beautiful presentation. I just love the way the red, orange and yellow peppers look served in a red baking dish presented with homemade tomato sauce. It’s all quite perfect!
We’ve partnered with our friends at @producemadesimple to share with you how easy it is to enjoy fresh and delicious local Ontario produce, especially Ontario greenhouse bell peppers. Ontario Greenhouse Bell Peppers are available now, just look for the FOODLAND ONTARIO stickers when you go to purchase.
QUINOA
Although I’ve been known to also make stuffed peppers with ground beef, brown rice and a generous topping of cheese (what?!), that’s not this recipe. Instead, it’s all about veggies and quinoa. If you’ve not tried quinoa before, here’s the recipe that will turn you into a wholesome grain believer. Not only is this ancient grain jammed with protein and fibre, but it’s also gluten-free. Cook the quinoa beforehand by simply steaming or boiling it. Don’t forget it almost doubles in size when cooked. Our 1 cup of cooked quinoa filled 6 medium-sized peppers.
These vegetables all get sautéed to soften them up a bit.
VEGETABLES
I’ve come to appreciate a combination of both raw and cooked vegetables in these stuffed peppers to add to their flavour profiles. I like to sauté yellow onions, garlic, mushrooms and celery to bring out their flavour. Root vegetables and sweet potatoes will also soften up a bit when cooked.
These veggies go into the stuffing raw along with the quinoa and the chopped fresh basil.
Additional vegetables such as zucchini, asparagus, green and yellow beans, tomatoes and corn can be added too. It’s amazing how nicely they soften up when the peppers are baked.
The healthy, vitamin-rich stuffing ready for the peppers.
STIR THE STUFFING TOGETHER
One of the key steps in this recipe happens when we combine the cooked and raw veggies together with the cooked quinoa. Remember how I invited you to make this recipe your own? Here’s your chance. If you like Tex-Mex flavouring add a dash of chili powder, a squeeze of lime and swap the basil for some chopped cilantro. Feeling an island vibe? Sprinkle in some smoked paprika or jerk seasoning along with cumin and black beans. Ultimately, make this recipe your own.
HOMEMADE TOMATO SAUCE
The addition of a rich tomato sauce is the perfect topper for these beauties. Head HERE to watch our 1-minute video on how to make this favourite sauce. Feel free to swap out the butter for canola oil to create a dairy-free version that will satisfy all the vegans out there.
Remember to make this gorgeous recipe look even more appetizing and use an attractive baking dish.
OVEN-BAKED COOK TIME
Baking our stuffed peppers for 45 minutes at 375°F, followed by a final 15 minutes with the oven boosted to 400°F ensures the peppers still have a bit of bite to them. Feel free to adjust the cooking time and bake longer if you’d like them a bit softer. Need an oven-safe baking dish? Here’s a GLASS CASSEROLE and here’s a fancy RED CROQUE. We love them!
Love the look when different coloured bell peppers are used.
Back in the day, I used to serve these EASY VEGETARIAN STUFFED PEPPERS with a dollop of sour cream or yogurt to add a bit of rich, creamy flavour. Thankfully I can still achieve that creamy vibe by adding a dollop of 100% vegan sour cream plus a sprinkle of grated vegan cheese. This meal is so perfect you’ll end up like us, hoping for leftovers!
Make sure to serve the stuffed peppers with extra tomato sauce on the side.
Cook Mode Use cook mode to keep your screen on while cooking.
Ingredients
1 cup cooked quinoa
6 large bell peppers, seeded, caps reserved
1 handful green beans, ends trimmed, chopped
1 small zucchini, diced
1 handful asparagus, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ a white onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 cup assorted mushrooms, chopped
2 celery ribs, finely diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
salt and pepper to taste
4 cups vegan tomato sauce
Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Cut caps off of peppers and reserve. Trim away seeds from inside of each pepper and stand peppers upright in an oven-safe baking dish. Set aside. Heat tomato sauce and simmer on low until use.
Place cooked quinoa, asparagus, beans, zucchini and basil into a medium-sized bowl.
Set a medium-sized skillet on medium-high heat. Once hot, add oil and allow to come to temperature, noted when oil shimmers. Cook onions and garlic until soft and translucent. Add mushrooms and celery, allowing them to cook for a minute before adding the carrot and sweet potato. Sauté until just tender.
Transfer cooked vegetables into bowl of raw vegetables and stir together. Adjust with salt and pepper to taste.
Transfer stuffing into peppers, packing down firmly. Spoon tomato sauce onto the stuffed peppers and into the bottom of the casserole dish. Place caps onto the peppers and cover the dish loosely with tinfoil.
Transfer to oven and bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and discard tinfoil. Increase oven temperature to 400°F. Return peppers to oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and serve in soup plates, spooning additional tomato sauce onto each.
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