The Best Vegan Stuffed Peppers! (2024)

🧾 Ingredients and substitutions

• Bell Peppers –any color you like will work.
• A Vegan Protein –I like to use my homemade vegan Italian sausage or myvegan sausage crumblesrecipe made with TVP (triple the recipe to equal 2 cups), but it’s also delicious with vegan ground beef, Beyond Beef crumbles,vegan Soyrizo, vegan Italian link sausages cut into small pieces, cooked lentils, or beans.
• A Grain –I usually use cooked short-grain brown rice or quinoa, but you can also use basmati rice, millet, or small pasta like orzo or couscous.
• Onion –for flavor. (optional, but recommended). You can swap this out for garlic or add 2 cloves of minced garlic along with the onions.
• Italian Herbs –for flavor or use a mix of oregano, thyme, and basil. Fresh herbs also work well. You can also omit the Italian Herbs and replace them with taco seasoning to make Mexican-style stuffed peppers.
• Olive Oil –to saute the onion and veggies.
• Vegetables–you can add about 1 cup of finely chopped veggies to the pepper stuffing. (optional) Peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and carrots all work well to give them more flavor and nutrients.
• Tomato Sauce –for moisture and flavor. You can use your favorite spaghetti sauce from a jar or make your own with myroasted tomato sauce, tofu bolognese, or roasted tomato and red pepper sauce.
• Vegan Cheese –to mix in with the filling and sprinkle on top. You can use your favorite vegan cheese or try the melty version of my homemadevegan mozzarella or vegan liquid pizza cheese on top.
• Salt and Black Pepper –for flavor. You can also add some red pepper flakes for a little spice to the peppers.

🍲 How to make it in a slow cooker

1. Follow steps 1 -9 the same as you did for a traditional stuffed pepper.
2. Pour 1 cup of vegetable broth into the slow cooker.
3. Arrange your peppers in your crock pot/slow cooker and fill the peppers with the stuffed pepper mixture.
4. Top with vegan cheese and set to low and cook for 4 1/2 – 5 1/2 hours until peppers are soft.

🍞 How to make low-carb stuffed peppers

A simple swap out the grain for riced cauliflower for a delicious low-carb, low-calorie, healthy alternative.

🌶️ Mini stuffed pepper bites

This recipe works great for an appetizer too! To make a mini version of this recipe, cut the recipe in half (you will not need nearly as much filling) and use the mini multi-colored peppers.

1. Cut the tops off of these small peppers then cut them in half and remove any seeds and white membrane.
2. Place on a cookie sheet, spoon on the pepper filling, and top with vegan cheese.
3. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.
4. Remove the foil and bake again for about 8 minutes.
5. Allow cooling for about 15 minutes before serving as finger food.

🌽 Mexican-style vegan stuffed peppers

You can easily change this dish from an Italian-style dish to a spicy Mexican-style dish by swapping out a few ingredients. Simply use taco seasoning or a combo of chili powder and cumin in place of the Italian seasoning. You can also use 3 cups of salsa, or diced tomatoes instead of the jar of spaghetti sauce. Mexican stuffed peppers are also delicious withSoyrizoor beans and added corn or zucchini squash (about 1 cup). You can also use my homemadevegan cheddar cheesein place of vegan mozzarella!

🥘 Unstuffed pepper casserole

My kids don’t like the big whole pepper very much. It’s just a little too much pepper at once I think. They do, however, love stuffed pepper casserole. To make it into a casserole, chop up 2 whole bell peppers into tiny pieces and toss them into the stuffed pepper mixture. Then pour the stuffing mixture into a casserole dish, top with vegan cheese, and bake the whole thing for 45 minutes at 375° F until bubbly. My kids devour it and never even notice the peppers in it! (It tastes a lot like lasagna, but much faster and easier to make)!

🎃 Stuffed pepper jack-o-lanterns…

Make these for a fun Halloween dish or even Thanksgiving! Simply use orange peppers then cut the tops like you would the top of a jack-o-lantern. Then take a little knife clean out the seeds and membrane, then carve out a face on the pepper. Fill with the stuffing place the stem back on top and bake. For Thanksgiving pumpkin peppers, do the same thing, just don’t carve a face in it.

🍴 How to meal prep with stuffed peppers

Stuff peppers freeze very well and make great meal prep food!

Leave them in the baking dish or place them on a cookie sheet and freeze them solid. Then wrap in plastic wrap or place in a small freezer bag and squeeze out all the air. (Two peppers fit perfectly in a quart freezer bag and make the perfect lunch for my husband to bring to work).