Vegan Stuffed Peppers

These flavor-packed Vegan Stuffed Peppers are an easy-to-make healthy and hearty meal the whole family will love! Ready in under an hour, they’re perfect for weeknight cooking and are great for meal prep too!

Featuring a delightful combination of bell peppers, plant-based chorizo, quinoa, greens, seasonings, and vegan cheese, these easy vegan stuffed peppers will surely be a hit!

Using plant-based meat is a great way to add more protein to vegetarian and vegan meals, and it’s good for the planet, too!

For more recipes using plant-based meat alternatives, be sure to check out my Vegan Tacos and Vegan Lettuce Wraps next.

Jump to:

• 💚 Why You Will Love This Vegan Stuffed Peppers Recipe
• 🛒 Ingredients
• 🌿 Variations
• ✅ How to Make Stuffed Peppers
• 🍽️ What to Serve with Stuffed Bell Peppers
• ❄️ Storage Directions 
• 🔪 Helpful Kitchen Gadgets & Tools
• 👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips
• ❓Recipe FAQs
• 🌎 Sustainability Suggestions
• ➕ More Vegan Dinner Recipes
• 📖 Recipe
• Vegan Stuffed Peppers
• 💬 Comments

💚 Why You Will Love This Vegan Stuffed Peppers Recipe

• Protein-Packed: The combination of plant-based chorizo and quinoa makes this recipe a plant-based powerhouse! Plus, quinoa is one of the few plant-based foods containing all nine amino acids, making it a complete protein! 
• Gluten-Free: This recipe is gluten-free, as written, making it perfect for all eaters. Note that if you choose to use a different brand of chorizo, you will have to check the packaging to ensure it is gluten-free. 
• Make-Ahead: These vegan chorizo and quinoa stuffed peppers are perfect for making ahead of time! They last in the refrigerator for up to 3 days and can be frozen for a future dinner. 

🛒 Ingredients

Here are the simple ingredients you’ll need to make meatless stuffed peppers. See the recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts, nutritional information, and detailed instructions.

• Quinoa: These vegetarian stuffed peppers use quinoa instead of rice. Feel free to use any color of quinoa you’d like - white, red, black, or tri-color. 
• Greens: These add nutrition and a pop of color to these vegan quinoa stuffed peppers. Feel free to use your favorite greens, such as kale, swiss chard, spinach, or collard greens.
• Aromatics: Onion and garlic add depth of flavor to the stuffed pepper filling. 
• Olive Oil: You’ll need an olive oil spray for the baking dish and the peppers and extra virgin olive oil for sauteing.
• Plant-Based Chorizo: Replaces the meat traditionally used in stuffed peppers. I used Abbot’s brand, which is high in protein and made with all-natural ingredients. 
• Bell Peppers: You’ll need four peppers for this recipe. Feel free to use green, red, orange, or yellow bell peppers or a combination of colors.
• Chili Seasoning: Adds flavor to the stuffed pepper filling.
• Dairy-Free Shredded Cheese: Used to melt on top of the stuffed peppers. Feel free to use any vegan cheese you’d like or leave it off if you prefer. 
• Cilantro: Used to garnish the stuffed peppers before serving. Adds freshness and a pop of color to the dish. 

🌿 Variations

• Quinoa: If you’re not a fan of quinoa, you can make these vegan stuffed bell peppers with the same amount of brown rice instead. Cook the rice according to package directions and then follow the same steps for making the rest of the filling. 
• Chorizo: Feel free to swap the chorizo with vegan ground beef instead if you prefer less heat. Although it is not overly spicy, the chorizo does have a subtle heat to it. The Abbot’s brand also has a vegan ground beef that I would recommend. 
• Cheese: You can omit the vegan cheese if preferred or try drizzling on my cashew cream sauce on top of the stuffed peppers instead. 
• Beans: Black beans make a great addition for extra flavor, texture and protein.

✅ How to Make Stuffed Peppers

Here are the instructions on how to make this recipe for stuffed peppers. 

Prep Work

1. Preheat your Oven: Preheat your oven to 350° F. 
2. Cook the Quinoa: Cook quinoa according to package directions. 
3. Prepare the Peppers: Slice the tops off the peppers and set aside. Remove the seeds and white membrane from the inside of each pepper. Slice a little bit off the peppers' bottom so they can sit upright.
4. Bake the Peppers: Sit the peppers upright in a lightly sprayed baking dish. Spray the inside of each pepper with olive oil spray and season with salt and pepper. Place the unstuffed peppers in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. 

Prepare the Filling and Stuff the Peppers

1. Cook the Onions: Heat the olive oil in a non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until translucent.
2. Add the peppers: Add the diced pepper tops and cook until softened.
3. Stir in the garlic: Cook for 5 minutes.
4. Add the Chorizo: Continue to cook until it's heated through.

5. Adding the Greens: Add the greens and cook until they're wilted.
6. Quinoa: Stir in the cooked quinoa.
7. Seasoning: Add the chili seasoning.
8. Stuff the Peppers: Stuff each pepper with equal amounts of the filling mixture.

9. Adding the Cheese: Bake the stuffed peppers for 10 minutes, remove, and add the cheese. Bake for another 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
10. Skipping the Cheese: If you are not using the cheese, simply skip that step and bake for the full 15 minutes.

🍽️ What to Serve with Stuffed Bell Peppers

These meatless stuffed bell peppers work well as an appetizer or a main dish! They’re great for a weeknight meal with the family or a dinner with friends.

Serve these stuffed peppers alongside a salad for dinner such as this Vegan Caesar Salad or this Spinach Salad. 

❄️ Storage Directions 

• Refrigeration: Cooked stuffed peppers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. 
• Reheating: The best method for reheating stuffed peppers is the oven or the microwave if you're in a hurry. Heat until they are heated through.
• Freeze Stuffed Peppers: After cooking, allow the peppers to cool completely before freezing. They can be frozen together in a freezer-safe container or stored individually for up to 3 months. Allow them to thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating. 

🔪 Helpful Kitchen Gadgets & Tools

You will need a glass or ceramic baking dish that is large enough to fit four bell peppers. You will also need a knife and cutting board for chopping and a large non-stick pan to cook the filling.

👩🏻‍🍳 Expert Tips

• Don’t overbake your peppers: If you overbake the peppers, they can become mushy and not hold up well.
• Check for doneness: The peppers should be fork-tender. Although you don’t want to overbake them, you don’t want to underbake them either. If they are not fork-tender after you’ve melted the cheese, tent the baking dish with foil and continue to bake for a few more minutes until they are done. 
• Don’t slice off too much: When you slice the bottom of your peppers, you want to make sure to take off just enough so that they sit upright. If you slice them off too much, they may not be sturdy enough, which can cause the filling to fall through the bottom. 

❓Recipe FAQs

🌎 Sustainability Suggestions

Don’t throw away your garlic and onion peels or the bottoms of your bell peppers! Instead, you can reserve them for composting.

This recipe uses a plant-based chorizo for the filling instead of the traditional ground beef and sausage typically found in stuffed peppers. Choosing to skip the meat helps to reduce the impact meat production has on our environment.

Whether you eat a fully vegetarian or vegan diet, eliminate meat from one or two meals per week, or choose an eco-flexitarian way of eating, you are helping to reduce your carbon footprint. 

➕ More Vegan Dinner Recipes

If you made this recipe, please leave a star 🌟 rating on the recipe card right below! You can also drop a review in the comment section. Your feedback is appreciated! And don’t forget to tag @themindfulfork so we can see your creations.

📖 Recipe