Irresistible Healthy Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

  4.2 – 14 reviews  • Vegetarian

We had a ton of leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving, so we made this dish! It’s both simple and delicious. Even my finicky son, who only eats 15 different things, had 5 pancakes! To add an extra flavorful splash, drizzle a little more sesame oil on top of the pancakes. An excellent substitute for potato latkes and a fantastic side dish for anything!

Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 15 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 45 mins
Servings: 12
Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients

  1. 8 ounces whole wheat orzo pasta
  2. 12 large orange bell peppers
  3. 2 tablespoons butter
  4. 1 tablespoon olive oil
  5. 10 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
  6. 1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh white mushrooms
  7. 1 (8 ounce) package sliced cremini mushrooms
  8. 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  9. 1 (28 ounce) can diced Italian paste tomatoes (such as San Marzano)
  10. 1 (14 ounce) can whole Italian paste tomatoes (such as San Marzano), drained and torn into large chunks
  11. 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  12. 1 zucchini, shredded
  13. ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  14. 8 cloves garlic, minced
  15. 2 tablespoons dried oregano
  16. 2 tablespoons torn fresh basil leaves
  17. 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
  18. salt and ground black pepper to taste
  19. 4 cups vegetable broth
  20. ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Instructions

  1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook orzo in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain orzo and transfer to a large bowl.
  2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
  3. Cut a 1-inch slice from tops of orange bell peppers, discard tops, and remove seeds from peppers. Set peppers upright into a roasting pan, fitting them tightly so they stay in place.
  4. Melt butter and olive oil over medium-low heat; cook and stir 10 cloves of garlic in the hot butter mixture until garlic is golden brown, about 8 minutes. Stir white and cremini mushrooms and balsamic vinegar into garlic. Cook and stir until mushrooms soften, about 10 minutes. Drain liquid and mix mushrooms and garlic into orzo.
  5. Mix diced tomatoes and their juice, torn whole tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, zucchini, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, 8 cloves garlic, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, salt, and black pepper into orzo mixture. Scoop into bell peppers. Pour vegetable broth into bottom of roasting pan and cover pan tightly with aluminum foil.
  6. Bake in the preheated oven until peppers are tender and filling is cooked through, about 50 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle each pepper with 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese. Return to oven and bake uncovered until Parmesan cheese topping is golden and bubbly, about 15 more minutes.
  7. Use any combination of red, yellow, or orange peppers.
  8. These reheat or freeze very well. To freeze, wrap each pepper tightly in foil and store in plastic containers with tightly sealed lids. To reheat, place pepper in a cake pan (leave wrapped in foil) and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 45 minutes. Then open foil so top is exposed and continue to bake for 15 more minutes. You can also just remove from foil and microwave, but re-baking makes the Parmesan on top bubbly again.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 232 kcal
Carbohydrate 30 g
Cholesterol 18 mg
Dietary Fiber 6 g
Protein 13 g
Saturated Fat 4 g
Sodium 508 mg
Sugars 9 g
Fat 8 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Jennifer Thomas
Healthy and delicious! i followed the recipe except i used green and yellow bell pepper ( cant find orange bell peppers at the store). i also added spinach in it. my husband loved it. probably cook it again. thanks for the recipe.
Gerald Gibson
This is a good base vegetarian stuffed pepper recipe, where you can add or remove whatever suites you. I used brown rice and quartered the recipe since there are two of us. To speed up baking time I boil my peppers before stuffing them. Because they were already cooked, rather than a soup base in the tray I surrounded the peppers with the extra stuffing. Great Flavours, love the balsamic flavour in the mushrooms and kudos for not being afraid of garlic. We love garlic!
Michelle Hopkins
Took more than twice as long than the recipe stated so kids ended up eating subway. Results were just okay and for as long as it took to make them it simply wasn’t worth it. I definitely didn’t think they were as good as the reviews suggested and my family didn’t like them either. Kids ended up having it for dinner the next night. They aren’t picky eaters and they were not amused and frankly I didn’t blame them. I made them just as directed.
Terry Cervantes
Made this recipe but cut it in half. Added a lb of ground turkey, used Parnassians cheese instead of Mozzarella and didn’t add any salt or veg stock.. Came out great… Best stuffed peppers yet!!!
Kayla Weber
My family enjoyed this recipe and that includes my husband who is a big meat eater! I did use orange peppers as they were cheaper and I used white rice vs orzo because I had it on hand.
Megan Gross
Very good, even my picky 5 year old ate them up. Will be making them again, but may add a little bit more spice, I had left out the crushed peppers the first time. This one would be good for a crowd because you can make large batches.
Gregory Edwards
i made a few changes to the recipe,i didnt use any mushrooms(they aren’t really my thing) and instead i used grape tomatoes and sundried tomatoes with parmesan and mozarella cheese on top,put it in my toaster oven for about 2 minutes until the cheese was melted and took it back out,topped it with spinach,colby jack cheese,cheddar cheese and more parmesan and mozarella and put a few more tomatoes and about 5 black olives on top and it was delicious!I haad it with chips and salsa and the whole meal by itself had 27 grams of protien,and i know it is hard to get protien with a vegetarian diet!
Mr. Charles Mcdowell
excellent. have made these twice and everyone loves them
Jeffrey Boyd
My pickiest eaters loved it. Thanks do much!
Justin Bush
These are excellent! I halved the recipe. I only had ground Oregano so I only used about a teaspoon, maybe a tad more, but a whole tablespoon would have been way too much…otherwise I made it exactly as written. Oh, except my local Kroger didn’t have Cremini mushrooms so I just used extra buttons. The flavor is very good, both my husband and I couldn’t believe there was no meat. Next time I will make a full batch and freeze them for lunches. This recipe is a keeper! Oh, beware, these were a tad too spicy for my husband, so if you have a wimpy palette go easy on the crushed red pepper (half it, don’t omit it)…and use fresh basil, it really makes the flavors pop.
Kyle Ramirez
Made it exactly as directed and it was delicious!!!
Christine Cooper
Changed this up a bit, added spinach,gazebo beans and other veggies on hand. Used brown rice instead of orzo, everyone loved this including my teens!
Curtis Morgan
These taste great! The recipe is easy to follow and you don’t need too many ingredients either.
Rebekah Warner
Will make again

 

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