Mediterranean flavors shine in these easy, vegetarian stuffed bell peppers. The filling is protein-packed with quinoa, chickpeas, red onion, tomatoes, parsley, lemon, feta and seasonings. They come together so quickly and are absolutely delicious!
Perfect for meal-prep (they’re somehow just as good the next day?!). These vegetarian stuffed bell peppers are on repeat in our house. The filling is so simple to make yet has SO much flavor, and it’s as easy as mixing the filling together and stuffing in the peppers before baking. Top it with a drizzle of the yogurt dill sauce for a perfect vegetarian dinner!
The History of Stuffed Bell Peppers
Stuffed Peppers are a very common meal, especially here in the U.S.! But where did they originate?! To pay homage to the history of my recipes, I try to always research which cultures they originated from. Let’s take a trip to figure out where Stuffed Bell Peppers came from!
Classic stuffed bell peppers typically have a filling of rice, ground meat and cheese. These Vegetarian Stuffed Bell Peppers are obviously a bit different, but they were inspired by the classic! Turns out, stuffed bell peppers originated around the 1890’s (but probably go back further than that!).
Versions of Stuffed Bell Peppers include: Pimientos Rellenos (Spain), Chile Rellenos (Mexico) and many other versions from countries like Hungary, Denmark and Romania. So interesting!
Types of Bell Peppers
When you’re shopping at the grocery store, you’ll probably notice a few different colors of bell peppers! So which one should you get?! Fun fact: did you know bell peppers are technically a summer fruit?
I was also surprised to learn that green, yellow, orange and red bell peppers are actually the same pepper, the color just changes depending on how long they are able to mature for. They go from more bitter in taste to very sweet from green to red!
I personally prefer using the yellow, orange and red bell peppers in this vegetarian stuffed bell pepper recipe, but you can choose whichever color you want.
Ingredients in the mediterranean vegetarian stuffed bell peppers
Even though these Stuffed Bell Peppers are vegetarian, the filling is packed with protein and incredibly filling! You won’t even be missing the meat.
Quinoa- the type of quinoa is up to you. I typically use white, but red or a mix will also work great! Just be sure to rinse your quinoa thoroughly and then cook before adding it to the fillings for the vegetarian stuffed bell peppers.
Chickpeas– the other punch of protein comes from chickpeas (aka garbanzo beans). These are easy to find at the grocery store. Always rinse the chickpeas before using them, as they will sometimes have a gel-like substance on them from being canned.
Tomatoes– this vegetarian stuffed bell pepper recipe has two types of tomatoes: baby and sun-dried. If you can’t find one, you don’t need to use both. Just add extra of the one that you do have! I personally love the flavor that sun-dried tomatoes bring into the recipe, so I highly suggest including them if you can!
Lemon, Red Onion, Parsley- these ingredients really pull in the Mediterranean flavors that we want in these vegetarian stuffed bell peppers! It makes the flavor very reminiscent of tabbouleh, and it’s absolutely delicious!
how to make the Yogurt Dill Sauce
While the vegetarian stuffed bell peppers are baking, it’s time to whip up the yogurt dill sauce! It’s so easy to make and really adds an incredible flavor to the vegetarian stuffed bell peppers. I mean, what isn’t made better with a yogurt sauce?!
Simply combine the plain Greek yogurt, dill, lemon, salt, pepper and whisk together with a fork. Stream in olive oil until combined and it reaches desired consistency!
Did you make this recipe?
- Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think! Your feedback helps me to know what types of recipes you want to see from me! I appreciate it so much!
I hope you enjoy these vegetarian stuffed bell peppers! If you’re craving another vegetarian dinner recipe, check out my Kale Power Salad.
And as always, come follow along on Instagram for my daily musings (aka lots of dog pics) and Pinterest for lots more recipe inspiration!
Mediterranean Vegetarian Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 large bell peppers
- 1 cup quinoa (uncooked)
- 1/2 red onion, diced
- 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
- 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
- 1 cup baby tomatoes, diced
- 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 large lemon
- 6 oz. crumbled feta
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
For the Yogurt Dill Sauce:
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tsp dried dill
- 1/2 lemon
- pinch of salt & pepper
- olive oil to thin
Instructions
- Rinse and cook the quinoa according to directions.
- Preheat the oven to 400.
- Slice the bell peppers in half and discard the inside seeds.
- In a large bowl, combine: cooked quinoa, chopped red onion, rinsed chickpeas, chopped parsley, diced tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice, feta cheese, salt, pepper and oregano.
- Place the bell peppers in a baking dish and, using a spoon, stuff them with the filling.
- Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the ingredients for the Yogurt Dill Sauce and serve with the peppers.
I LOVE all of these flavors! I’m definitely adding Mediterranean Vegetarian Stuffed peppers to my weekly meal rotation!
Love stuffed peppers! These sound delish!
Not only does this look so delicious, but those colors are amazing! Love beautiful vibrant meals.
Love stuffed peppers! Such a great veggie forward meal!
I tend to go Italian with my stuffed peppers but this Mediterranean twist has me excited to try something new! Also love how they’re cut in half, that makes them so much easier to eat!
i looooove stuffed peppers! these sound beyond delicious!
Stuffed peppers are the best, especially for meatless Monday!