Stuffed Bell Peppers

Filling and full of flavor, stuffed bell peppers are a complete meal rolled into one. They’re a great make-ahead meal and last for several days in the fridge.

These roasted stuffed bell peppers bake to perfection in the oven and achieve an enviable char on the skin, lending some serious smoky flavors to the dish.

How To Make Stuffed Bell Peppers

Stuffed bell peppers are one of the simplest and most convenient meals to make. Make it from leftover rice, any extra veggies hiding in your fridge and of course, bell peppers.

Making Spicy Dirty Rice

Start with leftover rice from the night before, or you can make rice a few hours ahead and allow to cool. It’s important that the rice has time to cool so it won’t be mushy when added to the other ingredients. (If you’re looking for an easy rice recipe, I’ve included one in the recipe box below.)

Use What Ingredients You Have On Hand

One of the best things about stuffed bell peppers is that you can use whatever vegetables and condiments you have in the fridge to go into the dirty rice. For me, this typically means green bell peppers, tomatoes, red onion, jalapeños and cilantro. If you have squash, zucchini, tomatoes and eggplant, use that instead! Adapt the recipe to fit your needs.

If you’re looking to build big flavor in a short amount of time, add a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce to the rice. This little can adds unbelievable depth and smoky notes to the dish. I also like to add crumbled vegan meat or beans to the rice to get a boost of protein into the mix.

Use leftover rice to avoid having an overly mushy filling. Just cooked rice will unfortunately fall apart and have a grainy texture.

Ready In Thirty Minutes

Once the rice becomes a medley of tasty things, halve the bell peppers and stuff with the rice filling. Bake for 30 minutes and then it’s all done. Because of its simplicity, I always like to fall back on this recipe when I’m pressed for time, AND when I have extra ingredients in the fridge that I have to use up.

For the final touch, add toppings like vegan sour cream and my Cheesy Vegan Nacho Sauce to amp up the delicious Mexican flavors.

Stuffed bell peppers are one of the easiest and most delicious meals to enjoy on a busy weekday. If you try making it yourself, leave me a comment below to let me know how you liked this recipe!

Looking for more Mexican inspired recipes? Try my other delicious recipes: