Vegan Lentil Stuffed Peppers
Baked vegan peppers stuffed full of lentils, onions, spices, and delicious tomato flavor. These peppers serve as a delicious snack or side dish!
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Baked Vegan Lentil Stuffed Peppers
Good morning everyone! Today I am sharing a super tasty savory snack recipe with all of you – baked lentil stuffed peppers. This recipe is perfect to meal prep over the weekend and enjoy as a quick and healthy snack or side dish throughout the week. Recently, I’ve been feeling like I need to add more variety to my plate. I’m always busy during the work week, and I tend to grab quick and easy snacks between meals, such as a piece of fruit or carrots and hummus.
However, I’ve recently been getting tired of eating the same three snacks on repeat during workdays, so I decided to start testing out some new recipes to prepare on the weekend and have on hand, ready to warm and eat throughout the week. This lentil stuffed pepper recipe definitely does not disappoint. These peppers have the perfect amount of spice and the lentil filling is both flavorful and packed with protein. You can easily make a big batch of them on the weekend to enjoy throughout the week.
Now, let’s go over some quick things to note for this recipe. Then, we will take a look at the ingredients you’ll need to make the lentil stuffed peppers.
How Do You Make Stuffed Peppers With No Rice?
While many stuffed peppers traditionally contain rice or couscous, I decided to go with lentils instead. I personally love the flavor that cook lentils provide when mixed with the pizza sauce and other seasonings. Plus, lentils are packed with protein and other nutrients, so they are a great plant based ingredient to include in recipes such as this one. Of course, you could easily customize this recipe to include rice, couscous, quinoa, etc., depending on your personal preference. However, I think the lentils work best for this recipe, so that’s what I would recommend.
Now that we’ve covered that, let’s take a look at the full list of ingredients you will need to make this baked vegan lentil stuffed peppers recipe a smashing success.
Baked Vegan Lentil Stuffed Peppers – Ingredients
- Bell Peppers – The bell peppers are the first essential ingredient you will need for this recipe. You can choose any colors that you’d like. I went with red and yellow, which are my personal favorites. My dad loves green peppers. Regardless of which colors you choose, the peppers will serve as the base to stuff your lentil filling into. When you bake the peppers in the oven, they get soft and sweet.
- Lentils – The lentils are one of the key base ingredients for the filling. The lentils pack in both protein and nutrients.
- Pizza Sauce – The pizza sauce is mixed with the lentils to add both flavor and spice to the pepper filling. I used the Simple Truth Organic brand pizza sauce which I picked up from Kroger.
- Spices – For this recipe, you will want a number of spices, including cumin, oregano, and dried basil. These three spices work together to create a flavorful combination. They add a lot of flavor to the lentil mixture, so make sure you do not omit them.
- Yellow Onion – The yellow onion adds crunch and flavor to the lentil mixture.
- Water – This ingredient is necessary for cooking your lentils. I cooked my lentils per the package directions, and you’ll want to do the same. My lentils called for three parts water and one part lentils. The lentils will absorb the water as they cook so that they turn out nice and soft.
- Salt – This ingredient is optional. I added a few dashes of salt to the pot of lentils and water before I cooked them. The salt adds a bit of extra flavor.
- Nutritional Yeast Seasoning – I topped my peppers off with nutritional yeast seasoning for a slight nutty/cheesy flavor. This ingredient is optional, but I highly recommend it.
- Mashed Avocado – Again, the mashed avocado serves as an optional topping to add flavor to your lentil stuffed peppers.
- Vegan Sour Cream – The vegan sour cream is the final optional topping which you can add to your baked lentil stuffed peppers for even more flavor.
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Baked Vegan Lentil Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 2 large bell peppers (I used one red and one yellow)
- 1/2 cup dry lentils
- 1/2 cup yellow onion (finely chopped)
- 1/2 cup pizza sauce (I used Simple Truth Organic)
- 1/2 tsp dried basil leaves
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 1/2 cups water
Instructions
- Sauté the onions over low heat for a few minutes until golden brown.
- Add the lentils and water to a pot, as well as an optional dash of salt.
- Cook the lentils over low heat for about 20 – 30 minutes, or until the lentils are soft and all the water has been absorbed.
- While the lentils are cooking, cut the peppers in half lengthwise.
- Remove the seeds from the peppers.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the pizza sauce, basil, cumin, and oregano.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F.
- Once the lentils are finished cooking, gently mix them into the pizza sauce mixture.
- Add the chopped onions and mix again.
- Place the pepper halves face up on a parchment lined baking sheet.
- Stuff the peppers with the lentil mixture.
- Sprinkle on optional nutritional yeast seasoning.
- Bake the peppers for about 25 minutes, or until soft.
- Top the peppers with mashed avocado, vegan sour cream, or whatever else you'd like.
- Dig in and enjoy!
Notes
I hope you all enjoy this simple and delicious savory snack recipe. It is quite easy to make, and it serves as the perfect nutrient packed snack or side dish. As per usual, I will be back with another blog post very soon.
-Alyssa 🙂
