Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

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An easy Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers Recipe made with spinach and ricotta. This low carb version of my favorite spinach and ricotta stuffed shells recipe also makes a great meal prep recipe!

This easy vegetarian recipe is a meatless meal the whole family will love. It requires minimal prep time and will be on your dinner table in 30 minutes or less!

Two vegetarian stuffed peppers on a plate

Easy Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers Recipe

I love stuffed peppers. I also love stuffed shells. Lately, I’ve been really craving spinach and ricotta stuffed shells but was looking for a low carb alternative. So here it is! Spinach and ricotta stuffed peppers.

This vegetarian stuffed peppers recipe has an Italian flair, less carbs, and more veggies! I’m mixing spinach, ricotta cheese (obviously), red pepper flakes for a little bit of heat, lemon zest for a little tang, among a few other delicious things.

Stuffed peppers in a white pan with tomatoes

It took me a few tries to get this one right because the ingredients in this recipe can expel lots of liquid, which can make everything watery. So, after lots of recipe testing I have finally nailed this one to perfection.

Stuffed Peppers Ingredients

Vegetables and herbs: bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, garlic, spinach, yellow onion, basil, lemon.

I used red bell peppers and orange bell peppers for this recipe, but you can use any color of peppers you like!

Dairy: for this recipe you will need ricotta cheese and parmesan cheese. I recommend using full fat ricotta cheese. If you’re looking to make these stuffed peppers vegan, you can substitute for vegan cheese.

Other ingredients: egg, red pepper flakes, and kosher salt.

3 peppers on a marble slab with ricotta on a spoon

How to make stuffed peppers

This took lots of testing in the kitchen to perfect! The flavor was there, but the consistency just wasn’t. So I played around with baking temps and time in order to produce the best results.

1. Preheat oven to 375 F.

2. Roast tomatoes and peppers. Add cherry tomatoes, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper to a 9 x 11 inch oven safe baking dish. Toss them in the pan to combine. Place peppers in the pan and bake for 10 minutes. If you want more of a charred look and taste, broil them for about 3-4 minutes instead.

3. Sautรฉ spinach. While the tomatoes and peppers are cooking, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat and sautรฉ spinach, garlic, and onions until spinach has wilted.

Drain the spinach well (I like to use a fine mesh strainer) and set aside in a mixing bowl.

Sauteed spinach in a pan

4. Make the ricotta filling. Add ricotta, red pepper flakes, egg, basil, and lemon zest to a large mixing bowl with the spinach and mix until fully combined.

5. Stuff the peppers. Remove the peppers from the oven and stuff with the spinach and ricotta mixture. Top each pepper with about half a tablespoon of shredded parmesan cheese.

6. Bake the stuffed peppers. Place the stuffed peppers in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes, just until the cheese on top has melted and the peppers are warm all the way through. Don’t bake them too long or they will become watery inside!

Six vegetarian stuffed peppers in a white pan

What to eat with stuffed peppers

You can serve stuffed peppers as a side or as a main dish. I love to serve mine with a side of farro because it’s a protein rich grain. There are six grams of protein in just 1/4 of a cup of farro. Wild rice also makes a delicious side dish.

Stuffed pepper on a plate with farro

If you’re diet is grain free or carb free, you can also eat them as a side dish to your favorite protein like chicken, shrimp, or scallops. Or you can have them as your main dish with a side of broccolini or spaghetti squash!

Vegetarian stuffed peppers pinterest short pin

Healing superfoods

Bell peppers are one of many anti aging superfoods listed in this book. They recommend eating two cups a day but that’s a lot of peppers for me so as long as I get a few servings a week, I feel good!

For this recipe I used red and orange bell peppers, but you can use green peppers, too.

If you’re looking for new ways to incorporate bell peppers into your diet, try this Mushroom Bolognese or these Sheet Pan Chicken Fajita Lettuce Wraps. All of these recipes work well for meal prepping!

Make stuffed peppers ahead of time

Vegetarian stuffed peppers are perfect for serving at a party! You can prep them ahead of time by completing all the steps except the final 5 minute bake to melt the cheese. I like to serve them on a serving serving tray like this one.

Vegetarian stuffed peppers in a white pan

Recipe Variations

For all my meat lovers, you might be interested in some of these variations:

Ground beef stuffed peppers – ground beef, black beans or pinto beans, brown rice, onion powder, and sour cream.

Taco stuffed peppers – ground chicken or beef, chili powder, garlic cloves, tomato paste, black beans, white rice.

Stuffed pepper meal prep

Stuffed peppers will keep in the fridge for several days, so they make an excellent meal prep option. This recipe yields 4 servings with a total of 8 stuffed peppers. I pack two in each meal prep container to eat for lunch every day.

These are my favorite meal prep containers, I like them so much I have two sets! I also love these meal prep containers because they have 3 compartments to keep everything separate which is great for things like salads, taco bowls, or chili lime pulled chicken bowls.

More Vegetarian Dinner Recipes

Shawarma Tofu Salad
This delicious Tofu Salad is full of shawarma seasoned tofu, crisp lettuce, and flavorful vegetables, topped with a creamy yogurt tahini dressing.
Check out this recipe
tofu, feta cheese, tomatoes in a bowl
Roasted Sweet Potato Bowls
Easy weeknight vegetarian dinners never looked so good! These Roasted Sweet Potato Bowls are easy to make, bold, and vegetarian-friendly!
Check out this recipe
roasted sweet potato bowls with green goddess dressing
Vegetarian Cornbread Stuffing
A must-have Thanksgiving side dish! Vegetarian Cornbread Stuffing is flavorful, moist, and the perfect holiday side dish.
Check out this recipe
vegetarian cornbread stuffing with a gold spoon
Buffalo Tofu Bowls
Nutritious, flavorful, and full of protein! These Buffalo Tofu Bowls are incredibly delicious. Crispy tofu, covered in hot buffalo sauce and served bowl style; what more could you ask for?
Check out this recipe
buffalo tofu bowl on a striped napkin

WANT TO TRY THESE VEGETARIAN STUFFED PEPPERS?

PIN IT to your vegetarian recipes, dinner recipes, or stuffed pepper recipes board to save it for later!
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Vegetarian stuffed peppers pinterest long pin

Did you make this recipe? Post a photo on Instagram and tag me @JZEATS or #JZEATS so I can see! Leave a comment below and let me know what you think, too!

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4.64 from 38 votes

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

An easy vegetarian stuffed peppers recipe with spinach and ricotta. This low carb version of my favorite spinach and ricotta stuffed shells recipe also makes a great meal prep recipe!
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8 stuffed peppers
Calories: 334
Author: Jordan

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
  • kosher salt, to taste
  • black pepper, to taste
  • 4 bell peppers, sliced in half lengthwise
  • 2 cups spinach
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
  • 25 ounces ricotta cheese, drained*
  • 1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons fresh chopped basil
  • 1 lemon, zest
  • parmesan cheese, to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 F.
  • Add cherry tomatoes, 1/2 tablespoon olive oil, salt, and pepper to a 9 x 11 inch oven safe baking dish. Toss them in the pan to combine. Place peppers in the pan and bake for 10 minutes.*
  • While the tomatoes and peppers are cooking, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat and sautรฉ spinach, garlic, and onions until spinach has wilted. Drain the spinach well (I like to use a fine mesh strainer) and set aside in a mixing bowl.
  • Add ricotta, red pepper flakes, egg, basil, and lemon zest to the mixing bowl with the spinach and mix until fully combined.
  • Remove the peppers from the oven and stuff with the spinach and ricotta mixture. Top each pepper with about half a tablespoon of shredded parmesan cheese.
  • Place the stuffed peppers in the oven and bake for about 5 minutes, just until the cheese on top has melted and the peppers are warm all the way through. Don't bake them too long or they will become watery inside!
If you tried this recipe, please leave a review letting me know how it was!

Video

Notes

  • To drain the ricotta, line a fine mesh sieve with cheesecloth and push out any excess liquid.*
  • If you want more of a charred look and taste, broil the tomatoes and peppers for about 3-4 minutes before stuffing them instead of baking for 10 minutes.
Helpful Items For This Recipe:
Keywords: Ricotta, Spinach, Stuffed peppers

Nutrition

Calories: 334kcal | Carbohydrates: 7g | Protein: 22g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 95mg | Potassium: 345mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 2665IU | Vitamin C: 8.5mg | Calcium: 391mg | Iron: 1.6mg
Nutrition information is approximate and was calculated using a recipe nutrition label generator.
Tried this recipe?I’d love to see your dish, mention @jzeats or tag #jzeats!

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4.64 from 38 votes (12 ratings without comment)

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Recipe Rating




52 Comments

  1. Oh my, these look so delicious. I want them for dinner tonight!

    1. Let me know if you make them!

  2. Barbara Gambert says:

    These look so good! I love stuffed peppers and can’t wait to try this!

  3. Alexandra says:

    I love this recipe ๐Ÿ™‚ It is such a delicious meal in itself, or perfect with a side salad!

    1. Question……ingredients says 4 peppers, video shows 3. Which is it, please?

      1. Follow the recipe in the post, the video looked better with less peppers ๐Ÿ˜‰

  4. Looks so delicious and balanced! Perfect for a healthy dinner or brunch!

  5. So colorful and delicious looking! Looks perfect to serve for summer gatherings!

  6. Looks delish. Is the egg necessary?

    1. Thank you! The egg acts as a binding agent and I haven’t made them without it, however, you could probably replace them with arrowroot powder – a mixture of 1 tablespoon arrowroot, 1 tablespoon oil and 1/4 cup water for each egg. You can also try adding about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese to the ricotta mixture.

  7. I am making this recipe right now! It is in the oven, and I cannot wait to try it!

    1. Yay! I can’t wait to hear how they turned out ๐Ÿ™‚

  8. 5 stars
    I made these and they were sooooo good! I was a bit apprehensive about the egg, especially because the peppers only baked for ~5 minutes in the oven with the filling in it. Everything tasted great though! I will definitely be making these again ๐Ÿ™‚

    1. 5 stars
      I’m so glad to hear you loved it! As long as the inside heats to about 140F, the eggs are safe ๐Ÿ™‚

  9. Absolutely perfect for adding to my collection of new late spring / summer recipes to try out (if we ever exit lockdown in the UK!). Thank you so much!!

  10. 5 stars
    What is the serving size?

    1. The recipe makes 8 peppers, and the nutrition facts are based on 1 stuffed pepper. Please keep in mind that the nutrition facts are approximate.

      1. Hello!! I just wanted some clarification on this. When you say one pepper, do you mean one full pepper (as in 2 halves) or 1 of the stuffed peppers (1/2 pepper)?? Thanks!

      2. Hi! You will need 4 peppers, sliced in half to make 8 stuffed peppers.

  11. 4 stars
    Even with the garlic, chilli, plenty of seasoning they were lacking some flavor. Overall, they were pretty good and I would make them again but maybe with ground chicken too.

  12. 5 stars
    I always stuff my peppers with lentils and quinoa, so looking forward to trying your recipe.

  13. 5 stars
    I love stuffed peppers too and yours are cheesy delicious!! Can’t wait to give this a go, it looks so healthy!!

  14. 5 stars
    I don’t usually eat peppers but I want to try this!

  15. 5 stars
    Such a deliciously simple and tasty vegetarian dish. I like to make ahead for the week. Thanks for such a great recipe.

  16. 5 stars
    I love stuffed peppers recipes of all kinds – it makes such an easy dinner! Usually I stuff them with Mexican inspired ingredients, so I loved your twist on this recipe! The spinach + ricotta added such a nice creaminess – kind of reminded me of lasagna but in a pepper! ๐Ÿ™‚

  17. 5 stars
    What a great protein packed dish. So many ways to adapt it too.

  18. 2 stars
    Very bland even with hot sauce.

  19. 3 stars
    Actually turned out good

  20. Are the cherry tomatoes used just as a side or diced and mixed in with the cheese and spinach mixture?

    1. Hi! They’re more of a side to the stuffed peppers. I wouldn’t recommend mixing them in because they will make the stuffed peppers watery, you could mix in sun dried tomatoes though.

  21. 2 stars
    Disappointed. The peppers were still hard after 25 minutes of roasting and the ricotta filling was too bland. With 15oz container of ricotta at $7, this was an expensive mistake.

    1. The peppers should still have some crunch to them/shouldn’t be completely mushy.

  22. 3 stars
    I found this recipe to be a bit bland like others mentioned. It’s also too easy to get a watery ricotta mixture in this recipe, which isn’t very good.

    1. Hi Dani – sorry to hear you felt that way, I did note in the ingredient list that the ricotta should be drained before using. This helps eliminate the excess liquid when cooking.

      1. Wondering if thereโ€™s another way to drain ricotta if u donโ€™t have cheesecloth?

      2. You can try using a paper towel lined strainer instead

  23. 5 stars
    Me and my GF love this! We’ve made it at least 10 times in the past month. Thanks for sharing!

    1. WOW! That makes me so happy ๐Ÿ™‚

  24. 5 stars
    Perfection to the definition! These were wonderful!

  25. 5 stars
    You can’t go wrong with stuffed peppers. Add in some ricotta? Game changer!

  26. Elizabeth says:

    5 stars
    I’ve always had stuffed peppers with a meat filling, so this vegetarian version was a nice change! Spinach is definitely a nutrient-packed ingredient and so healthy to add to the filling ingredients.

  27. 5 stars
    This recipe was great! I’m making it again next week ๐Ÿ™‚

  28. 5 stars
    Have not made this yet. I’m thinking of using the mini peppers and doing this as an appetizer. I often bring something to a class for everyone to snack on. I would have to cut the recipe in half.

  29. Nathanaelle Yoshimura says:

    5 stars
    This was really good! The leftovers the next day were great too. Ricotta and parmesan add that creamy tangy feel I like.