Vegetarian Stuffed Italian Peppers are packed with a hearty, savory filling and topped with crispy panko topping for a delicious dinner even meat lovers will devour. Great recipe for a fast, easy vegetarian weeknight dinner or meatless Monday meal.
For more delicious vegetarian recipes, be sure to try Vegetarian Pot Pies and Baked Vegetarian Empanadas next!
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You're Going to Love These
- Hearty vegetarian Italian stuffed peppers recipe without rice -- beans act as a binder for the savory filling
- Rich, deep Italian flavors from cannellini beans, artichokes, kale, olives, rich tomato sauce, and Italian herbs
- Easy meatless meal that's quick enough for a weeknight dinner, but impressive enough for guests.
- Delicious recipe for stuffed peppers with wholesome ingredients
Ingredients
See recipe card at the bottom of the post for the full list of ingredients and exact amounts.
- Bell peppers. Orange bell peppers and red bell peppers have a mild, sweet flavor, while green peppers are a little more bitter. Use whatever you enjoy!
- Marinara sauce. Use your favorite tomato sauce or marinara sauce in this recipe. I like Kirkland or Rao's.
- Cannellini beans. Italian cannellini beans are creamy and hold their shape well during cooking. If desired, lightly mash them to thicken the sauce.
- Artichokes. I use drained, canned artichokes in water.
- Kale. I use Tuscan kale, but any kind of kale will do.
- Kalamata olives. Kalamata olives give the rich tomato sauce a little fattiness and saltiness. You can leave them out if you’re not into olives.
- Panko bread crumbs. Panko bread crumbs add crispiness to soft textured dishes, like this Baked Macaroni and Cheese (No Flour) recipe. Get unseasoned panko so you can control the flavors.
- Pesto. Jarred pesto works fine, but of course, homemade pesto is always better.
- Parmesan cheese. Use freshly shredded Parmesan if possible.
Variations
- Instead of artichokes, add shaved Brussels sprouts or chopped zucchini to the sauce. Be sure to cook them for a few minutes to let them soften, since they won't cook through in the oven.
- Use any kind of beans like chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, or any kind of white beans
- Swap out the kale with spinach or any other hardy leafy green.
- Pine nuts, hazelnuts, almonds, or pistachios would also make perfect sense in place of the walnuts.
- Add your favorite melty cheese like mozzarella cheese or Monterey jack cheese before you add the breadcrumbs.
- For even zestier flavor, add a dash of chili powder or cayenne pepper.
How to Make Vegetarian Stuffed Italian Peppers without Rice
Step 1: Cut out the tops off peppers, like pumpkins, then cut them in half and remove the membranes and seeds.
Salt and pepper the insides of the pepper halves and place them cut side down on a baking sheet. Broil 5 minutes or until they just begin to blister.
Step 2: While the peppers roast, warm olive oil in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add onion, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Saute until the onions soften, about 5 minutes.
Step 3: Turn the heat down to medium heat, add one cup of tomato sauce, and simmer until slightly thickened, 5-10 minutes.
Step 4: Stir in drained cannellini beans, artichokes, chopped kale, and olives. Stir and cook just until the kale softens and everything comes together. If needed, lightly mash some of the cannellini beans to thicken the sauce.
Step 5: In a small bowl, combine panko, pesto, shredded Parmesan cheese, and chopped walnuts.
Step 6: Spread tomato sauce on the bottom of a greased baking dish. Place peppers in the dish and fill them with the bean and artichoke mixture.
Step 7: Top peppers with the breadcrumb topping. Bake at 425 degrees f for 15-20 minutes or until topping is golden brown. If the topping starts to brown too quickly, cover with tin foil.
Step 8: Serve with pesto, Parmesan cheese, and fresh basil.
Expert Tips
- Cooking the peppers before stuffing them ensures that your stuffed Italian peppers will be soft, and not crunchy.
- Broil the peppers to your desired level of doneness. I like the char, but you can remove them before that point.
- If you're missing the gooey cheese, stir some mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese into the bean mixture and add more on top of the peppers before the breadcrumbs.
FAQs
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
If you want soft peppers, then yes. Because the stuffing mixture is already cooked, the cooking time of 15-20 minutes is only long enough to warm everything up, not soften the peppers. If you like crunchy peppers, skip the pre-cooking and stuff them raw.
To soften peppers, you can boil or broil them. To boil, place them in a large pot of water, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, boil 3 minutes or until soft, and place in cool water. To broil, follow the instructions listed in the recipe card below.
Yes, you can freeze vegetarian stuffed Italian peppers before or after baking.
Before baking: Prepare the Italian stuffed peppers without adding breadcrumbs. Cool, wrap tightly, freeze, thaw in fridge, add breadcrumbs, then bake.
After baking: Cool peppers, wrap tightly, freeze, thaw in fridge, then bake at 425°F until internal temperature reaches 165°F.
Yes. You can reheat Italian stuffed peppers in the oven or the microwave with help from the oven.
For the oven: Bake at 425°F for 30 minutes or until internal temperature is 165°F and breadcrumbs are crispy. Cover with foil if topping browns too quickly.
For microwave/oven: Heat peppers in microwave until warm, then crisp breadcrumbs under broiler for 1-2 minutes.
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📖 Recipe
Stuffed Italian Peppers (No Rice)
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 2 cups marinara sauce (divided)
- 1 15 oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 14 oz. can quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
- 4 cups chopped Tuscan kale
- ¼ cup sliced kalamata olives
- ½ cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 tablespoons pesto
- 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan
- 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
To Serve
- Additional pesto, Parmesan cheese, and fresh herbs
Instructions
- Turn the oven to broil. Spray a 9X13 casserole dish with cooking spray.
- Cut the tops off of peppers, like a pumpkin. Cut each pepper in half and remove the membranes and seeds. Salt and pepper the insides of each pepper and turn them face-down on a sheet pan.
- Broil peppers for about 5 minutes, or just until the flesh begins to blister. Turn the oven down to 425.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add the onion, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Saute until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium. Add one cup of tomato sauce, and simmer until slightly thickened, 5-10 minutes.
- Stir in cannellini beans, artichokes, chopped kale, and olives. Stir and cook until the kale softens and everything comes together. Lightly mash some of the cannellini beans to thicken the sauce, if needed.
- In a small bowl, stir ½ cup panko, 2 tablespoons pesto, 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, and 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts.
- Spread one cup of tomato sauce on the bottom of the casserole dish. Lay the peppers face-up on the tomato sauce. Fill peppers with the bean and artichoke mixture. Top each pepper with pesto panko bread crumbs.
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the bread crumb topping is golden brown. If the tops start to brown too quickly, cover with aluminum foil.
- Serve with pesto, grated Parmesan cheese, fresh herbs, and crusty bread to sop up the savory sauce.
Notes
- Cooking the peppers before stuffing them ensures that your stuffed Italian peppers will be soft, and not crunchy.
- Broil the peppers to your desired level of doneness. I like the char, but you can remove them before that point.
- If you're missing the gooey cheese, stir some into the bean mixture and add some before the breadcrumbs.
These were literally the best stuffed peppers I have ever had in my life. Amazing!! I can’t wait to make this again!
Hi, Michael, that's wonderful to hear! I'm so glad you enjoyed them. Thank you so much for letting me know, it means a lot :). Cara
I would love to try this with Brussel sprouts. Could you suggest how many to use and would they need any extra prep or just sliced?
Thank you!
Hi, Lisa! Thank you so much for your note, I'm so excited you would love to try this recipe! Here is what I would suggest if you are substituting Brussels sprouts for the artichokes. A 14 oz can yields around 1 3/4 cup, so I would use a similar amount of Brussels sprouts. I would also suggest slicing them, as you mentioned, as thinly as possible. If they are sliced thin, they should only take a few minutes to soften in the sauce. Depending on how thin/thick they are, you might want to consider adding them to the sauce a couple of minutes before you add the beans and kale, since the kale softens rather quickly. I hope these suggestions help, and would love to hear how this works out for you! Cara 🙂