Table of Contents
These vegetarian stuffed peppers are everything I want in a hearty meatless dinner — smoky chili-spiced beans and wild rice piled into sweet bell peppers and finished with a golden, bubbly cheese topping.
Jump to: ℹ️ Overview | 🛒 Ingredients | 📷 How To Make | 👩🍳 Recipe Tips | 🥗 Serving Suggestions | 📝Full Recipe Card | 🍽 More Vegetarian & Pepper Recipes
At A Glance
- ⏱ Ready In: 50 minutes
- 🍽 Serves: 6
- 🌱 Diet: Vegetarian, Gluten-Free (easily made vegan)
- 💪 Nutrition Highlights: High in plant-based protein and fiber from two types of beans; a genuinely filling meatless main
- 🥕 Main Ingredients: Bell peppers, kidney beans, black beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, wild rice, corn, cheddar, and mozzarella
- 🔥 Flavor Profile: Smoky, warmly spiced, a little hearty — like your favorite chili, stuffed into a pepper and baked until the cheese gets golden
- 🧊 Meal-Prep Friendly: The filling can be made 2 days ahead; assembled peppers keep in the fridge for up to 24 hours before baking. Leftovers keep for 3 days, and the peppers freeze well for up to 3 months
- 🍽 Best Served With: Cornbread, tortilla chips, or a simple green salad
Stuffed peppers get a bad reputation for being fussy, but these ones are genuinely easy to make, and they are vegetarian-friendly and gluten-free.
The filling is a big-batch chili made almost entirely from pantry staples — two kinds of canned beans, fire-roasted tomatoes, corn, tomato paste, and a proper lineup of spices — and it comes together in the same skillet in about 10 minutes. From there, you load it into hollowed-out bell peppers, pile on the cheese, and let the oven do the rest.
What comes out is this deeply satisfying, smoky, chili-flavored situation that happens to be completely meatless. I reach for this one when I want something that feels comforting and substantial without requiring much effort — the kind of thing you can prep on a Sunday and have ready to bake on a weeknight. The wild rice adds a lovely nutty texture that I really love here, and the fire-roasted tomatoes bring that subtle smokiness that makes the whole thing taste like it’s been cooking for hours. Even meat-eaters at the table tend to go back for seconds.
👩🍳 You might also like these recipes: quinoa stuffed peppers, shrimp stuffed bell peppers, black bean taco casserole, roasted red peppers, healthy breakfast burritos with eggs & black beans, Mexican stuffed sweet potatoes, or the best bell pepper recipes.
What You’ll Need
Here is what you’ll need for this vegetarian stuffed peppers recipe. Find the full measurements in the recipe card below.
The Peppers
- Bell peppers (capsicum) — Any color works beautifully here, and I actually love using a mix of red, yellow, and orange for how cheerful they look in the dish. Look for medium-to-large peppers with even bottoms so they stand upright without wobbling.
The Chili Filling
- Kidney beans — A can of dark or light kidney beans adds great body and a classic chili feel. Pinto beans or cannellini beans would also work.
- Black beans — These add a slightly different texture and flavor compared to the kidney beans, and together they make the filling feel really hearty and satisfying.
- Golden sweet corn — Adds a little sweetness and freshness that balances the spices. Frozen corn (thawed) works just as well as canned.
- Fire-roasted diced tomatoes — This is my secret to that smoky depth in the filling. Regular diced tomatoes work too, but fire-roasted give you so much more flavor without any extra effort.
- Tomato paste — Concentrates the tomato flavor and thickens the filling so it doesn’t get watery.
- Vegetable broth — Just half a cup to bring everything together. Chicken broth works if you’re not keeping it vegetarian.
- Onion and garlic — The aromatics that make everything taste like something. Don’t skip the sauté step — browning the onion slightly makes a real difference to the final flavor.
- Avocado or olive oil — For sautéing the onions and garlic.
The Spice Blend
- Chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper — This is a proper chili spice mix, and together these create that warm, smoky, complex flavor. Don’t be put off by the list — they all go in at once, and the skillet basically does the work.
Everything Else
- Par-boiled long grain and wild rice — This is the key detail that makes this recipe so quick. Pre-cooked or par-boiled rice (like Uncle Ben’s Microwave-Ready Rice) goes straight into the filling — there isn’t enough liquid in the recipe to cook raw rice, so please don’t try to skip this step.
- Sharp cheddar and mozzarella — The combination of melty mozzarella and sharp cheddar gives you that golden, bubbly topping with real flavor behind it. Pepper jack is a great swap if you want a little heat.
How To Make Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
Find the full recipe and nutritional information below. Here are some handy step-by-step photos for how to make these vegetarian stuffed peppers.
- Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C) and spray a deep baking dish with non-stick spray. Prepare your bell peppers by cutting off the tops, removing the ribs and seeds, and setting them upright in the dish.
- Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and sauté for 3–5 minutes, until they start to soften and go a little golden at the edges.
- Stir in the minced garlic and cook for another 1–2 minutes. Your kitchen should smell amazing at this point.
- Turn off the heat. Now add everything else to the skillet: vegetable broth, kidney beans, black beans, corn, fire-roasted tomatoes, and tomato paste. Add all your spices — chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir everything together well.
- Mix in the par-boiled wild rice and stir through until the filling is evenly combined.
- Use a large spoon to fill each prepared pepper with the chili mixture, packing it in generously. Top each pepper with a good layer of shredded cheddar and mozzarella.
- Bake on the middle rack for 30 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and golden and the peppers are fork-tender. If you prefer softer peppers, add another 10 minutes.
- Let the peppers rest for 5–10 minutes before serving — this helps the filling set slightly so it doesn’t fall apart when you plate them.
Recipe Tips
- Choose your peppers wisely. Look for peppers that are firm, medium-to-large in size, and can stand upright on their own. A flat bottom is key. Red, yellow, and orange peppers are naturally sweeter and pair beautifully with the chili filling; green peppers work too if that’s what you’ve got, though they have a slightly more bitter edge.
- Don’t use uncooked rice. There isn’t enough liquid in this recipe for raw rice to cook through in the oven. Use par-boiled rice or pre-cooked rice. Uncle Ben’s Microwave-Ready Rice is perfect here — it goes straight from the packet into the filling.
- This recipe makes a lot of filling. It’s enough for 6 large peppers or 8 medium ones. If you have leftover filling, it’s genuinely excellent eaten as chili with cornbread or tortilla chips on the side.
- Make it spicier. Add ½ teaspoon of ground cayenne to the spice mix, swap the mozzarella for pepper jack, and/or garnish with sliced jalapeños. The base recipe is mild enough for most people (including kids), so it’s easy to heat things up on individual portions.
- Make it vegan. The chili filling is already completely plant-based. Just leave off the cheese or use your favorite dairy-free melting cheese. It’s still really satisfying without it.
- Swap the beans. This recipe works with any canned beans — pinto beans, cannellini, borlotti, even chickpeas. Just keep roughly the same total quantity.
- Make ahead. The filling can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in the fridge. You can also stuff the peppers fully (without baking), cover them tightly, and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before baking. Add 5 minutes to the baking time.
- Freezer friendly. Baked peppers freeze well — wrap each one individually in plastic wrap, then foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 15–20 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
These vegetarian stuffed peppers are a proper main course on their own, but they really shine alongside something you can mop up the extra chili filling with. Simple bread rolls or sourdough are great, or you can make something a bit more special, like honey cornbread (the sweetness plays off the smoky spices perfectly). Tortilla chips work brilliantly if you want something easy and crunchy on the side.
For something lighter, a simple green salad or a corn and avocado salad is all you need. I also love putting out little bowls of toppings so everyone can customize: sour cream, fresh cilantro, sliced jalapeños, a few dashes of hot sauce, and chopped green onions. It turns dinner into a bit of an event.
💬 If you’ve tried this vegetarian stuffed peppers or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and or sign up to my Newsletter to see more of my delicious food.
Want to Save This Recipe?
Enter your email & I’ll send it to your inbox. Plus, get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Cooked & Loved
These easy vegetarian stuffed peppers are loaded with a smoky chili filling — two kinds of beans, sweet corn, wild rice, and fire-roasted tomatoes — all baked under a golden layer of melted cheddar and mozzarella. Weeknight-friendly and completely meatless. Find step-by-step photos and more recipe tips above.
-
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Spray a deep baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
-
Prepare the bell peppers: cut off the tops, remove the ribs and seeds, and stand them upright in the prepared baking dish.
-
Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and sauté for 3–5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they begin to soften and turn slightly golden.
-
Add the minced garlic and continue cooking for another 1–2 minutes, stirring frequently.
-
Turn off the heat. Add the vegetable broth, drained kidney beans, drained black beans, drained corn, fire-roasted diced tomatoes (with their liquid), and tomato paste to the skillet.
-
Add all the spices: chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, black pepper, and salt. Stir everything well to combine.
-
Add the par-boiled wild rice and stir through until evenly mixed into the filling.
-
Using a large spoon, fill each prepared pepper generously with the chili mixture.
-
Top each pepper with the shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.
-
Bake on the middle rack for 30 minutes, until the cheese is golden and bubbly and the peppers are fork-tender but still holding their shape. For softer peppers, bake for an additional 10 minutes.
-
Remove from the oven and let rest for 5–10 minutes