These vegan stuffed peppers are filled with delicious chunks of seasoned shredded jackfruit, zesty salsa, and vibrant yellow rice! This easy to make gluten-free meal is ready in just one hour and it's sure to be your new favorite family-friendly meatless dinner!
Before I was vegan, one of my go-to easy dinner recipes was to cook chicken in a slow cooker with a jar of salsa. Then I would shred the chicken and mix it with the salsa to use as a filling mixed with yellow rice for stuffed peppers, tacos, or enchiladas. Using store-bought salsa is such a quick and easy shortcut that adds so much flavor.
Now that I'm vegan, I make the same recipe, but I use shredded jackfruit instead of chicken. Jackfruit is the perfect replacement for chicken because it shreds perfectly and it tastes delicious! This meatless meal is super easy to make, customizable, and it's ready in just one hour!
How To Make Vegan Stuffed Peppers
Start by cooking the rice in a separate pot. Set it aside when it's done. While the rice is cooking, put the rinsed and drained jackfruit into a large pan along with water and all of the dry seasonings.
Next, cover the jackfruit and let it cook until the jackfruit is soft enough to lightly smash and break up the chunks with a spatula or potato masher. While the jackfruit is cooking, slice the tops off the bell peppers and remove the seeds and membranes.
Add all of the cooked rice and one cup of your favorite salsa to the pan with the cooked jackfruit. Mix it well and stuff each pepper with the jackfruit rice filling. If you like, you can top each pepper with vegan cheese before baking the peppers.
Serve and garnish each stuffed pepper with more salsa, guacamole, pickled jalapenos, sliced green onions, or your favorite toppings.
Serving Suggestions
I like to serve these vegan stuffed peppers with a big salad drizzled with ranch dressing. If you want to make a side dish to go with the peppers, any of the following recipes would be delicious.
How Long Does it Last in the Refrigerator?
Store the vegan stuffed bell peppers in an airtight container in the fridge and they should stay fresh for 4-5 days.
Can I Freeze It?
Yes, you can freeze the vegan stuffed peppers. I recommend arranging the peppers in a freezer-safe container and then freezing them after you stuff them but before you bake them. When you're ready to reheat the peppers, take them out of the freezer and let the peppers defrost for 24 hours in the fridge overnight. Bake the peppers at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until they're hot all the way through.
Ways to Adapt this Recipe
These homemade vegan stuffed peppers are delicious as-is but you can also try these tasty variations:
- Add More Plant-Based Protein: Add cooked black or kidney beans, red or green lentils, Beyond meat crumbles, or crumbled tempeh to the jackfruit and rice filling for even more protein.
- Add Hidden Veggies: If you want to add some hidden vegetables to the jackfruit rice filling, diced mushrooms, zucchini, corn, spinach, or red cabbage would be great additions.
- Make Soup: Instead of stuffing the peppers, you can use the ingredients to make a hearty and filling vegan stuffed pepper soup!
- Stuffed Tomatoes: If you don't want to stuff bell peppers, you can also stuff poblano peppers or tomatoes! You could use the same jackfruit filling or you could try a vegan pesto spinach quinoa or a zesty taco-seasoned tofu veggie filling.
Substitutions & FAQ
- Brown Rice Substitutions: You could substitute cooked quinoa, couscous, or cauliflower rice for the brown rice.
- Low-Carb Option: You can easily make these vegan stuffed peppers low-carb by substituting raw cauliflower rice (you don't have to cook it before stuffing the peppers, it will cook enough in the oven) for the brown rice.
- Can I use fresh jackfruit? You need to use canned young green jackfruit for this recipe. Fresh jackfruit tastes sweet so it shouldn't be used in a savory recipe where jackfruit is used as a meat replacement.
- What type of salsa can I use? I usually use a jar of store-bought salsa to save time, but you could also make homemade cilantro lime salsa. Make sure you check the sodium level of premade salsa because some brands are pretty high. If the salsa is high in sodium, don't add any extra salt to the stuffed pepper filling until after you mix in the salsa and taste it.
- What can I do with the bell pepper tops? After you cut the tops off the bell peppers, you can dice them and add it to a salad, homemade salsa, vegetable barley soup, or you could freeze the diced peppers to use for a future meal like sausage and peppers with rice.
Success Tips
- Try to pick bell peppers that are similar in size so the peppers cook evenly.
- I prefer to use yellow, orange, or red bell peppers because they taste sweeter. You can use green bell peppers, but they aren't as sweet.
- I used store-bought salsa to keep this recipe super simple but you can definitely use homemade salsa if you have time to make it.
- To give your vegan stuffed peppers a spicy kick, use medium salsa instead of mild salsa.
- Just like with jackfruit tacos, and jackfruit enchiladas, toppings are important to add to vegan stuffed bell peppers too! You can add guacamole, extra salsa, vegan cheese, cilantro, fresh lime juice, vegan sour cream, green onions, and fresh cilantro!
Want More Vegan Bell Pepper Recipes?
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Quesadillas
Vegan Stuffed Peppers
Equipment
- Medium Casserole Dish
- Large Pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice
- ½ tsp ground turmeric
- 6 medium bell peppers
- 14 oz can jackfruit rinsed and drained
- ½ cup water (add more if it gets too dry)
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1 cup salsa
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to package instructions. Add ½ tsp of turmeric powder to the water while the rice is cooking to naturally turn the rice yellow.
- While the rice is cooking, put the drained and rinsed jackfruit, ½ cup water, 1 tbsp chili powder, 1 tsp smoked paprika, 1 tsp cumin, ½ tsp garlic powder, and ½ tsp onion powder into a large saute pan over medium heat. Stir to combine the seasonings with the jackfruit, cover it, and let it cook for 30 minutes. Use a spatula or potato masher to break up the chunks of jackfruit.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- While the jackfruit and rice are cooking, prep the bell peppers. Cut off the tops and remove the seeds and membranes.
- Add the cooked rice and 1 cup of salsa to the pan with the cooked jackfruit. Mix it well and fill each pepper with the rice mixture. If you want to top the peppers with shredded vegan cheese, add it now.
- Add 2 tbsp of water to the bottom of a casserole dish to stop the peppers from sticking. Arrange the peppers to fit snugly in the casserole dish. Cover and bake the peppers for 30 minutes or until tender. Top with fresh lime juice, guacamole, cilantro, vegan sour cream, and jalapenos.
Notes
- Try to pick bell peppers that are similar in size so the peppers cook evenly.
- I prefer to use yellow, orange, or red bell peppers because they taste sweeter. You can use green bell peppers, but they aren't as sweet.
- To give your homemade stuffed peppers a spicy kick, use medium salsa instead of mild salsa.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Nutrition
*This recipe was originally posted on 6/23/15 but I updated it with new pictures on 10/24/20.
