These quinoa stuffed peppers are the perfect vegetarian dish to show off to your friends. Packed full of flavour and nutrients, and oh-so-easy to make. Fluffy turmeric quinoa, mixed with fried onions, harissa paste and vegan yeast flakes all served in a beautifully roasted pepper. Best served hot with extra greens and a healthy dollop of hummus.
These can make a dish by themselves or if you want to add some extra, check out some of my side dishes for inspiration.
How to Make Stuffed Peppers?
First of all you need to select the best peppers for your quinoa stuffed peppers. I absolutely love red bell peppers and would suggest getting large ones if you can. Otherwise, find a pepper that you like and something that you can cut into half.
To make sure the peppers are cooked thoroughly, I like to partly cook the peppers before adding the filling. Start by taking a large knife and slicing lengthways through the stalk to create two halves. Remove the seeds and extra pith from the centre and place into a large dish. Rub the pepper in oil and salt (I used sesame oil) and then put them in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
Making the Quinoa Filling
Once the peppers are in the oven, you want to get on with cooking the quinoa. Rinse the quinoa, place it in a saucepan and then add water. I like to use a ratio of 1:2 quinoa to water. If you want more information on how to cook the perfect quinoa, check out this blog post from Cookie and Kate.
Take the saucepan with your quinoa and water and add the turmeric to the water and give a gently stir. Season the water with a little bit of salt and bring to the boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down slightly and let simmer until all of the water has evaporated. Make sure you keep an eye on the saucepan and if you need to add some extra water, just add some to the pan in small doses at a time.
Once you have got the quinoa simmering, add some oil to a frying pan and add some finely chopped onions. Let these cook until soft and then add half of the harissa paste.
What Harissa Paste should I use?
There are so many options for harissa paste if you look hard enough. If you don’t want to use a harissa paste, I would also recommend a red pesto or a similar tomato based paste.
The paste I actually used in this recipe is a Harissa Pesto which is suitable for vegans.
I actually use this quite a lot in my cooking. It is great to add to pasta dishes, stir fry veggies with or coat halloumi in.
It packs so much flavour in such a tiny amount so you don’t need to too much of it to get a tasty dish.
You need to add half of the paste to the onions and then the other half can be added with the quinoa. This will ensure that everything is coated and mixed evenly. After this, all you need to do is add the other veggies and the yeast flakes and mix again.
What are Yeast Flakes?
Yeast flakes are a form of nutritional yeast. This can also come in a powdered form. It is a deactivated yeast so it is different from a yeast extract that you might use in baking. Deactivated means that the yeast cells have been killed off in the processing.
Yeast flakes are an excellent vegan product. I have only recently been introduced to them and I think they are amazing.
Nutritional yeast is used commonly in vegan cheeses as it has a somewhat cheesy (and nutty) flavour. In this recipe, we are kind of using it as a cheese substitute so if you are not vegan and don’t have yeast flakes then I suggest substituting with a cheese. I have also made this recipe using a cream cheese instead of yeast flakes and that is also very delicious and has a more creamy result.
Not only does it add flavour, it also adds a range of vitamins and minerals and contains all 9 amino acids which is important, especially on a vegan diet. Amino acids are the building blocks for making proteins which is essential to keeping a healthy body. I definitely recommend trying our yeast flakes if you haven’t already.
Stuffing the Peppers
Once you have the filling mixed and the peppers softened, you can get started on building the peppers. Take the peppers from the oven and pour away any excess liquid. Take the quinoa mixture and use a spoon to fill the pepper halves. Use the back of the spoon to push down the mixture into the cracks and keep adding until full.
Sprinkle over some more yeast flakes on the top and place back into the oven for another 20 minutes or until the peppers are fully cooked through. Serve hot and enjoy!
If you enjoy this, check out my other quinoa recipes.
Vegan Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
Instructions
- Pre heat the oven to 180° Celsius.
- Slice the bell peppers in half through the stalk and remove all the seeds. Take 1 tbsp of the sesame oil and drizzle over the peppers. Sprinkle over a generous amount of salt and rub into the pepper and spread around your oil. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty. Place in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
- Whilst the peppers are in the oven, get started on the filling. Place the quinoa in a saucepan with twice as much water. Stir the turmeric into the water and season with salt. Bring this to boil and let simmer until all of the water has evaporated.
- Whilst the quinoa is cooking, place 1 tbsp of the sesame oil into a frying pan on medium heat. Once hot, finely chop the onions and add to the pan with a pinch of salt.
- Once the onions have softened, add in half the harissa paste and stir generously. Add the cooked quinoa and the rest of the harissa paste and stir again.
- Add in the spinach, spring onions and half the finely chopped chives. Take most of the yeast flakes and add to the pan, leaving a small amount to sprinkle on top of the peppers later. Mix evenly and let the spinach wilt.
- Once the peppers are softened all over and the skin is looking a bit wrinkly, remove from the oven and pour away any excess liquid from the dish. Fill the peppers generously with the quinoa mixture. Top the peppers with the rest of the yeast flakes and place back into the oven for a further 20 minutes. Any leftover filling can be left in the frying pan on low heat.
- Remove from the oven and serve with the leftover filling on the side. Garnish with the rest of the chives. Perfect with some extra greens on the side and a large dollop of hummus.
