Vegan Stuffed Peppers

This vegan stuffed peppers recipe (aka Posne Punjene Paprike in Serbia) uses simple ingredients that together create a beautiful and nourishing meal.

It’s a gluten-free, soy-free, sugar-free, and plant-based flavourful meal that will leave you wanting more with every bite.

Traditional recipes of stuffed peppers normally have some form of ground meat, sausage and cheese.

Even though you won’t find any of those ingredients in these stuffed peppers, you’ll certainly not miss out on flavour; it has bucket loads of it!

In Serbia, and some other countries like Croatia, the word “posna” in cooking indicates that the recipe will be free from animal products. This means that you’re fasting for spiritual reasons. It’s a great way to filter out other recipes that use animal products.

Stuffing is my favourite way to prepare peppers unless they’re roasted with other vegetables and tossed through a salad like in this Vegan Mediterranean Couscous Salad. 

Growing up in a vegetarian household, we ate a lot of vegetables, and peppers were my dad’s favourite. He would eat them raw on top of a beautiful thick slice of Italian bread, with some butter and fresh garlic.

Every time I smell roasted peppers, it takes me straight back to living in Slovenia as a kid.

Variations of these vegan stuffed capsicums

This dish has so many different variations. I’ll share some of them in future posts; however, this recipe is a great starting point. You can add different veggies inside, herbs and spices. 

These peppers are the closest whole foods version that I’ve made that resembles the traditional varieties. 

You can even swap out the rice for legumes, quinoa, buckwheat or couscous.

What is a good side dish for stuffed peppers?

There is a large range of things you can have with vegan stuffed peppers. Some of my favourite ways to enjoy it is with:

• Mashed potatoes
• A simple garden salad
• A thick slice of good-quality bread

This recipe has the wonderful addition of roasted potatoes that pairs perfectly; however, you can leave them out. The dish will still be just as delicious.

How it really looks to eat something with a rich tomato sauce! Messy but delicious.

Can you freeze stuffed peppers?

You certainly can! They freeze really well. Let them cool completely before freezing.

They will hold their flavour and shape. Just thaw them out and pop in the oven to heat up and enjoy!

What do I do if I have stuffing left over?

This recipe was designed to fill 5 medium-sized peppers. If you, however, have some left over, here are a few ideas of how to use it!

You can turn it into a wonderful soup! Just add some veggie broth to it and simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Stuff some other veggies with it! Fermented cabbage leaves to make a dish like sarma (stuffed cabbage rolls), tomatoes, eggplants or zucchinis. The options are endless.

If you don’t want to make other meals with it, you can also just spread it around the baking dish with the peppers and potatoes.

I got the inspiration for this recipe from a wonderful Serbian grandma on YouTube. She makes some amazing dishes! Thank you for the inspiration, Jela.

These vegan stuffed peppers are baked to perfection. The slight char on the outside and the beautiful sauce that’s created with 2 simple ingredients will make your mouth water.

Some tips for making these plant-based stuffed peppers

Make sure that you slightly undercook the rice as it will continue to cook in the oven. You don’t want to be left with overcooked rice. So please follow the instructions carefully for preparing the rice.

• You can use any variety of pepper for stuffing; however, I love the sweeter varieties as they add an extra flavour that balances out the rich filling.
• It’s important to cover your baking dish with either a lid that fits or aluminium foil. This will help the rice, potatoes and peppers cook to perfection. This will only be on for part of the baking process, as we still want that beautiful char on the veggies.
• You can serve this dish both hot or cold. I find that they’re even nicer the next day as the flavours have had an opportunity to marinate even more.
• As I mentioned earlier, they freeze really well. So if you have some leftover, just pop them in the freezer for later!
• The reason I use the tomatoes at the top of each pepper is to seal the filling. This way, as they bake the stuffing stays inside. If you don’t want to use tomato slices, you can use a thin slice of potato, zucchini or any other larger vegetable. 

Some other recipes you’ll love:

1. Vegan Moussaka
2. Serbian Baked Beans (Prebranac)
3. Vegan Gibanica Recipe (Serbian Cheese Pie)
4. Sauerkraut and Bean Stew (Slovenian Jota)
5. Quick and Easy Sauerkraut Pasta
6. 20-Minute Creamy Vegan Red Pepper Pasta
7. Chargrilled Capsicums in Garlic Parsley Oil (Red Bell Peppers)

If you try this recipe, let me know! We’d love for you to leave a comment and rating below. If you want to go that extra mile, tag us on Instagram, or share your photo of the recipe on Pinterest. 

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