This Couscous Stuffed Peppers recipe is packed with whole grains, healthy protein, and the flavors of the Mediterranean. It's ready in less than an hour and can easily feed a crowd. Enjoy hot with your favorite sides or store away for a quick and delicious meal prep.
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🌟Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Packed with Mediterranean flavors. The couscous mixture in this recipe is made with some of my favorite healthy Mediterranean ingredients like fresh parsley, fresh dill, chickpeas, couscous, and a quality olive oil. It's simply spiced, yet bursting with flavor.
- Can be served as both a main dish or a side dish. Grain and feta stuffed peppers are versatile in that they can be filling enough to be served as a main or paired alongside your favorite lean protein for a more hearty meal.
- Perfect for meal prep. Make these peppers on Sunday night and enjoy them as a quick and easy lunch throughout the week. The recipe can also be doubled or tripled as necessary to suit your needs and family size.
🥘Ingredients and Substitutions
- Bell peppers - Any color peppers will work well. If you like sweet peppers, use red peppers. If you like more bitter peppers, try green bell peppers.
- Couscous - Any type of fluffy couscous will work here. Israeli couscous (pearl couscous) or Moroccan couscous are both great.
- Diced tomatoes - I recommend using salt-free tomatoes to better control the sodium content in these peppers. If you only have a salted can of diced tomatoes, reduce or omit the added teaspoon of salt.
- Chickpeas - Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, are a staple ingredient in Mediterranean cooking because of their high protein and fiber content. They're an excellent addition to any vegetarian dish to help keep you full and satisfied. I used canned chickpeas to make prep quick and easy, but feel free to cook them from scratch and replace the can with 1 ½ cups of legumes.
- Feta cheese - Tangy, salty feta adds a final touch of flavor and creaminess that completes the dish and compliments the other Mediterranean flavors in these couscous stuffed peppers. If desired, feel free to omit or replace the feta with your favorite cheese. Mozzarella cheese or parmesan cheese would be good alternatives.
See the recipe card below for the remaining ingredients and quantities.
🔪Instructions
- Pre-cook the peppers. Cut the peppers lengthwise, then place the pepper halves face up in a casserole dish of choice. Spray lightly with cooking spray, then pre-cook for 10 minutes.
- Sauté the onion and garlic. Warm olive oil in a large skillet, then add in the diced onion. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until softened. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 more minute, stirring frequently to prevent burning.
- Mix in the seasonings. Once the garlic is fragrant, add in the diced tomatoes, chickpeas, salt, black pepper, and paprika. Mix to combine then simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the remaining ingredients. Turn off the heat and add the cooked couscous, baby spinach, fresh lemon juice and herbs.
- Fill the peppers. Spoon the filling mixture into the peppers and top each with a sprinkle of feta cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until warmed through and the peppers are softened.
- Serve. Enjoy immediately while hot with desired sides.
💭Recipe FAQs
There are two popular ways to cut bell peppers when making stuffed peppers. Some recipes call for cutting off the pepper tops and baking the peppers whole standing up. Or, you can cut the peppers in half lengthwise and bake the pepper halves on their sides. This method is my preferred method because it cooks faster and is easier to eat.
This can be caused by overbaking the peppers. It can also happen if your filling contains too much excess water or liquid. For best results, follow the recipe measurements and bake times.
Yes, simply omit the feta cheese and these peppers are naturally vegan-friendly.
Couscous stuffed peppers will last for up to 3 days. To store, allow the peppers to cool completely to room temperature, then place them in a tightly sealed container and refrigerate. I have not tested freezing these peppers and cannot recommend it.
Yes. If desired, replace the chickpeas with 1 pound of ground meat. I'd recommend a leaner protein such as ground chicken or ground turkey, but ground beef will also work. Add it to the pan after recipe step 3 and cook until golden brown and crispy, then resume the recipe as usual.
👩🏻🍳Chef Tips
- Prep the couscous in advance. This recipe calls for pre-cooked and cooled couscous. To make the recipe prep simpler and quicker, I recommend making the couscous about 24 hours in advance and storing it in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use. If you're new to cooking with couscous, follow my cooking instructions in this recipe: Lemon Herb Pearl Couscous.
- Cook the couscous in broth. This will help add flavor to the dish. Both chicken broth and vegetable broth would work well here.
🥗Serving
Stuffed peppers are the perfect hearty main to serve alongside simple dishes like Air Fryer Frozen Green Beans, Roasted Maple Bacon Brussels Sprouts, Italian Tomato Salad, or Air Fryer Frozen Brussels Sprouts.
If you aren't vegetarian, you can also serve these stuffed peppers as a side to your favorite protein. I recommend something simply seasoned, such as Air Fryer Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs, Air Fryer Rotisserie Chicken, or Grilled Mediterranean Chicken Thighs.
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🍳Recipe
Couscous Stuffed Peppers
Equipment
- Cutting board
- Large Skillet
Ingredients
- 3 bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise
- Olive oil spray
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 (15 ounce) can diced tomatoes (no salt added)
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
- 2 cups couscous, cooked
- 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 5 ounces fresh baby spinach
- ¼-1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Once preheated, add the cut peppers to a baking dish, spray lightly with olive oil spray and pre-cook for 10 minutes.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes, until softened.
- Add in the minced garlic and cook for 1 more minute.
- Mix in the diced tomatoes, chickpeas and spices. Stir and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the cooked couscous, spinach, lemon juice and herbs until the spinach is wilted. Spoon the mixture into the peppers and top them with feta cheese.
- Place the peppers in the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
- Serve and enjoy.
Video
Notes
- Prep the couscous in advance. This recipe calls for pre-cooked and cooled couscous. To make the recipe prep simpler and quicker, I recommend making the couscous about 24 hours in advance and storing it in an airtight container in the fridge until ready to use. If you're new to cooking with couscous, follow my cooking instructions in this recipe: Lemon Herb Pearl Couscous.
- Cook the couscous in broth. This will help add flavor to the dish. Both chicken broth and vegetable broth would work well here.
- Couscous stuffed peppers will last for up to 3 days. To store, allow the peppers to cool completely to room temperature, then place them in a tightly sealed container and refrigerate. I have not tested freezing these peppers and cannot recommend it.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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