These Jack O’ Lantern Stuffed Peppers are the perfect spooky and delicious dinner to whip up at Halloween time.. Savings tons of time for trick or treatin’
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Growing up whenever there was a holiday my mom always tried to make us a themed dinner. For Valentines Day it was often all pink, for St. Patrick’s Day it was all green (hello green mashed potatoes), and you betcha for Halloween we were having something a little creepy!
Now that I’m out of the house I like to carry on this tradition with my own twist coming up with vegan options!
How to Make Vegan Stuffed Peppers
For these stuffed peppers I made them with a quinoa base with tons of Mexican flavor!
First start by making your quinoa.
While your quinoa is cooking you can prepare the rest of the mixture. Mix together the black beans, corn, tomato sauce, spices, and vegan shredded cheese. The amounts of the black beans and corn can be adjusted based on your preference, I used 1 cup of each to give just the right amount of texture and flavor.
When your quinoa is done fluff with a fork and allow to cool (this is a good time to prep the peppers if you are making Jack O’ Lantern’s!). Stir into black bean and corn mixture.
Stuff the peppers with as much goodness as you can get in them. Place the top back on the pepper (so the stuffing doesn’t dry out). In the baking pan i covered the bottom with water. This gave a better cook to the pepper (I tried one set with water and one without and my hubby definitely preferred with).
PRO TIP – If you are finding your peppers are a little wobbly in your baking pan, use tinfoil! I created a little tinfoil base for my peppers to sit in and it worked perfectly.
Enjoy!
How to Carve Jack O’ Lantern Peppers
While the quinoa was cooling I prepared the peppers. Start by cutting off the top of the pepper (save it for later!). Scoop out the seeds and the membrane of the pepper.
Gently, with a paring knife cut out the shape of the face of the Jack O’ Lantern.
And voila! You have a fun halloween themed dinner!
Can Stuffed Peppers Be Made Ahead of Time?
Absolutely! Follow all of the above instructions and once you have your peppers stuffed and ready to go, just wrap them up and stick them in the fridge overnight. The next day you can just pop them in your baking dish and bake away. I would maybe add 5-10 minutes to the baking time.
Other Fall Dishes:
–Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta
–Butternut Squash Ricotta Toast
Jack O’ Lantern Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
Quinoa
- 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
- 1 Cup Quinoa
- 2 Cups Vegetable Broth
Stuffed Peppers
- 4 Orange Bell Peppers
- 1 Cup Black Beans Drained and Rinsed
- 1 Cup Corn Kernels Drained
- 1 Cup Daiya Shredded Cheese Divided
- ½ Cup Tomato Sauce
- 2 Tsp Taco Seasoning Looking to make homemade? I use this recipe: https://www.spendwithpennies.com/taco-seasoning-recipe/
- 1 Tsp Chili Powder
Instructions
Prepare Rice
- Heat olive oil in saucepan over medium heat. Add quinoa and stir constantly until quinoa begins to toast (for approximately minutes). Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a low simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
- Stir the quinoa with a fork until fluffy. Allow to cool.
Make Stuffed Peppers
- Prepare the peppers. Slice the tops off and hollow out the insides including removing the seeds. Cut out jack o' lantern in pepper.
- Mix the quinoa, black beans, corn, 1/2 cup cheese, tomato sauce, taco seasoning, and chili powder together in a large bowl. Fill each pepper with quinoa mixture and top with extra cheese, if desired. Replace pepper top back on top.
- Place peppers in baking pan. If peppers are wobbling, I used tinfoil to help create a stable base. Put enough water to cover bottom of baking pan.
- Bake at 350 for 30 minutes until cheese is melted
Notes
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