Stuffed Peppers with Rice

These stuffed peppers with rice are a bright and vibrant change from the usual stuffed pepper situation. Keeping it cosy but still nice and light using rice and basil marinated tomatoes. Topped with feta and olives these are the perfect late summer dinner. Vegetarian, fresh and so quick and simple to make. And all ingredients are from Aldi, of course!

So, these stuffed peppers are an easy sheet pan dinner that can be on the table in about 30 minutes. And that includes cooking the rice! This quick and easy dinner is perfect for these September evenings. Sweet roasted peppers, garlicky olive oil drizzles, herby basil marinated juicy sweet tomatoes and that creamy salty feta to top it all off. Can you feel these late summer vibes coming through your screen? Mmmm-Hmmm.

Stuffed Peppers with Rice
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Ingredients needed

1. 3 bell peppers- use red, yellow and orange. Mix them or go with all one colour. Just skip the green. They end up being too bitter.
2. 2 cloves garlic (who are we kidding- we know you're gonna use like, 5!)
3. dried oregano
4. 200g rice- cooked weight should be about 500-600g
5. 1 punnet cherry tomatoes
6. 1 lemon- zest and juice
7. ½ bunch basil
8. ½ block feta
9. olives

Pantry Items 

Olive oil, salt and pepper

Making stuffed peppers step by step

• Before we go anywhere, you'll need to preheat your oven to HOT! Somewhere around 200ºc should do it. We want the edges of the peppers to char a little to get that smokey Mediterranean flavour and that's the kinds of temps that are gonna make that happen for us.
• First off, you're going to split these peppers in half lengthways and scoop out all the seeds and those long white ribs that run down the inside of the peppers. Pretty sure that's the hardest part of this recipe! Leave the peppers to the side and slice those garlic cloves into thin little wafer slices.
• Once you've split the peppers, drizzle with olive oil. How much is up to you, but usually somewhere around 4-5 tablespoons should do it. I am guilty of being a little heavy-handed when it comes to my oil application. Then sprinkle on the dried oregano and toss in the sliced garlic cloves. Roast in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes, until the peppers are soft, sweet and charred on the edges.

Making the marinated tomatoes

• While the peppers are cooking you can make the rice and get the tomatoes marinating. Just cook the rice according to the package directions. This will vary depending on the type of rice you choose. I've used basmati for the recipe, but you can use long-grain, regular, brown. They will all work.
• This is where we really master the art of multi-tasking. While your peppers are roasting and your rice is cooking, we're going to get the tomatoes going. All this requires is that you cut the tomatoes into quarters. Yes. I know they're already cherry tomatoes and are small anyway, but go with me here. We're looking for bite-sized bursts of sweet tomato candy smothered in basil oil. So, cut the tomatoes into quarters, drizzle with about 3 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and add in the chopped basil. What happens is that the salt draws the juices out of the tomatoes and the basil and creates an infused oil that coats every cut surface of tomato and will sink into the rice and peppers once they're all assembled. And the tomatoes don't need long to work they're magic. Just the amount of time it takes to roast the peppers, and cook the rice and they'll be good to go.

Putting it all together

• Once the rice is cooked, add in the lemon zest and chopped olives. Stir it all well. Stuff the peppers with the lemon-y olive rice. Top with some of the tomatoes and use that basil oil to drizzle over each pepper. Top it all off with cubes or crumbles of salty feta and you've got your self the perfect Greek-style stuffed peppers.

If there are any leftovers these make a perfect desk lunch for the next day. Just gently reheat in the microwave and you're good to go.

Variations

• roast chicken- this is the perfect place to add in some leftover if you have any.
• marinated artichokes- perfect to add in or you can use these in place of the olives.
• sun-dried tomatoes- add in some sun-dried instead of the fresh cherry tomatoes and just scatter with fresh chopped basil.

More vegetarian dinners

• Lemon-y herb couscous salad
• Kale salad with citrus dressing

Recipe

Stuffed Peppers with Rice Recipe

These stuffed peppers with rice are a bright and vibrant change from the usual stuffed pepper situation. Keeping it cosy but still nice and light using rice and basil marinated tomatoes. Topped with feta and olives these are the perfect late summer dinner. Vegetarian, fresh and so quick and simple to make. And all ingredients are from Aldi, of course!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Easy Dinners

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Servings: 3

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Author: Deborah Rainford

Ingredients

• 3 Red yellow or mixed bell peppers, but in half lengthways
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 500 g cooked rice warmed
• kalamata olives
• 1 lemon juice and zest
• Marinated cherry tomatoes
• 1 punnet cherry tomatoes halved
• ½ bunch basil chopped
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• For serving
• 200 g feta crumbled

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
• Cut the peppers in half and scoop out the seeds. Drizzle and toss with the olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper. Sprinkle the dried oregano over the inside of the peppers. Roast in the preheated oven until the peppers start to char around the edges, about 25-30 minutes.
• Toss the halved cherry tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil and the chopped basil. Season well with salt and pepper. Let marinate until the peppers are assembled.
• While the peppers are roasting, cook the rice according to the package directions. Once the rice is cooked and still hot, toss with the olives, lemon juice and zest, feta and ½ the chopped basil.
• Stuff the rice mixture into the peppers and top with basil tomatoes.

Notes

1. Note 1- pepper size this filling makes enough to fill 3 peppers cut in half. So 6 halves, using regular bell peppers. If you’re using the larger red bell peppers then this filling will only fill 2 peppers. Either make more filling or only use 2 peppers.
2. Note 2- Because the rice is cooked separately and not in the peppers, you can use whatever rice suits you. Because these ingredients are from Aldi only, the only choice I had was long grain white, brown, or basmati. But if you shop elsewhere then by all means, you can use wild rice or any other type. I would suggest against sushi rice as it will be very sticky and not great for this recipe.
3. Note 3- You could also use couscous in place of the rice.

Nutrition

Calories: 663kcal | Carbohydrates: 55g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 43g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 24g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 749mg | Potassium: 190mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 342IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 381mg | Iron: 2mg

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