Greek Stuffed Peppers
Greek Stuffed Peppers with rice, feta, raisins, parsley, pine nuts and diced tomatoes have quickly become a household favorite! I’ve made them 4 times in the last few weeks to get the recipe right and I’ve finally nailed it. These are perfect for make-ahead and taste even better the next day!
Family dinners are a big thing in our house. The boys and I sit down just about every night to share a meal together and often we sit down for breakfast too. For me, cooking and sitting down around the table to share a meal is a welcome reprieve in an often busy day. It’s 30 minutes where we can sit together and catch up with each other. About once a month or so we get together with my extended family and do a sunday supper to do the same thing. I’m always happy to host as it gives me the chance to try out new recipes on a willing crowd!
I first made these peppers the last time we all got together. My uncle and parents came over for an early dinner on a Sunday afternoon. I knew the kiddos and I would be skiing most of the day beforehand so I wanted to make something that would be easy and I could make ahead. I was craving stuffed peppers and came up with this veggie version to go with a roast pork tenderloin. The Greek flavors are amazing here. They turned out a trillion times better than I imagined them would.
So amazing in fact, my uncle has been harassing me for the recipe ever since. I kid you not, straight up harassment. I’ve gotten phone calls and texts asking for the recipe. And it’s not like I was being stingy and not sharing but I didn’t actually have the recipe. I made these up as I went and I didn’t write the recipe down the first time around. Plus I’ve been crazy busy catering and I didn’t have time to make them again. So for the sake of being able to share this with all of you and quiet my uncle down once and for all, I made these a few times over the last few weeks until they were just right and I felt good about sharing them with you!
You can’t beat the ease in preparation as you literally mix a bunch of ingredients in a bowl, stuff the pepper and then bake them- perfect for make-ahead or busy nights! The real beauty in these peppers though is that they’re even better the following day. The flavors have time to settle in and sit and I swear these are even better the next day. Which is saying a lot for someone who doesn’t really do leftovers. I gladly eat these the next day for lunch both times I made them! They were also our plane snack when we flew to Hawaii last week.
These are for you, dear Uncle! Sorry it took me so long to post the recipe! Thanks for reading, everyone, and hope you’re having a great week. We’re busy soaking up the sun and doing a whole lot of nothing while relaxing in Hawaii! xo, Kelley
PrintGreek Stuffed Peppers
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
Description
These are the BEST vegetarian stuffed peppers I’ve ever had!
Ingredients
- 6 medium size bell peppers, any colors
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained (reserving juice)
- 6 tablespoons basmati rice
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 2 small garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 cup raisins
- 1/4 cup pine nuts
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/3 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F degrees.
- Cut off tops of peppers, reserving tops, and remove seeds and membranes. Sprinkle a pinch of sugar inside each pepper. (I’ve done this with or without the sugar and it really makes a difference- add the sugar!!) Place peppers, cut side up in a baking dish.
- In a large bowl, add diced tomatoes (reserve the juice in a small bowl for later use), uncooked rice, minced onion, garlic, raisins, pine nuts, crumbled feta, salt, pepper, parsley and 6 tablespoons of olive oil. Stir to combine.
- Divide the mixture equally between the 6 peppers. (The mixture should fill the peppers about 3/4 full.) Put tops back on peppers.
- Drizzle the peppers with the additional 2 tablespoons olive oil. Mix the reserved tomato juice with 2 tablespoons tomato paste and 1/3 cup water. Pour this in bottom of baking dish.
- Bake peppers uncovered for 90 minutes. Turn oven off and let sit for an additional 30 minutes before serving.
13 Comments
Theeeeese look fantastic! I’m going in.
These look great. if you make them ahead, do you stuff them and then wait to bake them the next day? Or do you bake them and then reheat them or eat them cold?
I stuffed them earlier in the day and then baked that night. We ate them for lunch the next day. You could easily bake them in the morning and serve room temperature later.
Thanks! Trying these this week!
Tried these the other night (and followed the recipe exactly) but for some reason the rice didn’t cook. Was it supposed to be cooked or parboiled beforehand? At any rate, I love the mix of flavors so I’m definitely going to try again and make a couple cooking adjustments. 🙂
It doesn’t have to be cooked beforehand. The juice from the tomatoes, peppers and olive oil with the long cooking time is enough to cook the rice through.
Whoa! This is my kind of stuffed peppers. Love the raisins and pine nuts.
Yum yum yum–I can’t wait to make these!
Can’t wait to try these this weekend! I assume the tomato paste goes in the bowl when mixing all the other ingredients?
Nope. The tomato paste gets mixed in with the water and reserved tomato juice to pour in the bottom of the pan.
These luck scrumptious–what a great twist on stuffed bell peppers!
Made this for guests tonight–it was fantastic! Served it as a side dish to pork tenderloin and everyone loved it. Plus they are so festive-looking and colorful. Thank you!!!
Stacy
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