Couscous stuffed peppers are delicious, easy to make, and dairy free. The total preparation time is about 5 minutes or less and you’ll be eating in under thirty minutes, I promise! If you’re like me, I often wait until I am hangry to decide what to eat and then nothing is attainable because I only have ‘ingredients’ in my house, and nothing that is actually ready to eat right now. Sigh.
What type of peppers should I use for this recipe?
Couscous stuffed peppers is a recipe best made with any variety of medium to large sized bell peppers. Several smaller sweet peppers could be a great option if making shareable hors d’oeuvres. If you like a little kick, use poblano peppers to make a delicious Italian Mexican fusion dish.
How should I prep peppers for couscous stuffed peppers?
To prepare your peppers for this dish, start by washing them and patting them dry with a paper towel or clean tea towel. There are a few options to preparing and presenting this dish. Traditionally, stuffed bell peppers are whole (uncut) with filling placed inside the pepper. Cut into the top of the pepper, slicing around the top stem. Pull the stem and the seeds out. Once the seeds are out, carefully cut the interior ribs away from the sidewall of the pepper. It helps to cut in at an angle so that you don’t risk slicing through the wall of the pepper. Alternatively, cut bell peppers completely in half or into quarters to create bell pepper stuffed boats. I personally prefer to cut the peppers in half, or into quarters for easier serving and to make the dish more shareable.
Don’t stuffed bell peppers usually contain cheese?
Many stuffed pepper recipes call for cheese. You certainly can add cheese to this recipe if you prefer, however I promise you will not miss the cheese in this dish! Cheese is honestly not the healthiest thing that we as humans consume. Many of us are lactose intolerant. Cheese contributes to high cholesterol, elevated blood pressure, and also causes weight gain. I personally am lactose intolerant (tmi? :), and have chosen to completely remove cheese from my food lifestyle. If you love cheese, I know this sounds like the worst thing ever. As a pizza connoisseur, I completely understand. I have started eating pizza cheeseless and guess what? I don’t miss it. 😲 If you need a little something like cheese to put on top of your dish, nutritional yeast is a great replacement that offers a nutty, cheesy flavor and reminds me of parmesan cheese.
What should I serve with couscous stuffed bell peppers?
Couscous stuffed bell peppers can be enjoyed as a stand alone dish! The fact that it is a complete meal on it’s own is part of the beauty in this recipe. If you feel like you need a little something to go with it, a light house salad and/or bread are great options. Think warm sourdough with herb avocado oil or garlic bread. Yum!
Couscous Stuffed Peppers
I find the quickest and easiest way to work this couscous stuffed bell pepper recipe is to get everything started at just about the same time, and then everything will finish together – in under thirty minutes. 🙂
I also personally used only two bell peppers in this recipe. I happened to be the only person eating in my family at the time that I made this dish. I plan to put the leftover couscous hamburger mixture on top of another vegetable for variety!
Notes
Here are the kitchen tools that I recommend for this recipe:
T-fal saute pan
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers, cut in half or in quarters
- 1 cup Rice Select Pearl Couscous, or couscous of your choice
- 15.5 oz Rao’s marinara
- 1 lb hamburger, 90/10
- 1 tsp garlic granules
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- Dash of nutritional yeast (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 and line sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Wash bell peppers and cut them in half or in quarters, or even leave them whole! Whichever you prefer is great, all versions will work with this super easy couscous stuffed bell pepper recipe. Place the prepared bell peppers on the parchment lined baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile preheat a nonstick sauté pan on medium high heat (4/5), heating 1 tbsp avocado oil.
- Once the oil easily moves around the pan, add 1 pound raw hamburger and let brown on one side for 2-3 minutes. Flip and let brown on the other side for 2-3 minutes. Then using a spatula, break up the ground beef and continue to brown on medium heat. Add salt, pepper, garlic granules and oregano to the ground beef. Continue to break down meat with the spatula and occasionally stir.
- Using a sauce pan, bring 1 and 1/2 cups of water to a boil, along with 1 cup of couscous over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat (2/3) and cover with a lid. Simmer on low heat for 8-10 minutes and stir occasionally to keep couscous from sticking to the pan.
- Once the hamburger is fully browned and reads at least 160 degrees on a meat thermometer, mix in Rao’s marinara and your finished couscous. Stir the hamburger, marinara, and couscous until fully combined and continue heating on medium heat until the marinara is hot.
- It will now be time to take your bell peppers out of the oven. You will likely need to pat them down with paper towels as the water in the bell peppers tend to come to the surface while baking. Once they have been lightly patted dry, spoon the couscous hamburger mixture to fill the pepper, or line the top of the pepper halves or quarters depending on how you chose to serve them. I personally like to cut them in half or into quarters because I find it easier to serve and eat them this way!
- Optional: top with nutritional yeast.
Nutrition Facts
Couscous Stuffed Peppers
Serves: 4
|
Amount Per Serving: 1/2 pepper
|
||
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 541 | |
| % Daily Value* | ||
| Total Fat 27 | 41.5% | |
| Saturated Fat 9 | 45% | |
| Trans Fat | ||
| Cholesterol 80mg | 26.7% | |
| Sodium 897 | 37.4% | |
| Total Carbohydrate 47 | 15.7% | |
| Dietary Fiber 6 | 24% | |
| Sugars 8 | ||
| Protein 27 | ||
| Vitamin A 4210IU | Vitamin C 160mg | |
| Calcium 63mg | Iron 4mg | |
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
LeeAnn Neumann | Chucktown Art
Couscous stuffed pepper images
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About the author
LeeAnn Neumann is a mom of 4 boys, guitarist wife, cat lady, wannabe yogi, Peloton addict, home chef, pizza eater, who walks everywhere, listens to music all day, sourdough baker, kombucha brewer, developing a green thumb, professional photographer, artist, and potter living in Charleston, South Carolina. LeeAnn connects all the dots while coloring outside the lines. You can find more by LeeAnn at www.leeannneumann.com and www.chucktownart.com.
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