Make my vegan Mexican Stuffed Peppers packed with veggies for a flavorful and filling weeknight dinner! They're made with quinoa, canned black beans, sweet potato, bold enchilada sauce, and cashews for creaminess for a dinner you'll crave over and over. Drizzle with a quick avocado cream to take it over the top!
Never have I ever stuffed a pepper. It's a darn shame, because they're so stuffable. Like, they're hollow. It's kind of bizarre. What a waste of precious pepper space.
HELLLOOOO. IS ANYBODY INNNN THERRREEEE.
Oh hi, seedy pith. Let's throw you in the garbaahhhge and replace you with creamy dremy enchilada filling. Because how much better does that sound than...air?
I tried really hard with every inch of my brainsicle to think of a corny yet funny one-liner for the beginning of this post. Want to know why? Because when I made this recipe I actually forgot the corn. Is the irony killing you?
Thus the pepper is not corny. And neither is the joke I couldn't think of.
This recipe was birthed when my roomie stuffed the filling of my beloved lentil & kale enchiladas into peppers rather than tortillas. A genius, that woman is!
So naturally I was going to tweak the greens and beans in that recipe, stuff it in a pepper, and call it a recipe, but my creative juices got the best of me. I didn't want the filling to be mush (AKA enchilada filling), so I blended the raw cashews with the enchilada sauce and some peppers rather than blending all the ingredients together. Now we have a decadent creamy sauce (that's secretly healthy) plus some much-needed texture from the beans, veggies, and quinoa.
Same method I use in my 30-minute Mexican Stuffed Peppers with ground chicken!
Since I'm playing the clean out your freezer/pantry/fridge game for the big move, I threw a handful of veggies in these including frozen spinach, corn (at least I meant to), and sweet potatoes. Feel free to toss in a handful of fresh spinach or cilantro, too.
The more veggies, the merrier! [Insert corny joke here.]
Print
Veggie-Loaded Mexican Stuffed Peppers (vegan!)
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Total Time: 55 mins
- Yield: 4 servings
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Mexican-Inspired
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Make my vegan Mexican Stuffed Peppers packed with veggies for a flavorful and filling weeknight dinner! They're made with quinoa, canned black beans, sweet potato, bold enchilada sauce, and cashews for creaminess for a dinner you'll crave over and over. Drizzle with a quick avocado cream to take it over the top!
Ingredients
For the stuffed peppers:
- ½ cup cashews
- 8oz red enchilada sauce (I love Frontera)
- 4 large bell peppers
- 1 cups frozen spinach, thawed + water squeezed out
- 1 heaping cup cooked quinoa (I used frozen)
- 1-15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup grated sweet potato (about ½ medium sweet potato)
- ½ cup chunky salsa (I love Frog Ranch medium salsa)
- ½ cup corn
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp cumin
For the avocado cream:
- 1 avocado
- juice 1 lime
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup unsweetened, unflavored almond milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Spray an 8x8in baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Place cashews in a bowl and cover with very hot water. Set aside.
- Trim the tops off each pepper (try to cut near the top) and gently remove the white membranes inside the peppers. Save tops. Place peppers cut side up in baking dish. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside.
- Meanwhile, gather the tops of the peppers and chop leftover pepper (excluding stem) into small pieces. Set aside ½ cup and discard the rest.
- Drain cashews. Place in blender/food processor (I used my Nutribullet) with enchilada sauce and ½ cup chopped peppers. Blend until completely smooth and creamy.
- In a large bowl, combine spinach, quinoa, black beans, grated sweet potato, salsa, corn, salt, garlic powder, and cumin, stirring to combine. Stir in cashew enchilada sauce. Divide mixture evenly into bell peppers. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the avocado cream ingredients in a blender and blend until completely smooth. Drizzle over peppers prior to serving.
Cassie says
Always looking for healthy and filling dishes to make for my friends and family (I'm a health nut and they are trying to step up their game too) and this was a hit! They were shocked that a stuffed pepper was so hearty and could be deliciously vegan! I did add lean ground turkey in the stuffing mixture one time to please some stubborn family members and it still worked so well (removed the quinoa when I added the meat and browned meat prior to stuffing the pepps). Thank you for supplying the world with nutritious, REAL food recipes. Loving your site.
Alexis says
OMG I basically forgot about this recipe! Thanks so much for bringing it back to life 🙂 Love that you made it your own.
Monica says
Delicious! I had to use white basmati rice and pinto beans because that's what I had on hand. Everyone like it, especially the baby! Will definitely be making again.
Tami says
Best Pinterest vegan recipe I have made thus far!! This may be a weekly meal for me!! Thank you for sharing
Stacey says
If I do not have cashews, are they absolutely necessary, or can I go ahead & make this without them?
Katherine says
I made these last night with a few modifications (and luckily remembered the corn at the last minute). Delicious! Thank you 🙂
Jenni Schaffer says
Mmmmm. Looks fantastic! I love stuffed peppers!!!