Vegetarian Stuffed Pepper Casserole (Dump & Bake)
This dump-and-bake vegetarian stuffed pepper casserole gives you all the flavor of stuffed peppers without all the work! No parboiling, no stuffing, no pre-cooking the rice. Everything goes into one baking dish, raw rice and all, and the oven does the work!
I love stuffed peppers, but they can be a bit of a project. You have to cook the rice, hollow out the peppers, make the filling, stuff them, and then bake them. This version skips straight to the baking. Chopped peppers, black beans, rice, and a seasoned tomato broth all bake together under foil, then get a cheesy topping at the end. It tastes like stuffed peppers but it’s made like a casserole.
Why You’ll Love This Casserole
The rice cooks right in the dish. This is what saves you so much time! Uncooked rice goes in with the broth and tomatoes, and 45 minutes later it’s tender and has soaked up all the flavor of the broth. One less pot to wash, and the rice tastes way better than plain rice stirred in at the end.
This unstuffed pepper casserole is also almost entirely hands-off. Your only real job is chopping the peppers and onion. After that, it’s stir, cover, and walk away. And like most casseroles, it’s flexible and feeds a crowd. A 9×13 dish makes enough for dinner plus lunches, and it reheats beautifully.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Rice: Be sure to use long-grain white rice, and don’t rinse it! I know that goes against the typical guidance, but the surface starch helps everything bind together. Skip brown rice here, it needs way more time and liquid and won’t finish on the same clock as everything else.
- Bell peppers: Three peppers, chopped into big 3/4-inch pieces. Use at least one red or orange pepper because they’re sweeter than green and help to balance the tomatoes.
- Onion: I used one small yellow onion, but a red or white onion will work just fine.
- Black beans: These add protein and fiber to make the casserole hearty enough to be the whole meal. You could swap in pinto beans or even a can of lentils. Just be sure to rinse and drain whatever you use!
- Fire-roasted tomatoes: Don’t drain the tomatoes. The juices help cook the rice. The fire-roasted kind adds a subtle smokiness that regular diced tomatoes can’t match, but use what you have.
- Tomato sauce and broth: Together, these are the cooking liquid for the rice, so measure them rather than eyeballing.
- Seasonings: Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, garlic, salt, and pepper. Garlic powder works fine in place of fresh. You could swap in taco seasoning for a southwest flavor.
- Mozzarella: You could use a mozzarella-cheddar mix if you like a little more sharpness.
How to Make a Dump-and-Bake Casserole
Tips & Tricks
The method really is as easy as it sounds, but a few things are critical:
- Make sure the rice is fully submerged after you stir everything together in the casserole dish. Any grains sitting above the liquid line will stay crunchy, so take a second to spread things out and press the rice down into the liquid.
- Cover the dish tightly with foil. The trapped steam is what cooks the rice, so crimp the foil around the edges tightly.
- If you check at 45 minutes and the rice still has some bite, just re-cover it and give it 10 more minutes. Ovens vary, and the foil seal makes a difference.
Meal Prep and Storage
Leftovers keep in the fridge for 4 days in an airtight container. Reheat individual portions in the microwave with a splash of broth or water to loosen things up.
What to Serve With It
I really like serving this recipe with something crunchy like pita chips or tortilla chips. This is a full meal on its own but a simple kale salad or some garlic bread could be a nice addition! A dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt on top is also really good.Â
More Easy Dinner Recipes
If you love this one, try my quinoa enchilada casserole, my rice and beans casserole, or my white bean and pesto casserole. All of those recipes are dump-and-bake style dinners!
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Vegetarian Stuffed Pepper Casserole (Dump & Bake)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 cups 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This dump-and-bake vegetarian stuffed pepper casserole gives you all the flavor of stuffed peppers without all the work! No parboiling, no stuffing, no pre-cooking the rice. Everything goes into one baking dish, raw rice and all, and the oven does the work!
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked long-grain white rice (do not rinse, the starch helps it bind)
- 3 bell peppers, chopped into 3/4-inch pieces (about 3 cups) I used red, yellow, and orange
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
- 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cloves garlic, minced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella (or a mozzarella-cheddar mix)
- Optional: tortilla chips or pita chips for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with non-stick spray.
- Add the rice, peppers, onion, beans, tomatoes with their juices, tomato sauce, broth, garlic, and all the seasonings to the casserole dish. Stir well, then spread it out so the rice is fully submerged. Any rice sitting above the liquid line will stay crunchy.
- Cover tightly with foil and bake 45 minutes.
- Check a spoonful of rice from the center. If it still has bite, re-cover and give it 10 more minutes. If it looks soupy, that’s fine, it thickens as it rests.
- Uncover, sprinkle the cheese over the top, and bake uncovered 10 minutes until melted and bubbly at the edges.
- Serve with your favorite chips!
