Ricotta Stuffed Peppers [Gluten Free]
These ricotta stuffed peppers are a great low carb option when you’re craving creamy pasta, but you want something a little lighter!
I love pasta, but sometimes I want to get in some extra vegetables. Zucchini noodles are a great option, but lately, I’ve been loving these ricotta-stuffed bell peppers!
Tips for Making Ricotta Stuffed Peppers
- Look for bell peppers that are on the smaller side. They’ll be easier to stuff and they’ll cook more evenly.
- I like to use whole milk ricotta because it’s creamier. If you’re looking for a lower fat option, you can use part-skim ricotta. I don’t recommend using fat free ricotta.
- Using quality pasta sauce is essential. Rao’s Tomato Basil is my personal favorite!
Cheesy Stuffed Peppers [Gluten Free]
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 45 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Vegetarian
- Cuisine: Italian
Description
Pepper halves make a perfect swap for pasta shells in these cheesy dish!
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 handfuls of baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 1 large egg
- 15 oz skim-milk ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for garnish (See note)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- Dash black pepper
- 2 cups marinara sauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium heat for 1 minute.
- Add in the spinach and stir for 2-3 minutes or until the spinach begins to wilt slightly.
- Remove from heat.
- Slice the bell peppers and in half and remove the white membrane and seeds from the inside. These will be your “cups” for the cheese mixture.
- In a large bowl beat the egg slightly and then combine it with the ricotta cheese.
- Add in the mozzarella, parmesan, salt, basil, oregano and black pepper.
- In a large casserole dish, spread marinara sauce across the bottom.
- “Stuff” each of the peppers by dividing the cheese mixture evenly into each of the pepper halves.
- Spread out the pepper halves across the dish. (It’s fine if they’re touching, they just need to lay flat. If you’re also baking pasta shells, do these in a separate dish, as they will need less time to bake.)
- Use the rest of the marinara sauce to cover the peppers.
- Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes.Â
- Remove the foil and continue to bake for 5-10 minutes or until the peppers are tender.
- Sprinkle with additional parmesan cheese and serve!
Notes
Freshly grated parmesan is so worth the extra effort! Ditch the jar of grated parmesan and grate some right off a block of parmesan. I promise it’s worth it!
Alex I had these for lunch and I packed up the leftovers for later in the week. They reheated quite well in the microwave!
Looking for other stuffed pepper ideas? Try these black bean and quinoa stuffed peppers or these lentil stuffed peppers! If you have leftover ricotta, try these spinach and ricotta lasagna cups!
YUM! These look so delicious. I love ricotta and everything Italian.
Those look incredible!!!
look at all that sauce! looks so good. i’ve made stuffed peppers with shrimp, feta, orzo, and basil. so good!
The more sauce the better! 😉
Love this! Have you ever used cottage cheese when making these types of Italian dishes. It makes it even cheesier – I love it. I will definitely be making this. I am not a huge pasta fan so this is right up my alley!
I haven’t- but I bet that would be awesome (and healthy!) in this dish!
I LOVE stuffed peppers. And a ricotta version? Yes, please!
These sound awesome! I love stuffed peppers and ricotta sounds like a perfect filling.
Stuffed peppers are one of my FAVORITE foods 🙂 I’ve never made them before but my mom has a really great recipe she uses. I think these would be delicious for dinner. I love green peppers.
I have never made stuffed peppers. They always look unbelievably good, but I think I’m scared of them. I like peppers, but just in small doses, so I don’t know how I’d fare eating a pepper as a main course item.
Haha yeah I hear you! You could definitely make extra filling and stuff them to the brim!
I make a this buffalo ranch chicken dish all the time. So yummy and I love how easy it is to get the veggies by using it as the serving dish.
http://www.primallyinspired.com/buffalo-ranch-stuffed-peppers/
Sounds yummy, I like doing something similar with pablano peppers, however you do have to roast them ahead, remove the skin and then stuff them, So they take a little longer to make then your lovely peppers. Looks delicious!