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
Units
Scale
- 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!