Description
Couscous Stuffed Peppers will be your new favorite dinner. These stuffed bell peppers are so easy to make in less than an hour. Try them for a flavor packed meatless Monday!
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers (any color)
- 2 and 1/4 cup chicken stock or Vegetable stock, if vegetarian
- 1 and 1/2 cups dried toasted pearl couscous
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 zucchini, diced
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup roasted red peppers, drained and roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives, make sure to remove any seeds and chop into small pieces
- 1/2 cup of store bought marinara sauce or use my quick marinara sauce recipe plus additional sauce for serving.
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese and 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh basil for serving.
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Wash and dry bell peppers, then cut them in half lengthwise. Remove the stems, seeds and any large white pieces of membrane. Place them in a casserole dish filled with 1 cup of water open side up.
3. Bake for 20 minutes. *If you like stuffed peppers on the softer side, you can increase the bake time to 25 minutes.
4. When the peppers are cooking in the oven, make the couscous. In a medium size pot, bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add in the couscous and once it starts to simmer, turn the heat to low.
5. Cover the pot and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring every few minutes. *Be sure to double check the package instructions if the brand you choose varies in directions* Once the couscous is finished cooking, move it off the burner to the back of the stove.
6. In a dutch oven on medium heat, add the olive oil. Once it heats up for a minute, add in the onions, zucchini and salt and pepper. Stir and cook until softened, 6 to 7 minutes. If the vegetables start to brown too much, reduce the heat.
7. Add in garlic, stir and cook for one minute. Turn off heat completely.
8. Pour in roasted red peppers, dried oregano, olives, couscous, and marinara sauce. Stir to fully combine.
9. Carefully pour out the excess water in the bell pepper casserole dish. Place the peppers back into the dish. Stuff each pepper full to the top with filling.
10. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
11. Allow the stuffed peppers to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. Top with feta cheese and fresh basil. I like to also heat some additional marinara sauce up for serving. Enjoy!
Notes
*Be careful not to overcook the couscous. It could get mushy like pasta does. If you have a lot of liquid in the couscous after it's finished, it may be undercooked. You do not want to add this extra liquid into the pepper filling (in the dutch oven).
*It is important to cook the bell peppers prior to stuffing. They will not get cooked enough if you skip the step.
*Zucchini can be tricky to dice. I cut off the top stem and lower end off. Then, slice in half lengthwise. Lay the large side flat onto the cutting board and cut into more long strips. Now, it should be easy to dice into pieces.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Greek