Healthy and Easy Couscous Stuffed Bell Peppers

Photos by Marie-Catherine Dubé

I love to make stuffed bell peppers when I have extra bell peppers or when I feel like doing a meatless Monday. They’re easy to throw together and a yummy way to get more veggies and couscous into my family’s diet. My favorite part is the taste of the roasted bell peppers! So good!

Looking for options? I’ve got you covered. Add any veggies and any combo of spices depending on the flavor profile you’re going for. You can even add ground meat if the meatless Monday idea isn’t your cup of tea. No matter what you add, these are going to be delish!

❤️ Why You’ll Love Couscous Stuffed Peppers:

  • Complete meal in one or perfect as a side dish.
  • Great for meal prep.
  • Toddler-friendly recipe that will be enjoyed by the whole family.
  • Tons of flavor.
  • So easy to make.
  • So colorful for beautiful presentation.
Photos by Marie-Catherine Dubé

🍲 Ingredients

Large Bell Peppers

Couscous

Chicken Bone Broth

Mushrooms

Zucchini

Parmesan Cheese

Garlic

Olive Oil

Italian Seasoning

Spices: salt and black pepper

👩‍🍳 How to Make Couscous Stuffed Peppers

  1. Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
  2. Prepare the bell peppers by cutting off the tops and removing the seeds and membranes. 
  3. In a large saucepan, bring the vegetable broth or water to a boil. Once boiling, stir in the couscous, remove from heat, cover, and let it sit for about 5 minutes, or until the couscous has absorbed the liquid.
  4. In a medium skillet on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir until veggies are browned and cooked, about 3 to 5 minutes.
  5. Add the cooked couscous and parmesan to veggie mixture and mix well to combine.
  6. Stuff the prepared bell peppers with the couscous mixture, pressing the filling down gently to pack it in.
  7. Place the stuffed peppers in a baking dish and drizzle olive oil over the tops of the peppers.
  8. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the peppers are tender.
  9. Remove the foil, top with more parmesan cheese and return dish back to oven for another 10-15 minutes of baking to allow the tops to brown slightly.
  10. Once the stuffed peppers are cooked through, remove them from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes before serving.

🪄 Tips and Tricks

  • Instead of stuffing the whole peppers, you can use pepper halves, but cutting the bell pepper from top to bottom.
  • For baby led weaning and toddlers, cut the peppers into age-appropriate sizes after roasting.
Photos by Marie-Catherine Dubé


🗒 Substitutions

  • Use rice in place of the couscous to make gluten-free.


🗒 Variations

  • Use any color peppers: yellow, orange or red or a combo.
  • Add any veggies you like, such as baby spinach, cherry tomatoes or chopped onion.
  • For Mediterranean flavors, add feta cheese, kalamata olives, and pine nuts.
  • To add protein: add ground beef, ground chicken or ground lamb to veggie mixture
  • To add protein without meat: add garbanzo beans, black beans or white beans.


🗒 Best served with

  • Serve with roasted chicken or meatballs or a side salad.

👝 How to Store Leftovers

Store leftover couscous stuffed peppers in an airtight container in the fridge for up the three days.

🤔 Common Questions

Are these gluten and dairy-free?

These stuffed peppers are not gluten-free due to the couscous, which is a type of wheat. To make gluten-free use rice instead. For dairy-free, omit the parmesan cheese.

What kind of couscous should I use?

Use Israeli couscous (aka pearl couscous), Moroccan couscous or Lebanese couscous. Any option is delicious for this recipe!

What color bell pepper is best?

I prefer to use the sweet bell peppers (yellow, orange and red) because they roast beautifully, but if only have green bell peppers, that works too!

Couscous Stuffed Peppers

These Couscous Stuffed Peppers are filled with fluffy couscous, fresh vegetables and parmesan cheese. This is the perfect weeknight dinner that is healthy, hearty and comes together quickly.
4 from 1 vote
Print Pin
Course: Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Keyword: couscous, stuffed peppers
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
Servings: 0

Ingredients

  • 2 large bell peppers yellow, orange or red
  • 1 cup couscous
  • 1 1/2 cups chicken bone broth
  • 1/2 cup zucchini diced
  • 1/2 cup mushrooms diced
  • 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
  • salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat your oven to 375°F (190°C).
  • Prepare the bell peppers by cutting off the tops and removing the seeds and membranes.
  • In a large saucepan, bring the vegetable broth or water to a boil. Once boiling, stir in the couscous, remove from heat, cover, and let it sit for about 5 minutes, or until the couscous has absorbed the liquid.
  • In a medium skillet on medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil, mushrooms, zucchini, garlic, italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir until veggies are browned and cooked, about 3 to 5 minutes.
  • Add the cooked couscous and parmesan to veggie mixture and mix well to combine.
  • Stuff the prepared bell peppers with the couscous mixture, pressing the filling down gently to pack it in.
  • Place the stuffed peppers in a baking dish and drizzle olive oil over the tops of the peppers.
  • Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the peppers are tender.
  • Remove the foil, top with more parmesan cheese and return dish back to oven for another 10-15 minutes of baking to allow the tops to brown slightly.
  • Once the stuffed peppers are cooked through, remove them from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes before serving.

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2 Comments

  1. 4 stars
    My phone wont let me tap 5 stars but this is a great recipe! Easy to follow, tasty, and healthy. I added shrimp for a bit of protein and that worked well too.

    1. Hi Rachel, I adjusted for you! Adding shrimp as a protein is such a great idea! So glad you enjoyed.

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