These Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers are a part of my master plan to be more spontaneous.
I can see it on my agenda now: Wednesday night, 5:30 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. – Do something unknown and mildly reckless. Be home in time for dinner.
Have I mentioned that I am dependent upon my calendar app?
While it’s romantic to think of myself as the go-where-the-wind-takes-me/fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants sort, the truth is, I like having a master plan to guide my day. When we go out, I make reservations. Before I head to the grocery store, I write a shopping list. Our entire travel schedule is recorded from now through December. Romantic or not, ad libbing is not my style.
Which is why, when Ben called to tell me that he’d found a last-minute deal on tickets to New York City and my response was, “BOOK THEM!” I surprised us both. We leave in less than two weeks, and half of the trip is still unplanned. Who am I?
Of course, I also promptly made a Google doc with all of our flight information and the reservations I’ve booked thus far. Let’s call me a free spirit in progress.
About These Stuffed Peppers
In an act of mild spontaneity (I’m a work in progress, remember?), I headed into the kitchen with an uncharacteristically loose vision for these quinoa stuffed bell peppers. I wanted to marry everyone’s favorite spinach and artichoke dip with one of my favorite easy dinners, stuffed peppers! I didn’t have the recipe fully written out, but I had a hunch it was going to be delicious. I was right.
The peppers are tender on the outside, the filling is gooey and cheesy on the inside, and thanks to the addition of Greek yogurt in place of the mayo you’ll find in classic spinach artichoke dip, this recipe is light and healthy too. To keep the stuffed bell peppers extra budget-friendly and fast to prepare, I used frozen spinach, though fresh will certainly work too.
As written, these Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers are vegetarian, but you can feel free to add sautéed ground chicken or turkey to the recipe if you like. The leftovers reheat well, so feel free to pack them for lunch, or double the recipe for an easy meal that lasts all week.
How to Store and Reheat These Peppers
- To Store. Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
- To Reheat. Reheat in a 350 degree oven until heated through, about 20 minutes, or rewarm gently in the microwave.
More Delicious Stuffed Peppers Recipes
- Grilled Stuffed Peppers
- Vegan Stuffed Peppers
- Chicken Quinoa Crock Pot Stuffed Peppers
- Italian Stuffed Peppers
- Mexican Stuffed Peppers
- Stuffed Pepper Casserole
Spinach Artichoke Quinoa Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa or rice, thoroughly rinsed and drained
- 2 cups reduced sodium vegetable stock or sub water—slightly less flavorful
- 5 large red bell peppers (or yellow or orange), halved, seeds and membranes removed
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 20 ounces spinach leaves fresh or frozen (if using frozen, thaw and thoroughly press dry)
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 can artichoke hearts (14 ounces), drained and chopped
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley
- 1 cup freshly grated part skim Mozzarella provolone, or similar melty Italian cheese
- 1/2 cup non-fat plain Greek yogurt
Instructions
- Add quinoa and vegetable stock to a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat, cover, and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat, fluff with a fork, then cover and let sit for 15 additional minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange the peppers in the dish, cut sides up.
- Heat the olive oil in a large, deep saute pan over medium high. If using fresh spinach, add the spinach in small handfuls, stirring as it wilts down, until you have added all of the leaves. If using frozen spinach, add it in a few larger handfuls, breaking up any clumps of leaves as you go.
- To the skillet, add the garlic, basil, salt, and pepper. Let cook 30 seconds, then add the artichoke hearts and cook until warmed through. Remove from the heat. Stir in the quinoa, parsley, 2/3 cup of the cheese, then the Greek yogurt.
- Generously stuff the peppers with the quinoa filling. Lightly coat a sheet of foil larger enough to cover the peppers with cooking spray, then cover the dish with foil, spray-side down. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees, covered, then remove foil, sprinkle the remaining 1/3 cup cheese over the top, and continue baking 5-10 additional minutes, until peppers are cooked to desired tenderness and the cheese is melted. Serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition
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Your recipe is so yummy. I stuffed a couple portabello mushrooms with it also. Amazing. Thank you.
Hi April! Thank you so much. I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe, and using mushrooms sounds like a great idea! I really appreciate your taking the time to leave this great review!
Delicious. I added ground turkey.
That’s a great addition, Chris! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks for sharing your tweak and this wonderful review!
Seriously DELICIOUS!!
Thank you so much, Janet! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the recipe.
Do you think these would freeze well?
Definitely Barb! Just let them thaw overnight in the refrigerator then reheat gently in the microwave.
Yummy!!! Loved every bite. I forgot to buy quinoa(!!) so I used lean ground beef for the protein – delicous. AND fyi, cottage cheese works well as a replacement for Greek yogurt here :)
I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing your swaps too!
YUMMY! Notes for next time is to increase the basil to 3/4 t and pepper to 1/2 t and try Havarti Dill cheese to another dimension.
Sheri, I’m glad to hear you enjoyed these! Thanks for sharing your tweaks for next time too!
Is it really 20 Oz of fresh spinach? That’s 4 large containers . I know it cooks down but….
Hi Laurie! Yes, this recipe calls for 20 oz of spinach, as it does cook down quite a bit, and we want enough to fill all the peppers. I hope you love the recipe if you give it a try!
Hi yes I realized as soon as I started cooking spinach lol. It was very tasty! Because I was short on spinach I added about 1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms and they were wonderful in it and made it super moist and kind of “meaty”….I will def make again!
I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe, Laurie! Thank you for taking the time to report back and share this kind review!
Soooo tasty!!! Managed to make this while 3 michelob ultras deep and I’m a lightweight so that’s impressive. A couple changes I made were that I used water instead of broth to cook the quinoa and it still tuned out super flavorful. I use less water with the quinoa than every recipe ever calls for because I don’t like mushy quinoa. I use 1cup quinoa plus 1 and 1/3 cups water, maybe a tablespoon more sometimes, but never more that 1 and 1/2 cups water per cup quinoa! Also while the quinoa cooked I just poured all my salt, olive oil, 2 heaping tablespoons minced garlic, fresh basil and parsley, straight into a single serve 5oz cup of nonfat greek yogurt, so I could just dump them all straight into the cooked quinoa while it fluffed. I did not oil the baking tray or pepper halves at all, just lined with unbleached parchment paper. Lastly, I raised the temp to 400 F the last 10 mins and raised the stuffed peppers one rack up to get a crispy mozzarella top :) I would definitely make this again and again and experiment with different types of peppers!
I’m so happy to hear that this recipe was a hit, Iliana! Thank you for sharing this kind review!