These sausage & gouda stuffed peppers feature sweet bell peppers stuffed with sausage, gouda cheese, onions, tomatoes and zucchini, with your choice of quinoa, rice or couscous. This dinner in a pepper is nourishing, vibrant and tasty. And just right for one or two. Although you can easily double or triple the recipe if needed by clicking on the 2x or 3x buttons.
Who doesn’t love dinner in an edible vessel? Meals like these flood my mind with fond childhood memories. My dad loves to cook stuffed peppers and my mom, sisters and I love to eat them!
Anyway, dad made a BIG tray of stuffed peppers the other weekend, just before we decided to go help pick the grapes. My mom, sister and I slaved for hours on end picking grapes until we were completely exhausted. We thought it would be easy to pick the grapes, but there were SO many! Lucky my dad had made a big tray of stuffed peppers ahead of time. He added cheese on top, then tossed them in the oven to heat and melt the cheese. We gobbled them up! With some good food in our bellies, we went out to “finish” the work.
We only managed to finish picking one of the two rows. And my dad proclaimed that was enough. He processed over 80 quarts of juice from the one row we picked. We picked a LOT of grapes! Our reward was my dad’s excellent stuffed peppers. And of course, quality time spent with my parents, which is precious.
Not my Dad’s Stuffed Peppers
Okay, to be fair, this is NOT my dad’s stuffed pepper recipe. I came home and made my own take on stuffed peppers.
I had some vegan sausages in my freezer that my neighbor gave me when they were moving away. Frankly, I wasn’t sure if I’d like them, but I decided to give them a try in this recipe. I was surprised to find that I actually liked the plant-based sausages! So yeah, this recipe is actually vegetarian if you use plant based sausages. (And yes, you can even make this completely vegan by using plant-based cheese and plant-based sausage. I toast the vegans for your creativity! You inspire me.)
If you are a carnivore and want your meat, go ahead and use whatever sausages that make you happy. Feel free to adjust the proportions on the filling as well. You can always add more or less of sausage, quinoa/rice or veggies. Just adjust down on another if you’re adjusting one of those up. Keep in mind, though, that the quinoa/rice absorbs the good juices from the veggies, so your stuffed peppers will have the best flavor if you have enough to soak up those flavors.
Dressing up your Peppers for Halloween
It’s October so I feel like I HAVE to mention that you could definitely make these delightful stuffed peppers into Jack-o-Lantern peppers with faces if you are so inclined. Why not have a little fun with your food?
So here’s how to adapt this recipe for Halloween:
- Don’t cut the peppers in half lengthwise. Instead cut off the top of the peppers like you’re about to carve a pumpkin. Cut out the ribs and remove any seeds from the inside and tops of the peppers. Then carve faces into the side of the peppers. Keep in mind that peppers aren’t as sturdy as pumpkins, so keep it simple.
- Don’t blanch the peppers! While blanching the peppers in hot water softens the peppers, that will also make them sag more and ruin the awesome faces you want to show off.
- Stuff and bake. You might need to double or triple the filling recipe because a pepper stuffed this way will require more filling. You’ll also need more baking time because the peppers are not pre-cooked.
See how cute they turn out! This photo is from a previous post I made years ago.
Sausage & Gouda Stuffed Peppers for One or Two
Ingredients
- About 1/2 cup cooked sausage, chopped as needed (I used vegan sausage.)
- 1 – 2 bell peppers (red, orange, yellow or green)
- 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1 – 3 cloves garlic, peeled & chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped zucchini (can sub other veggies like broccoli, green beans or cauliflower)
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup chopped sweet tomato
- 1 – 3 teaspoons chopped hot pepper (optional)
- 1 cup COOKED quinoa, couscous or rice
- 1/2 cup shredded gouda cheese (plus more for the tops)
- Several fresh basil leaves, chopped (or 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon dried basil)
Instructions
- Cook the sausage and cut into chunks, or crumble and cook. Set aside. You’ll add this to the filling later.
- Fill a medium saucepan halfway with water and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
- While the water is heating, cut the bell peppers lengthwise, then carefully cut out the core with the seeds. Blanch the cut peppers in the hot water for 3 – 4 minutes. Use tongs to remove them, setting them on a towel. Pour the hot water down the sink.
- Reduce heat to medium, add the olive oil and then add the onion and saute until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and zucchini and cook for a few minutes longer until the zucchini is crisp tender. Stir in the cooked sausage, tomato, hot pepper, quinoa (or couscous or rice), and gouda cheese and cook until the cheese is melted, then stir in the basil. Taste and add salt & pepper or additional basil if needed, to your liking.
- Use a spoon to stuff the peppers with the stuffing mixture. If you’re stuffing just one pepper, you might have some leftover stuffing. That’s okay … it’s delicious on its own or stuffed into other veggies. I had enough filling for 1 1/2 very large bell peppers (3 halves).
- Bake at 350 for 15 – 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. If you want the cheese browned on top, broil for a few minutes.
Notes
RECIPE SOURCE: Sumptuous Spoonfuls – https://www.sumptuousspoonfuls.com/ … © Copyright 2023, Sumptuous Spoonfuls. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to publish any of my images, please ask first. If you want to republish this recipe as your own, please re-write the recipe in your own words or link back to this post for the recipe.
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