Quinoa Lasagna Stuffed Peppers
These Quinoa Lasagna Stuffed Peppers are a fun spin on lasagna made with ground beef and ricotta for a healthy make-ahead dinner idea.
Servings: 8 pepper halves
Calories: 399kcal
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 package mushrooms, chopped
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 796mL jars passata (strained tomatoes-can also use canned crushed tomatoes)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 2 cups chopped fresh kale (or spinach)
- 4 bell peppers (any colour)
- 1 tub ricotta cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375° F. In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over med-high heat. Add onions and garlic, sauteeing for 30 seconds until fragrant. Add ground beef. Cook, breaking up with a spoon. Add mushrooms and cook another 2 min. Add both jars of passata to ground beef mixture, along with salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile cook quinoa according to package directions and prepare peppers by slicing length-wise in half and removing core/seeds. Drizzle with a tiny bit of olive oil and bake, covered in foil, in a large oven safe dish for 15 minutes.
- Add cooked quinoa to ground beef and tomato mixture, along with kale. Stir well and remove from heat.
- Remove peppers from the oven and when cool, add 2-3 tbsp of ricotta to each pepper, just enough to coat the bottom of each. This should use up the whole tub.
- Add quinoa-ground beef mixture to each pepper - continue until mixture is used up. Peppers will be heaping full of stuffing. Bake, covered with foil, in oven for another 15 minutes.
- Remove from oven, top with grated mozzarella, and bake uncovered another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, sprinkled with fresh chopped basil and serve!
Notes
Use ground turkey or chicken to make these stuffed peppers even healthier.
Make sure to cook the peppers for 15 minutes before stuffing so they’re perfectly tender.
Store the leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days then reheat in the oven at 350° F for 15-20 minutes.
Freeze these peppers for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight then reheat.
Nutrition
Calories: 399kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 24g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 761mg | Potassium: 954mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 4103IU | Vitamin C: 116mg | Calcium: 292mg | Iron: 4mg