Vegan Stuffed Pepper Casserole with Spicy Sunflower “Cheese”

Created by Laura Wright
4.97 from 29 votes

This vegan and nut-free stuffed pepper casserole is cozy and full of flavour. Hearty with quinoa, black beans, corn, and a spicy vegan “cheese”topping. It’s simple to throw together and makes excellent leftovers. Prepped in under 1 hour!

An overhead shot of a vegan stuffed pepper casserole topped with sautéed bell peppers, avocado, and chopped cilantro. The casserole dish is white and perched on top of a worn wood surface.

So excited to be serving you a vegan stuffed pepper casserole this week! I thought about calling it a “bake” or something, but nope. ✨Casserole✨ is the vibe with this vegan dinner recipe. More vegan dinner inspo for you in my cookbook as well :)

An overhead shot of a vegan stuffed pepper casserole topped with sautéed bell peppers, avocado, and chopped cilantro. The casserole dish is white and a wood serving spoon is taking out a portion of the dish.
An overhead image of ingredients for a hearty vegan meal, including corn on the cob, a can of black beans, various spices, red bell peppers, cilantro, cherry tomatoes, garlic, and quinoa.
An overhead shot of a creamy, pale orange, vegan "cheese" sauce in a white bowl on a worn wood background.

I have made and I’ve been served stuffed peppers many times. I think it’s a classic plant-based staple entrée and I do respect it! Those self-contained meals look cute and they can hold a lot of satiating goodness. But I always find that the texture of the pepper itself is kind of off? Like it’s just too soft on the bottom, but also a bit too hard at the top and near the stem. It’s also challenging to season all of the pepper really well. And in my experience, they’re just messy and a touch sloppy to eat. It is possible that I’m just a messy eater!

But enter the stuffed pepper casserole. It has all the best bits of a savoury and satisfying stuffed pepper, but we layer everything in a baking dish and cover it with a spicy non-dairy (and nut-free!) “cheese” sauce. This is homey, heavenly deliciousness all the way through. Scoops of this casserole are topped with diced avocado and chopped cilantro for a dose of freshness.

The ingredients for this dish are fairly simple, relying heavily on dried spices. We sauté a bunch of peppers for the base and topping. In between those layers is a quinoa and black bean filling with tomatoes, corn, spices and vegetable stock. 

You could have this stuffed pepper casserole assembled and in the oven in about one hour without distractions. I would serve this with a simple green salad or a vinaigrette-dressed cabbage slaw on the side. The casserole is quite hearty as-is!

More Wholesome Vegan Meals:

  1. Sweet Potato Cake Patties with Lemony Slaw
  2. Creamy Vegan Penne Pasta with Rosé Sauce
  3. White Wine Lentils with Mustard & Thyme
  4. Sticky Ginger Tempeh with Coconut Rice
  5. Zucchini Involtini with Almond “Ricotta”

Hope that you enjoy this cozy vegan main sometime soon! This is a great recipe to make and then enjoy leftovers throughout the week. This recipe also freezes really well. Just store portions in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 3 months. Let the portions thaw completely in the fridge overnight before reheating.

4 images show the layering of a vegan stuffed pepper casserole.
An overhead shot of a vegan stuffed pepper casserole topped with sautéed bell peppers, avocado, and chopped cilantro. The casserole dish is white.
A 3/4 shot of a vegan casserole topped with sautéed bell peppers, avocado, and chopped cilantro. The casserole dish is white and perched on top of a worn wood surface.
An overhead shot of a serving of a mixed quinoa, bell pepper, black bean, and corn dish. The serving is topped with a slice of avocado and chopped cilantro.

Vegan Stuffed Pepper Casserole with Spicy Sunflower “Cheese”

This vegan stuffed pepper casserole is cozy and full of flavour. Hearty with quinoa, black beans, corn, and a spicy vegan “cheese”topping. It’s simple to throw together and makes excellent leftovers. Prepped in under 1 hour!
4.97 from 29 votes
An overhead shot of a vegan casserole topped with sautéed bell peppers, avocado, and chopped cilantro. The casserole dish is white.
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

Spicy Sunflower “Cheese” Sauce

  • ½ cup raw sunflower seeds, soaked for at least 2 hours and drained
  • ½ cup water
  • 1 ½ tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon onion powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
  • teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 2 teaspoons lime juice
  • 2 teaspoons hot sauce of choice
  • 2 teaspoon olive oil
  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

Casserole

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 4 red bell peppers, cored and sliced into strips (about 5 cups sliced peppers total)
  • sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1 small red onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder (I used ancho)
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
  • 1 cup corn kernels
  • 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • ¾ cup quinoa, rinsed
  • 2 cups vegetable stock
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice
  • ½ cup tomato sauce OR salsa (not pico de gallo-style salsa! Salsa with cooked tomato is ideal)
  • ripe diced avocado, for serving
  • chopped cilantro, for serving
  • toasted pumpkin seeds, for serving

Equipment

Notes

  • I make a sunflower seed “cheese” sauce to top this, but if you have a trusted brand of shredded vegan cheese, just go ahead and sprinkle that on top!
  • You could use raw and soaked cashews, macadamia nuts, sliced almonds, or even pine nuts in place of the sunflower seeds in the “cheese” sauce.
  • Corn is in season here, so I used fresh kernels. Frozen ones would work just as well.
  • Any colour of bell pepper works here. A mix of sliced poblano and bell peppers would also be delicious!
  • Feel free to sauté a couple chopped up vegan sausages with the onions if you’re looking for a more meaty vibe!

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 375°F. Set out a 7x10x2-inch (or an 8x11x2-inch) dish.
  • Make the sunflower “cheese” sauce. In an upright, high speed blender, combine the drained sunflower seeds, water, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, paprika, coriander, turmeric, lime juice, hot sauce, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Blend the sauce until completely smooth and silky. Check the sauce for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Set aside.
  • Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Pour in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and swirl it around. Add all of the sliced peppers into the skillet at once. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Stir the peppers periodically until they are slightly softened, about 7-8 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat and transfer the sliced bell peppers to a large bowl or plate.
  • Wipe out the skillet and return it to the stove over medium heat. Add the remaining olive oil to the skillet and swirl it around.
  • Add the onions to the skillet and sauté until very soft and translucent, about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, coriander, paprika, and chili powder to the skillet and stir until spices are very fragrant, about 30 seconds. Then, add the tomato paste. Stir and cook out the tomato paste until it darkens in colour, about 30 seconds. Add the cherry tomatoes, corn kernels, and black beans to the skillet, and sauté for another 3 minutes, or until the cherry tomatoes start to break down a bit. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
  • Add the quinoa to the skillet and stir to coat in the seasoning. Pour in the vegetable stock and give everything a stir. Bring the heat up to high and let the mixture boil for a minute or so. Then, lower the heat to a simmer, partially cover the skillet with a lid, and cook until almost all of the stock is absorbed and the little tails on the quinoa have started to pop out, about 15 minutes. The mixture should still be slightly wet, but definitely not fluid. If it is fluid, continue to simmer, uncovered, until excess liquid is absorbed. Once done, Remove the quinoa and black bean mixture from the heat. Stir in the lime juice.
  • Assemble the casserole. Spread the tomato sauce/salsa evenly across the bottom of your baking dish. Arrange ½ of the sautéed bell peppers on top of the salsa. Transfer all of the quinoa mixture on top of the bell peppers. Spread the quinoa mixture out evenly with a spatula. Pour all of the sunflower “cheese” sauce evenly over the top and spread it out over the surface. Top the casserole with the remaining sautéed bell peppers.
  • Cover the casserole loosely with foil or an inverted baking dish. Slide the casserole into the oven and bake until totally heated through, about 25 minutes, removing the cover for the last 10 minutes. Switch the oven to broil and broil the top of the casserole for 2 minutes or so, or until the edges of the peppers are golden and there's slight browning on the sunflower "cheese." Definitely keep your eye on it the whole time during this stage! Once done, remove the casserole from the oven.
  • Serve the casserole warm with diced ripe avocado, chopped fresh cilantro, toasted pumpkin seeds, and dabs of hot sauce if you like.
An overhead shot of a vegan casserole topped with sautéed bell peppers, avocado, and chopped cilantro. The casserole dish is white and perched on top of a worn wood surface.
04/08/2021 (Last Updated 03/10/2024)
Posted in: autumn, black beans, creamy, gluten free, main course, nut free, refined sugar-free, roasted, salty, sauce, side dish, spicy, spring, summer, tomatoes, umami, vegan, winter

20 comments

4.97 from 29 votes (14 ratings without comment)

Recipe Rating




  • K

    5 stars
    What a delicious recipe! I used an 8×11” baking dish and it was a little small, but I managed to fit everything in. Regardless, this recipe was a winner! I’m not a big bell pepper fan but I found myself looking forward to the leftovers.

  • Sherryn

    5 stars
    Made this again tonight with cashews instead of sunflower seeds. I am a cashew addict and it’s tasty but I think the sunflower seeds nail it. Just wanted to underscore to use a non-glass dish b/c of the broiling step. I remembered right as the broiling step came up! This is one of my most favorite FM recipes!

  • Anita

    5 stars
    Thank you for another delicious recipe. I could drink that sunflower cheese sauce. It was a winner in our house!

  • Mary G

    5 stars
    Oh.My.Goodness. This is so good I was looking forward to the leftovers the entire time I was at work tonight. I doubled up on the sunflower cheese and added more nutritional yeast and lime juice. Used chipotle pepper powder instead of chili powder. It is time consuming to make but well worth the effort! Will definitely make again.

  • Fran

    5 stars
    This favor-filled meal made our whole home an extra happy place. I wish I had discovered your site sooner as the vegan recipes I was trying were doing an injustice to food. Love this recipe, the ease with which it goes together, the flavor, and the spicy heat.

  • Sherryn

    5 stars
    This was one of my meal prep recipes for this week. Since I live alone I halved the recipe. Now I wish I’d doubled it! *crying* I did however make the full amount of the spicy sunflower “cheese” but I wish I’d quadrupled it! I had to add extra water because my blenders could’t “reach”. Even then, it was fantastic. Peppers stayed nicely firm for some crunch, the spices were spot on and the flavors melded together beautifully. When I read about adding tortilla chips to the meal, I salivated. Gonna have to buy me some chips today to have with the leftovers. Oh, I would possibly add a side of cashew sour cream for the toppings. Thanks, Laura!!!

  • Kortneii MacKenzie

    5 stars
    So good Laura! Yes yes yes! thank you! Yum

  • Ella

    5 stars
    So incredibly delicious and such a great use of seasonal summer abundance. I made some tweaks, as described below:
    I don’t really cook with quinoa, nor do I have black beans in the pantry typically, so instead of that I made the “Mexican Millet” from Veganomicon except with the spice blend and addition of fresh corn as written in this recipe, and with drained and rinsed canned chickpeas added instead of the black beans. I used tomatoes from the garden and peppers and corn from our CSA. I have sensitivity to most forms of alliums so I sautéed some green leek tops instead of onion before adding the spices and tomato paste to toast/caramelize in the millet, and used homemade dehydrated scallion powder in lieu of onion/garlic powder in the sunflower “cheese” sauce. I didn’t have salsa and it didn’t effect it in any way that I can tell (just did that first layer of sautéed peppers)
    So many fabulous layers of flavor, and I think the “cheese” sauce tasted even better when broiled/baked on top of the casserole than when I first tasted it raw out of the blender.
    Definitely going in the rotation for late summer dinners :-)

  • Shannon

    5 stars
    Thank you for this recipe. It’s satisfying, made with lots of whole foods, and as usual for your recipes it turned out right — clear directions, measurements, etc. We’ve really enjoyed eating it (with cumin and lime sauteed kale) and will add to our regular rotation.

  • Marta

    5 stars
    So good, I made it today and it’s really tasty, I am sure I will make it again. Thank you very mich for this recipe.

  • Kate

    Made this tonight – another winner! Will definitely add to our rotation… thank you!

  • Angie

    Amazing!!! Can’t wait until tomorrow! I’m having the leftovers for breakfast!!! 

  • Kim H

    5 stars
    This was DELICIOUS.  The toppings are mandatory.  My husband used tortilla chips as a spoon to gobble it up.  Thank you!

    • Laura

      I seriously love that your husband incorporated chips into this meal! That is a powerful move. Thank you for this comment and review, Kim! :)
      -L

  • Claudia D.

    5 stars
    This was outstanding! I used half peppers and half zucchini, which I popped in the air fryer whole working on the quinoa “stuffing”, and omitted the avocado. This made full use of the bounty 9f veggies in my CSA box this week. Full marks! Thank you so much for sharing this gem.

    • Claudia D.

      Popped in the air fryer *while* working on the quinoa stuffing :)

      • Laura

        So smart to use the air fryer for the veggies! Thanks for sharing this tip, Claudia!
        -L

  • Jeanne Rose

    5 stars
    I made this tonight for dinner and it was great!  I used cashews for the cheese sauce.  I’d say time spent before going into the oven was about 60-70 minutes, though.  But it was worth it!

  • TJ

    4 stars
    I love your recipes, super healthy, vibrant and delicious. I enjoyed making this dish but mine came out with too much fluid, and not as firm as in your pics! I cooked the quinoa mix for 15 mins but should have cooked for longer as you mentioned. 

  • Cherri

    5 stars
    This recipe came just in time to inspire me with a new dinner entree. It was tasty and a delicious way to use garden fresh peppers and tomatoes.  Thank you for your great recipes.