Great Ways to Make Stuffed Vegetables

Stuffed vegetables are fun and festive for company and holiday meals, yet comforting and easy enough for everyday dinners. Here’s a roundup of prep tips, recipes, and links to even more roundups specifically for stuffed squash and stuffed sweet potato recipes.

Stuffed vegetables are an especially nice presentation for cool-weather meals, when stuffable produce is plentiful, and the palate is primed for this kind of hearty food. Presenting naturally plant-based grain and/or vegetable melanges in edible containers makes the combination more enticing.

That said, stuffed vegetables can be enjoyed year-round as you’ll see from some of the bake-free selections included. Stuffed vegetables also make festive main dishes for vegan and vegetarian guests at holiday meals — notably Thanksgiving.

This roundup will give basic directions and ideas for stuffing winter squashes, bell peppers, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, and lots more. Plus, you’ll be pointed to a generous roundup of stuffed squash recipes, and another for stuffed sweet potato recipes. We have lots of them, too many to list in this post!

Thanks to the talented bloggers who augmented The Vegan Atlas recipes for this roundup, for permission to link to their recipes and use their photographs.

Grains are a great stuffing

A great way to stuff vegetables is with a simple grain pilaf. Brown rice (cook it with a little wild rice for a festive touch), white rice, couscous, quinoa, and millet all work well.

Tip: Cook the grains in vegetable broth instead of water for extra flavor. Start your pilaf with a sauté of chopped onion and garlic. Add the chopped flesh of the vegetable you’ve hollowed out for stuffing; toss in dried fruit, fresh herbs, chopped nuts, or any combination.

Use your favorite savory seasonings, or for ease, a seasoning blend like Mrs. Dash or Spike and/or a good curry powder. Continue to sauté the pilaf just until well heated through and the various flavors have a chance to mingle.

Here’s a rundown on how to prepare a handful of common vegetables for stuffing.

Winter squashes (& how to cut them easily)

Hard winter squashes (butternut, acorn, golden acorn, delicata, hubbard, and spaghetti squash; sugar pumpkin) are ideal for stuffing.

Many recipes that blithely call for the cook to cut them in half — something the average kitchen knife can’t do well (other than delicata, which is relatively easy to cut when raw. Here’s an easy way to avoid the squash struggle:

1 First, wrap the entire squash in aluminum foil and place in a casserole dish.

2 Bake at 375º F for 30 minutes (for smaller squashes) to 45 minutes or slightly more (for butternut, sugar pumpkin, and larger squashes). You should be able to just pierce through the skin and flesh, a couple of inches for larger squashes, about an inch for smaller ones.

3 Then, once the squash is cool enough to handle, go ahead and cut it in half. Scoop out and discard the seedy, fibrous part and proceed with the recipe.

For more detail, see how to cut winter squash easily.

Here’s a generous roundup of vegan stuffed squash recipes
using a variety of winter squashes

Zucchini (including round, or “8-ball” zucchini)

Round, aka 8-ball zucchini is ideal for stuffing. Or, for the more common long variety, medium-size zucchini are best for stuffing.

In either case, Remove the stem end. A grapefruit spoon is ideal for removing the seeds and creating a cavity, but if you don’t have one, use a small, sharp knife to carefully remove enough pulp to result in a 1/2-inch-thick shell.

Chop the zucchini pulp and steam it; if desired, incorporate it into the stuffing or save for another use. However, if most of what you’ve scooped out are seeds, then discard.

Fill the zucchinis with the desired stuffing and arrange in a foil-lined baking dish. Cover loosely with more foil and bake in a preheated 375º F to 400º F oven (according to what recipe you’re following) for 20 minutes, or until the zucchinis are done but still firm — again, according to specific recipes.

Stuffed zucchini recipes

Mexican Stuffed Round Zucchini (Zucchini Zone)

Pecan-Stuffed Zucchini Boats (Jazzy Vegetarian)

Meaty Vegan Stuffed Zucchini Boats (Debra Klein)

Eggplant

Cut the stem ends off eggplant, and cut in half lengthwise. With a sharp knife, carefully cut away the eggplant pulp in small chunks, leaving a sturdy shell about 1/2-inch-thick all around.

Chop the eggplant pulp finely, steam until tender, and incorporate into stuffing or save for another use. Fill the eggplants with the desired stuffing and arrange in foil-lined shallow baking dishes.

Cover loosely with foil, and bake in a 375º F to 400º F oven (depending on the recipe you’re following) for 30 minutes, then bake uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes longer, or until the eggplant shell can be easily pierced with a fork but has not yet collapsed.

Stuffed Eggplant Recipes

Moroccan Quinoa-Stuffed Eggplant (from Nutriciously)

Vegan Lebaneses Stuffed Eggplant (Plant Based Folk)

Bell peppers

Bell peppers can be cut in one of two ways for stuffing. The first is to cut away the stem end from each pepper, pulling out most of the seeds with it. Rinse the inside of each pepper to remove the remaining seeds. Cut a sliver off their bottoms so they’ll stand more steadily in a baking dish.

Or, you can cut the peppers in half lengthwise, in which case they will lie easily on a baking dish, like “boats;” however, some of the stuffing tends to escape from the stem end. In either case, prop the peppers securely against one another.

Fill peppers with the desired stuffing and arrange in foil-lined baking dishes (deep dishes are desirable if the peppers are left whole). Cover loosely with more foil and bake for 25 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until the peppers are done to your liking.

Stuffed Bell Pepper Recipes

Brown and Wild Rice Stuffed Peppers

Easy Cheesy Vegan Stuffed Peppers
(with pimiento “cheese” and rice; TY Berry Much)

Air Fryer Vegan Stuffed Peppers with Rice and Veggie Sausage
(Cadry’s Kitchen)

Vegan Stuffed Peppers (with homemade plant-based ground “beef”
My Quiet Kitchen)

Vegan Stuffed Bell Peppers (with brown rice, veggies, and plant protein:
The Carrot Underground)

Sweet Potatoes

To microwave: If you’re not opposed to microwaving, you can make quick work of this, allowing 3 to 4 minutes per sweet potato. They should be done, but still firm

To bake: Baking sweet potatoes brings out their optimal flavor and texture. This needs some advance planning. Wrap each sweet potato individually in foil and bake at 375º F, for about 45 minutes, or until they can be pierced with a fork, but are still form.

Either way, when the sweet potatoes are ready, split them in half lengthwise, mash the flesh with a fork, and then fill ‘em up.

For great recipes and ideas, see
10 Ways to Make Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Stuffed Tomatoes

Large, firm, yet flavorful tomatoes are good for stuffing, as are Roma tomatoes. Cut each tomato in half crosswise. Carefully scoop out the pulp using a sharp knife to loosen it and a spoon to scoop it out.

Leave a sturdy shell about 1/4-inch-thick all around. Incorporate the tomato pulp into the stuffing if desired, or reserve for another use. Personally, I like to discard the seedy parts.

Baked stuffed tomatoes: Fill the tomatoes with the desired stuffing and arrange in foil-lined baking dishes. Bake, uncovered, in a 350º to 375º F oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the tomatoes are done to your liking. They shouldn’t get too mushy or collapse.

Uncooked stuffed tomatoes: Simply fill the tomatoes with a salad made of finely chopped ingredients or a grain salad like tabbouli.