Stuffed peppers are a great year-round entree that are equally good when served for lunch or dinner. There are hundreds of great recipes out there for vegetarians and meat lovers (and if you don’t want to make your own, Costco sells a nice six-pack whose primary ingredients are ground beef and cheese). We have two of our own in-house vegetarian stuffed pepper recipes below!
What Goes with Stuffed Peppers?
There are a variety of great options to serve with your peppers. We are going to, of course, recommend foods that just naturally fit with a warm, gooey stuffed pepper. I am also going to put on my nutritionist hat and consider what our recommendations can do to provide a nutritionally balanced lunch or dinner! When looking at what to pair with stuffed peppers nutritionally, there are a few key components:
Protein: Stuffed peppers are amazing, but they don’t always pack a big protein punch—unless you’re loading them with chickpeas, lentils, or tofu. If not, no worries! Try pairing them with something like braised tofu or a hearty chickpea soup (recipes below!). Carbs: Gotta have those healthy carbs for balance. If your stuffed peppers don’t already have quinoa or rice inside, adding a quinoa salad on the side is a perfect way to round out the meal. And one last thing—oven space! If you’re serving your peppers hot out of the oven, you probably don’t want to fight for oven space with sides or desserts. So most of our recommendations don’t need the oven. For the few that do, they’re things that don’t have to be served hot (because who needs more kitchen chaos?).
We’re breaking our pairing recommendations into categories so you can easily sort by what you’re looking for.
Great Stuffed Peppers Side Dishes
Soups to go with stuffed peppers
We think soup is an ideal complement to just about any stuffed pepper recipe, but we prefer creamy soups as the ideal side. I guess you could try chicken noodles, but it doesn’t work for us. Below, we list our five favorite soups to go with peppers, but if you don’t find what you are looking for, here are 50 other vegetarian soup recipes you ought to consider.
Desserts That pair well with stuffed peppers
The best desserts to go with stuffed peppers are those that do not have to be served fresh out of the oven. You want to serve your peppers hot right from the oven, so pick desserts that can be made in advance.
