The best vegetarian Valentine’s Day dinner idea! You will love these heart-shaped Valentine’s Day inspired stuffed peppers! They come together in under 30 minutes and are simple to make.
Are you looking for a healthy dinner to serve your family this Valentine’s Day? These stuffed peppers are the answer!
I know Valentine’s Day comes with all things candy and sugar, which I’m certainly not complaining about ;), but I wanted to share a healthy and nutritious Valentine’s Day dinner idea so you can get in your daily serving of veggies!
These heart-shaped red peppers are an excellent Valentine’s Day dinner idea! They are so simple, the only extra step you need to do is cut a small heart in the center of the peppers and prepare as usual.
This would be a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner for two or a fantastic way to get your kids to eat their veggies!
The lovely red color ties in perfectly with the Valentine’s Day spirit! And the heart-shaped cutout gives these bell peppers an added festive flare!
I went the vegetarian route and made these with rice and veggies, but if you’re a meat-eater you could add ground beef.
Or for a vegan version, use dairy-free cheese or omit it altogether.
Related: Valentine’s Day Cupid Toast!
Cutting out the heart shape is really simple. Just use a small pairing knife and freehand a heart. You could also try a small heart-shaped cookie cutter, but I find the knife method to be simple enough.
When cutting out the heart, make sure you don’t make too big of an opening that would allow the rice mixture to spill out.
I saved the heart cutouts to use as “plugs” for the rice mixture while the peppers were baking in the oven.
I found this to work perfectly in preventing the rice mixture from falling out and making a mess. When you take the peppers out of the oven just simply remove the hearts and the rice will be baked within the peppers.
Valentine’s Day Stuffed Peppers Ingredients:
4 Large red bell peppers
4 Cups cooked brown rice
2 Cups chopped yellow and green bell peppers
1 Cup of diced roasted tomatoes
2 Cups mozzarella cheese
1 Tsp chili Powder
1 Tsp cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
How to Make Valentine Stuffed Peppers:
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Cook rice according to package instructions. Combine with diced roasted tomatoes, chopped bell peppers, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Set rice mixture aside.
- Cut tops off of the bell peppers and remove the seeds inside.
- Using a pairing knife, cut out a heart in the center of each bell pepper. Save the cutout heart shapes to use while stuffed peppers are baking. This prevents the rice mixture from spilling out of the peppers.
- Stuff each pepper with the rice mixture and top with shredded cheese. Plug the heart-shaped cutouts with the saved heart. Place peppers on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes
- Remove from oven and allow to cool. Serve and enjoy!
Tips for Making Valentine’s Stuffed Peppers:
- Try not to cut too big of a heart on the bell peppers, otherwise your rice mixture may spill out of the peppers.
- If your hearts are too big and the rice mixture keeps spilling out, use the heart cutouts to “plug” the shapes while peppers are baking. You can take them off of the peppers once they are out of the oven.
Valentine's Day Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 Large Bell Peppers
- 4 Cups Cooked Rice
- 2 Cups Chopped Bell Peppers
- 1 Cup Roasted Red Tomatoes
- 2 Cups Shredded Mozzarella
- 1 Tsp Chili Powder
- 1 Tsp Cumin
- Salt and Pepper to Taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Cook rice according to package instructions. Combine with diced roasted tomatoes, chopped bell peppers, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Set rice mixture aside.
- Cut tops off of the bell peppers and remove the seeds inside.
- Using a pairing knife, cut out a heart in the center of each bell pepper. Save the cutout heart shapes to use while stuffed peppers are baking. This prevents the rice mixture from spilling out of the peppers.
- Stuff each pepper with the rice mixture and top with shredded cheese. Plug the heart-shaped cutouts with the saved heart. Place peppers on a baking tray and bake for 20 minutes
- Remove from oven and allow to cool. Serve and enjoy!
If you make these Valentine’s Day inspired stuffed peppers, tag me on Instagram @suchasweetheartblog! I’d love to see your photos!
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More Healthy Recipes on the Blog:
5 Minute Healthy Hummus Recipe
Love that you were able to make a Valentine’s day recipe that was actually healthy! This is a perfect meal that can be finished off with a few pieces of chocolate without guilt 😉
I’m glad you liked these stuffed pepper, Lucie!