Cheesy Lentil Stuffed Peppers That Hold Their Shape and Their Filling

6:05 on a Tuesday, one bag of peppers on the counter, two cans of lentils in the cupboard, and a vague sense that you promised yourself a vegetable this week. These cheesy lentil stuffed peppers are the version of that promise you will not resent: a hot red pepper bowl, a tomato-lentil filling, and a blanket of melted cheddar, about 40 minutes from the first slice to the first bite. Peppers do not usually get this much attention at dinner. These earn it.

A pepper that looks like you tried, and a filling that you made in one pan.

The filling is lentils stirred with sautéed onion, tomato sauce and cheddar, and the whole thing goes into raw pepper cups that bake and soften as they heat. There is no precooking the peppers, no separate sauce to watch, and no meat anywhere in the pan. You slice, stuff, bake covered, then uncover and let the top brown.

How to make it

1. Preheat the oven to 375F and slice the tops off the 4 bell peppers, removing the seeds.
2. Dice the 1 onion and saute it in a pan for 4 minutes until soft.
3. Mix the onion with 2 cups cooked brown lentils, 1 cup tomato sauce, and 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese.
4. Stuff each bell pepper with the lentil mixture.
5. Place the peppers in a baking dish, spoon the remaining 0.5 cup tomato sauce over them, and top with the remaining 0.5 cup cheese.
6. Bake covered for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake 10 more minutes.
7. Let the peppers rest 5 minutes before serving.

Notes

Cooked leftovers keep three to four days refrigerated, per USDA FSIS. Store the peppers in a covered container, and reheat them gently so the cheese does not turn rubbery.

Day two is good for cheesy lentil stuffed peppers. The filling settles into the pepper overnight and tastes a little deeper, though the pepper itself keeps softening as it sits. If you want to freeze them, expect the peppers to be much softer after thawing; the filling freezes better than the pepper does, so you can scoop it into a container and stuff fresh peppers another night.

Slice the tops off the four peppers and clear out the seeds and any white ribs. If a pepper will not stand up, trim a thin slice off the bottom, keeping the cut small so you do not open a hole. Packing the four peppers close together in the baking dish also helps them hold each other upright.

The lentils go in already cooked. The recipe uses 2 cups of cooked brown lentils, which is what the canned ones are for, so drain them well in a colander and let them sit a minute. Loose liquid in the filling ends up pooled in the bottom of the dish.

Pepper cups sat on a plate of dinner are an appealing sight, and on SwipeCart a dish with its own edible bowl makes a very persuasive profile picture. We are not above using it.

Swaps that actually work

The peppers are the point of cheesy lentil stuffed peppers: they are the bowl, and the dish does not work without something to hold the filling. Any color works. Red, orange and yellow peppers tend to be sweeter, green ones more grassy, and the tomato sauce can take either.

Cooked lentils can come from a can or from dry lentils you cooked yourself. Brown or green lentils hold their shape. Red lentils fall apart into a mush, so they are not a good swap here.

Cheddar can be swapped for mozzarella, provolone or a Mexican blend, all of which melt well. Use the same total amount, 1.5 cups, with 1 cup mixed into the filling and 0.5 cup on top.

If your tomato sauce is plain, season the filling more boldly. A pinch of dried oregano, a little garlic powder or a shake of smoked paprika will all work, and so will extra salt.

The swap that costs you the dish is skipping the onion. Four minutes of cooking turns it sweet and soft, and without it the filling tastes like plain lentils with sauce.

The filling is also forgiving about quantity. If a pepper is smaller than the others, you will have a little extra filling left over, and the easiest thing to do is spoon it into the dish around the peppers, where it bakes into the tomato sauce and becomes the best part of the plate. If you have more peppers than you can fit upright, the same extra filling makes a good lunch cold in a wrap.

If it goes wrong

The peppers are still firm. They were thick-walled or your oven ran cool. Put them back in the oven covered for another 10 minutes, then uncover to finish.

The filling is watery. The lentils were not drained well, or the tomato sauce was thin. Spoon off the extra liquid with a spoon before serving, and next time let the lentils drain longer.

It tastes flat. Almost always salt. Taste the filling before it goes into the peppers. Lentils soak up seasoning, so it should taste slightly too strong on its own.

The cheese did not brown. The pepper tops were covered the whole time. The steps have you bake covered for 20 minutes and then uncover for the last 10, so check that the foil actually came off, and add a couple of minutes if the top is still pale.

What to serve with it

The default beside cheesy lentil stuffed peppers is a slice of crusty bread and a green salad. The peppers already have starch from the lentils, so the bread is more of a sauce-mopper than a necessity, the plus-one who shows up with nothing and is still welcome.

The better version is rice or a handful of warm grains under the pepper, so the tomato juices that collect at the bottom of the dish do something useful. Think of it as the second date: same pepper, a little more commitment, and nobody has to pretend the salad was the main event.

The thing in the fridge that lifts it is a spoonful of plain yogurt or sour cream on top, with a squeeze of lemon, which brightens everything.

Cold, the filling is a good sandwich or wrap stuffing the next day, and the whole pepper reheats well in a covered dish.

Why this one earns its place

Cheesy lentil stuffed peppers read like a date you put effort into, and in this case the effort is slicing four tops off and mixing things in a bowl. The dinner for two (or four) that looks like a decision rather than an accident, and which leaves you free to pour a glass of something while the oven does its part.

Swipe it into your week and the agent can shop the peppers, lentils, cheddar and tomato sauce. If you want more meatless dinners in the same lane, chickpea curry is another one-pot meatless dinner worth saving, portobello burger takes a vegetable and makes it the main event, and the swipe meal planner explains how the swiping side of things works.

More like this: all American recipes in Crave Corner.