Skip to Content

Vegetarian Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers Recipe

We’re going ‘fusion food’ with this vegetarian Mediterranean stuffed peppers recipe.

Turkish cuisine is famous for its dolma recipes and peppers stuffed with rice filling is perhaps the most famous of those recipes.

Three halved bell peppers stuffed with bulgur wheat and garnished with crumbled feta cheese and torn basil.
Mix your peppers for extra colour in this dish

But for this recipe, we’re going with the Mediterranean label because, whilst we’re still using Turkish ingredients for our delicious filling, there’s a few combination differences and some slight differences in ingredients.

So what we end up with is a Turkish Mediterranean twist.

It’s just an easy stuffed peppers recipe that we like to make occasionally when we fancy a healthy vegetarian meal for a change – something substantial that tastes great and is packed with Mediterranean flavours.

We made it recently so decided it was about time the recipe was put on the blog. So, here we are.

And we make so many of the peppers on purpose because it means we then get to enjoy the meal again the next day.

A perfect easy lunch that’s a real treat!

So, where do those differences come in?

  • Bulgur wheat – commonly used in Turkish stuffed vegetable recipes but we’re using fine bulgur wheat (köftelik bulgur) rather than the larger grained bulgur (pilavlık bulgur) that requires a longer cooking time.
    For this Mediterranean stuffed pepper recipe, we prefer the texture of the fine bulgur. It feels more summery for us because it’s used in other dishes we like to make on warmer days like mercimek köftesi.
  • Cooking method – Rather than in a pan on the hob, our stuffed peppers will be oven-baked. Whilst this method is sometimes used for Turkish dolma, we won’t be cooking our bulgur-stuffed peppers in liquid. Bulgurlu fırında biber dolması (bulgur-stuffed oven baked peppers) without the sauce.
  • Peppers – fresh Turkish ingredients on the local markets are becoming more varied over time. And, as you’d expect, that means Turkish cuisine is evolving. In years gone by in Fethiye, we only ever saw small green bell peppers (dolmalık biber) to be used for stuffing.
    Recently, however, red bell peppers and yellow bell peppers have also appeared on stalls. Sweet peppers that are perfect for making our vibrantly coloured, delicious Mediterranean stuffed peppers.
A portrait image of three peppers stuffed with fine bulgur wheat and topped with crumbled feta cheese and torn basil leaves.
Your bulgur-stuffed peppers make a great main meal or side dish

The rest of our ingredients are all Turkish, of course – you just don’t often see some of them used as a filling for stuffed peppers.

  • We’re going to be using a full fat Turkish beyaz peynir (white cheese). If you haven’t got a Turkish supermarket near you, try to get a soft feta cheese.
  • Stuffed peppers just aren’t the same without the inclusion of nuts and whilst pine nuts are / were a staple in fillings in Turkish cuisine, we’re using broken walnuts.
    Aside from the fact that we love walnuts and they’re also popular in Turkish dishes, they’re also more substantial and cheaper than pine nuts.
  • Dried fruits – but of course! You can use currants or raisins if you like but we love some chopped up sun dried apricots. They’re a little bit sweeter.
  • Olives – a Turkish breakfast essential but we also love them in our Mediterranean version of stuffed peppers. As you can see in the photos, we go for black olives but you can use green olives if you like. Or both.
  • And then we’ve got some lovely fresh herbs. For us, torn fresh basil leaves just epitomises Mediterranean. As well as adding some to the stuffing mixture, a garnish of fresh basil is an essential for us.
  • And the dried herbs and warm spices are traditional to Turkish dishes – dried mint, ground cumin and paprika. If you have some homemade Turkish spice blend made up, you can use a generous sprinkling of that, instead.
  • For our bulgur wheat, just like when we’re making out Turkish bulgur wheat salad, kısır, we’ll be adding some salça (tomato paste) and a good glug of olive oil for flavour and texture.
A square image of three halved peppers stuffed with bulgur wheat. The photo is taken from above and the peppers are garnished with crumbled white cheese and torn basil leaves.
How will you eat yours? Warm or cold?

Aside from being a perfect texture, the great thing about using fine bulgur wheat for your Mediterranean stuffed peppers is it makes life really easy.

We just need to boil the kettle and pour boiling water over our salça in a cup.

Dissolve that and then pour it over the bulgur in a large bowl and cover with a cloth.

And we can leave the bulgur to absorb the water and soften whilst we prepare the rest of our filling and our peppers.

The peppers need to cut in half from top to bottom and the seed pod removed and then we just turn the pepper halves over and tap them to make sure all the seeds have fallen out.

Turkish bell peppers tend to be quite small so if you’re using large bell peppers, you won’t need to make as many.

When your bulgur is soft and the water is absorbed, we add the olive oil and fluff it all up before adding the rest of our stuffing ingredients and giving it all a good mix.

And now, it’s just a case of taking a pepper half, one at a time, and adding the filling to them. Pack in firmly but not too tightly.

When we’re done, the stuffed halved peppers go into the oven for around 30 minutes until the peppers have softened.

You can either eat them hot or at room temperature. We like to garnish them with some crumbled cheese, fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil.

A great recipe for a sunny day – a healthy dinner with a side salad, a light lunch or an accompaniment to grills like köfte or chicken shish.

And as we’re in Turkey, of course our Mediterranean stuffed peppers are extra tasty with a lovely big serving of Turkish süzme yoghurt (or plain Greek yoghurt) on the side.

Mix a couple of grated garlic cloves and some hot red pepper flakes into the yoghurt, too, for a bit of kick! Yummy!

Let’s get prepping and cooking!

Three halved bell peppers stuffed with bulgur wheat and garnished with crumbled feta cheese and town basil
No ratings yet

Vegetarian Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers With Bulgur

These vegetarian oven baked Mediterranean stuffed peppers are a great summer dish and make a perfect lunch or dinner. They're also great if you're cooking for a crowd.
As you would expect, the bell peppers are packed with Mediterranean flavours; especially those of Turkish cuisine, including fine bulgur wheat and beyaz peynir (feta cheese).
Save Print Pin
Author Turkey’s For Life
Course Main
Cuisine Mediterranean, Turkish
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Resting time 5 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Equipment

  • 1 mixing bowl
  • 1 sharp knife
  • 1 chopping board
  • 1 kitchen scales
Servings 8 people

Ingredients

  • 8 medium bell peppers (mixed colours)
  • 150 grams fine bulgur wheat
  • 100 grams feta cheese (or Turkish beyaz peynir)
  • 75 grams walnuts (broken into small pieces)
  • 75 grams sun dried apricots (roughly chopped)
  • 70 grams black olives (pitted & roughly chopped)
  • 1 large tomato (roughly chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 2 tablespoons fresh basil (roughly chopped or torn)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon dried mint
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper (to season)
  • 1 pinch salt (to season)

Instructions

  • First of all, add your bulgur wheat to your mixing bowl.
  • Add your tomato paste to a coffee mug, fill the mug with boiling water (approximately 300 millilitres) and stir to dissolve the paste.
  • Now pour the water and tomato paste mixture over the bulgur and cover the bowl with a clean cloth or tea towel. Leave to stand for 10 minutes until the water is absorbed and the bulgur is soft.
  • Meanwhile, take your peppers and cut them in half, top to bottom.
  • Carefully push your thumb through the stem to remove both them stem and the seed pod, leaving a boat for your filling. Tap away any loose seeds.
  • When your bulgur wheat is soft, add the olive oil and fork through to fluff it up.
  • Now add the rest of your ingredients – except the peppers – and give the mixture a good stir to make sure everything is mixed together.
  • Preheat your oven to 220 °C.
  • Now start to stuff your peppers. Fill them firmly but not too tightly.
  • When your oven is hot enough, place your Mediterranean stuffed peppers onto a baking tray and onto the bottom shelf of the oven for the first 15 minutes.
  • Raise them to the middle shelf for the final 15 minutes until the peppers are soft and slightly charred on the bottom.
  • Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
  • Alternatively, these Mediterranean stuffed peppers also taste great cold.
  • In you like, garnish with a little freshly crumbled cheese, torn basil and a drizzle of olive oil before serving.

Notes

  • As with all of our recipes, the nutritional information for this Mediterranean stuffed peppers recipe is to be used as a rough guide only. Please do your own due diligence if you have any special dietary requirements. 
  • Turkish bell peppers tend to be on the small side. Our stuffing mixture fills 8 peppers (16 pepper halves). If you are using larger peppers, you might only fill 6 or 7 peppers.
  • Rough nutritional calculations are based on 1 whole stuffed pepper – two pepper halves – per person.
  • The stuffed peppers can be eaten hot or cold and will keep in the fridge for up the three days in an airtight container. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 264kcalCarbohydrates: 31gProtein: 8gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 3gPolyunsaturated Fat: 5gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 11mgSodium: 311mgPotassium: 583mgFiber: 8gSugar: 11gVitamin A: 4550IUVitamin C: 156mgCalcium: 106mgIron: 2mg
Tried this recipe?Please consider Leaving a Review!

Share this article

Recipe Rating




Turkey's For Life

Monday 3rd of December 2012

@ Back to Bodrum: I always think stuffed peppers look impressive - they're great for parties if you've got a lot of mouths to feed. :)

@ Rambling Tart: Funny isn't what seems new and exotic when you're a child. I can't imagine seeing a stuffed pepper when I was a kid. :)

Turkey's For Life

Monday 3rd of December 2012

@ Collin Hart: Hmmm, not a cider drinker but willing to give that combination a try. :)

@ Bellini: Us too. So easy too aren't they? We don't eat enough of them! :)

Rambling Tart

Saturday 1st of December 2012

Absolutely delicious!! I remember when I was a girl in Canada that a visitor from the Middle East made this dish for us and I thought it was SO exotic. :-)

Backto Bodrum

Friday 30th of November 2012

Sounds good and looks really impressive.

bellini

Friday 30th of November 2012

I must say that stuffed peppers are one of my favourite foods.