25 Creative & Healthy Ways to Cook with Bell Peppers
Bell peppers are a humble ingredient that we often think of as just part of a salad or fajitas. But you can do so many things will bell peppers! These paleo-friendly bell pepper recipes use peppers of all colors and sizes to add flavor and texture to easy dishes.
1. Bell Pepper Pizza Bites
These pizza bites don’t require any fancy grain-free crusts, and they’re made with almond cheese (which is optional, really) so you can enjoy a more complete pizza flavor. You’ll need green bell peppers, pizza sauce, pepperoni, mushrooms, tomatoes, and fresh parsley.
Photo: Per Chance to Cook
2. Smokey Paprika Ground Turkey, Bell Pepper, Zucchini Casserole
This layered casserole features ground turkey, eggplants, zucchini, and bell peppers along with smoky paprika. It’s sort of like lasagna, but without the cheese and pasta. You’ll need plenty of white onion, garlic, and herbs like oregano and basil to ensure a fantastic flavor.
3. Paleo Stuffed Bell Peppers
Stuffed Bell Peppers are a great way to trick yourself into eating the peppers if you’re not a fan. Stuff them with grass fed beef, zucchini, carrots, fresh basil, red onion, garlic, spinach, and marinara sauce and have yourself a bell pepper party. Invite your friends.
4. Caribbean Stewed Fish
Flavored with ginger, white pepper, garlic, thyme, lemon, and lots of peppers, this fish stew is totally delicious and nutritious, and makes an amazing dinner in under an hour. The onion and bell peppers give you lots of vegetable crunch to go along with your protein.
5. Chicken Paprikash With Spiralized Onions and Bell Peppers
Spiralizing veggies is a great way to change their texture and try something new. This awesome paprikash uses spiralized onions and bell peppers, chicken thighs, garlic, chicken broth, tomatoes, coconut cream, paprika, and minced parsley for lots of flavor.
Photo: Flavor of Spice
6. Grilled Squid Salad With Pomegranate Vinaigrette
This grilled squid salad is full of unusual flavors and textures from pomegranate juice, apple cider vinegar, assorted bell peppers, red cabbage, baby squid, pomegranate seeds, salt, pepper, and paprika. The exotic combination is sure to intrigue your taste buds.
7. Easy Breakfast Salad With Poached Eggs and Wilted Kale
Breakfast salads are an easy way to boost your nutritional intake first thing in the morning and fuel yourself with energy until lunch. For this one, you’ll need kale, sweet potato, bell pepper, red onion, and poached eggs. Top it with a garlic-oregano-Dijon dressing. Yum!
8. Sauteed Skillet Salmon With Vegetables
This full meal happens in one dish in less than 30 minutes, making it an absolute winner for weeknight dinner (hey, I rhymed!). You’ll need zucchini, red bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, basil, olive oil, sherry wine vinegar, oregano, salmon, salt, and pepper. Super simple and tasty.
9. Baked Plantains and Sweet Peppers
Plantains are one of my favorite dishes, prepared just about any way. I especially love this baked plantain dish with sweet bell peppers, coconut oil, onion, chili pepper flakes, toasted coconut flakes, and freshly ground black pepper. It’s so simple and delicious.
Photo: Jessis Kitchen
10. Grilled Leek and Roasted Bell Pepper Salsa
Bell pepper star in salsas of all kinds, and this particular grilled leek salsa is unique and one of my favorites. It uses leeks and bell peppers (duh), tomatoes, chopped cilantro, minced garlic, chopped jalapenos, lime, black pepper, and sea salt. You can adjust the jalapeno amount to suit your desired spice level.
11. Raw Vegetable Summer Rolls With Triple Sesame Dipping Sauce
Made with rainbow bell peppers, these beautiful summer rolls will hit the spot the next time you’re thinking about a picnic. English cucumber, zucchini, cilantro, and mango add lovely flavors, but my favorite part is the triple sesame dipping sauce with lime and coconut nectar.
12. Spicy Romesco Sauce
Roasted red pepper sauce is one of my favorite toppings for zucchini pasta and other meals, and it’s so easy to make yourself at home. For this version, you’ll need soaked almonds, roasted bell peppers, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, paprika, red chili flakes, sea salt, and black pepper.
13. Fajita Chicken Kabobs
Fajitas on a stick is a fun and easy way to grill up dinner. These skewers feature chicken breast, lime juice and zest, chili powder, cumin, garlic, jalapeno, red onion, and assorted bell peppers. Replace the canola oil with a cooking oil of your choice, such as avocado.
Photo: The Girl Cooks Healthy
14. Mashed Yam With Peppers
This mashed yam recipe is a great substitute for white mashed potatoes, and it has a flavor twist you may not have tried before. You’ll need yams for the base (the white, true yam, not sweet potatoes), butter (you don’t have to use vegan butter, obviously), coconut milk, bell peppers, garlic, and seasonings.
15. Whole30 Stuffed Peppers With Chipotle Sauce
Looking for a hearty recipe for your Whole30 month? Try this stuffed red bell pepper recipe with grass fed beef, sweet potato, onion, tomato, spinach, cilantro, and just about everything else good you could want in your stuffed peppers Top with creamy avocado.
16. Three Ingredient Tomato Soup
Tomato soup has never been easier to make. All you need for this one is ripe tomatoes, onion, red bell pepper, olive oil, and broth or whatever seasonings you like. It also takes less than half an hour from start to finish, making it a real winning recipe.
17. Stuffed Pepper Soup
This soup has everything you’d put in a stuffed pepper, but in soup form! While stuffed peppers scream summer to me, this soup would be great for a cooler time if year. It has simple ingredients like ground beef, red pepper, onion, garlic, and tomatoes.
Photo: The Simple Fare
18. Healthy Tuna Salad
If you find traditional tuna salad gag-inducing with its gobs of mayonnaise and unidentifiable ingredients, try this paleo version with tuna, apple, dill pickle, medjool dates, avocado, bell pepper, cucumber, and a light dressing from spicy brown mustard, olive oil, and spices.
19. Spring Cleaning Detox Salad
The best salads are the ones with a variety of different colors, textures, and flavors to keep you interested. This one has kale, red bell pepper, radishes, carrot, cucumber, avocado, red beet, walnuts, and a lemon-parsley dressing with garlic, stone ground mustard, and maple syrup.
20. Wild Thing Texas Chili
This chili is free of beans and corn, filled instead with ground bison, venison, wild boar, bacon, onion, garlic, bell peppers, black coffee, tomatoes, and a host of fabulous seasonings to give it heat and lots of character. This chili will fill you up and make you go wild.
21. Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Soup
This is the kind of soup you’re going to want to collect ingredients for all summer when they’re cheap and then store them in the freezer if yours is big enough. There’s nothing like home-roasted tomatoes and peppers seasoned with garlic, carrots, onion, basil, and thyme.
Photo: Immigrants Table
22. Roasted Bell Pepper Salad
This is hardly a salad—more like delicious roasty bell pepper goodness with garlic, balsamic vinegiar, olive oil, salt, and chopped fresh herbs. It doesn’t take long to make and it’ll have you wanting to make it every week to take in your lunch to work.
23. Roasted Mini Peppers
Roasted mini peppers are a fun to eat, easy to make, and can be a beautifully colorful side dish for meat or other vegetable entrees Roast them at 400 degrees for just fifteen minutes and seasoning with pepper just before serving. It doesn’t get any easier than that.
24. Slow Cooker Sausage and Potatoes
Slow cooking your sausage with peppers and onions allows their flavors to meld together and results in an amazing dish that would make a perfect side dish or even a main dish. I could imagine enjoying this for breakfast after letting it slow cook all night long.
25. Cilantro Lime Chicken Stuffed Peppers
These stuffed peppers only have a few ingredients, but their flavor is out of this world and they’re simply beautiful, too. It all starts with slow-cooked cilantro lime chicken, which is really the star of this dish. Creamy avocado and spicy red onion add extra texture and flavor
Thank you for summarizing all that recipes for us, Jess! These bell pepper suggestions are lovely!
You are so welcome!