These barley stuffed peppers from ThugKitchen are a staple at our house. I posted them on the blog about a year ago, but wanted to repost with a few additional notes.
A couple of thoughts regarding these barley stuffed peppers
In our humble opinion, it needs cheese. So, we add 1/4 cup of shredded parmesan to the actual stuffing mix and then we sprinkle shredded parmesan as a garnish. Obviously, doing this makes the recipe “non-vegan” but we are cool with that.
Technically, the ThugKitchen version of these barley stuffed peppers calls for white OR kidney beans. We always use white beans because they are smaller than kidney beans, which just seem to bulky to be stuffed into small places.
Also, the barley stuffing can be used to stuff much more than just peppers. We have used it to stuff zucchini, acorn squash, and tomatoes.
The kids, age 3 and 11, have a great time selecting their bell peppers. Audrey usually goes for green and you can’t really count on John to be consistent with the color of pepper he chooses. I usually buy a few extra peppers because the kids manage to eat them raw before I even have time to get the stuffed peppers in the oven.

Servings |
Stuffed Peppers
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- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 1 carrot chopped
- 2 ribs celery chopped
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 cup pearled barley
- 1 tomato chopped, about 1/2 cup
- 2 tbsp sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
- 4 bell peppers any color
- 1 1/4 cups kidney or white beans or one 15 ounce can
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped
Ingredients
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- 1–In a medium pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until it starts turning golden, about 3 minutes. Add the celery, carrot, garlic, thyme, and oregano and cook for another 2 minutes. Throw in the barley, tomato, and vinegar and stir. Add the broth, salt, and pepper and let it come to a low simmer. Cook, uncovered, until all the broth is absorbed and the barley is tender, about 15 minutes. 2–While the barley is simmering, heat your oven to 375° F. Cut the tops off the bell peppers and scrape out the seeds. Place them in an oiled pie place or loaf pan, something where their asses won’t be sliding around once they’re stuffed. 3–When the barley is done, fold in the beans and turn off the heat. (This filling can even be made a day or two ahead of time, no fucking problem.) Fill the bell peppers up to the top with the filling, cover them tightly with foil, and bake until the peppers are tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let them rest for 5 minutes after coming out of the oven, ’cause those fuckers are hot. Top with the parsley and serve.
Thanks to ThugKitchen for the recipe. I didn't technically ask them for permission to publish their recipe, but those assholes can just fucking get over it.
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This article originally published on www.groundingup.com