Baked tuna stuffed peppers are a summer dish, quick to prepare, delicious, and great both hot and cold.
This recipe is ideal as a second course or a main course, perfect even to bring to the beach! With just a few ingredients, you’ll get a healthy and super tasty filling that truly smells like summer.
Before moving on to the step-by-step description of the recipe, here are some of my other recipes that might interest you:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer, Autumn
Ingredients for Preparing BAKED TUNA STUFFED PEPPERS
- 2 peppers (yellow or red)
- 5.6 oz tuna in oil
- 5 slices sandwich bread (or bread crumbs)
- 1.5 cups cherry tomatoes
- to taste taggiasca olives (pitted)
- to taste capers in oil (optional)
- A few leaves basil (fresh)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- to taste grated Parmesan cheese (or breadcrumbs)
- garlic powder (a pinch, optional)
Tools for Preparing BAKED TUNA STUFFED PEPPERS
- Baking Tray
- Paring Knife or Normal Knife
Steps for Preparing BAKED TUNA STUFFED PEPPERS
Start with the peppers: wash them, cut them in half lengthwise, and using a paring knife (or a normal knife) remove the seeds and the white parts.
Removing all the white parts will help make your peppers more digestible
Place them on a tray lined with parchment paper, brush them with a drizzle of oil, add a pinch of salt, and bake them in a static preheated oven at 392°F for 15 minutes if your peppers are medium-sized, for 18-20 minutes if they’re larger.
While the peppers are in the oven, you can prepare the filling. In a bowl, place the sandwich bread cut into pieces, the taggiasca olives (you can either keep them whole or cut them into small pieces), the cherry tomatoes cut into quarters, and the tuna well-drained.
Season with a generous drizzle of oil, salt, pepper, basil torn by hand, and, if you like, capers.
Mix well with your hands, also pressing the ingredients a bit, to release and blend well all the flavors and aromas.
Once the pre-cooking time for the peppers is up, remove them from the oven and, being careful not to burn yourself, start to fill them with a spoon, pressing lightly on the filling with each spoonful to compact it and fill the peppers in all the empty spaces.
Distribute a bit of Parmesan over the surface of the filling or, if you don’t like the tuna-Parmesan combo, replace it with some breadcrumbs; add another drizzle of oil and place your stuffed peppers back in the oven, again at 392°F for about 20 minutes.
When they are cooked and a nice crust has formed on the surface, remove them from the oven and, before serving, let them rest for a few minutes, they will be even better.
Here are your BAKED TUNA STUFFED PEPPERS, ready to be served!
Variations and Preservation
For a vegetarian version, you can replace the tuna with boiled potatoes cut into cubes and add pizza mozzarella on top, also cut into cubes.
Instead of sandwich bread, you can use stale bread crumbs soaked in milk (or water) for a few minutes and well-squeezed before adding it to the bowl with the other ingredients.
Instead of basil, or in addition, you can use the herbs you prefer, such as parsley or, why not, even fresh or dried oregano.
Baked tuna stuffed peppers can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 days in an airtight container.
You can prepare the filling a few hours in advance and store it in the refrigerator inside a bowl covered with plastic wrap.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
Can stuffed peppers be cooked in an air fryer?
Yes, of course, at 356°F for 10 minutes for pre-cooking, then for another 15 minutes once the filling is added.
Can they be frozen stuffed and still raw?
For this recipe, it is not recommended to use the freezer.
Can they be prepared in a vegetarian version?
Yes, of course, you just need to remove the tuna and add boiled potatoes cut into cubes and pizza mozzarella on top.
Can stale bread be used instead of sandwich bread?
Yes, of course, cut it into pieces and soak it for a few minutes in water or milk, then squeeze it well and add it to the bowl with the other filling ingredients.
