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Mexican Stuffed Peppers Recipe

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Are you tempted by the lovely basket of peppers at the Farmer’s Market but not quite sure how to deal with so many all at once?

Since most recipes seem to call for one pepper at a time, you either have to preserve the peppers by freezing or dehydrating, or find a great stuffed pepper recipe. If your family likes Mexican food, this lower carb, grain-free twist on taco night will send you to the Farmer’s Market in a hurry!

I also love to buy in-season tomatoes to make our own canned salsa. This recipe is the closest to restaurant salsa we’ve found, and it’s a huge hit with Kitchen Stewardship® readers!

Peppers to Try in Stuffed Peppers

Red and green peppers are classic stuffed pepper options, but if you like a little heat, try this recipe with fresh poblanos (amazing!), and if you like a little fanciness, make roasted red peppers and then stuff those.

Remember, you can always freeze the peppers cut in half (even roasted) and ready for the filling so that you can capture the essence of fresh summer produce any time of year! Here are some more ideas for preserving the harvest by dehydrating.

Find this recipe, updated and with even more frugal tips and transformation options, along with 29 other bean recipes and a ton of information on cooking dry beans, the health benefits of beans, and ideas for bean haters in The Everything Beans Book, available now at Kitchen Stewardship®!
Make Mexican stuffed peppers a family staple. Simple and kid friendly.
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Mexican Stuffed Peppers

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  • Author: Katie Kimball

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 35 bell peppers, green or colored, halved, seeds removed
  • 1/2 lb. ground beef (or a full pound)
  • 1 Tbs. taco seasoning (or follow package directions for 1/2 pound beef)
  • 1 1/2 c. frozen corn (optional)
  • 2 c. black beans (prepared from dried or about 1 can)
  • 1 16 oz. jar salsa
  • 1/4 c. diced red onion
  • (optional) other vegetables: diced red pepper, zucchini, leafy greens, etc…anything you have on hand to enhance the mixture
  • (optional) extra kidney beans or lentils to fill in for the missing 1/2 lb. ground beef
  • (optional) up to 1 c. shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese


ship kroger


Instructions

  1. Brown meat and add taco seasoning, following directions on packet or with seasoning recipe to make basic taco meat.
  2. If using a half pound ground beef, you might brown a whole pound and freeze the other half for an easy pasta meal the next week.
  3. Consider adding cooked lentils or kidney beans at this point and double the taco seasoning accordingly.
  4. Add all the other ingredients except the cheese and heat through on the stovetop.
  5. Be creative with the vegetables you have on hand; it’s hard to go wrong with a whole jar of salsa and some taco seasoning already in the mix!
  6. Meanwhile, use a steamer basket to steam the halved peppers for 5-10 minutes until somewhat softened but not cooked to death.
  7. Arrange in an oval or 9×13 casserole dish and “stuff” the filling into each pepper generously.
  8. This filling is a bit like the loaves and fishes: everything is suddenly full and there’s still more left!
  9. I often end up with more filling than I need, which becomes great taco-style leftovers or freezes well for a future meal.
  10. After filling, top the peppers with shredded cheese and broil or bake at 350F for 5-10 minutes to brown the cheese.

Notes

You can skip the steaming peppers step and simply fill the raw peppers, adding a little water around them in the casserole dish to soften them up while it bakes, but you’ll have to bake 30 minutes, covered, before removing the cover for 5-10 minutes to brown the cheese. You can also freeze raw peppers, simply halved, and then they’re ready for the next stuffed pepper meal, especially if you freeze a jar of leftover filling!

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Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Healthy Modifications for Stuffed Peppers

The day I took this photo, I used only a half pound ground beef but added some beef heart, half an ear of corn that was leftover in the fridge, regular white onions instead of red, and orange peppers. I also threw in a can of kidney beans. Often some spinach sneaks in, and it’s really quite alright without any corn for a lower carb option. This is nothing if not a versatile meal!

The original recipe called for a cup of cooked brown rice, but I’ve taken that out to make it a very diabetes-friendly meal for when my mother-in-law visits. The beans could decrease and the meat increase if you’re very serious about low carb; I’m more serious about my food budget, so I go the opposite way with meat and beans.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Serve with:

Unless otherwise credited, photos are owned by the author or used with a license from Canva or Deposit Photos.

29 thoughts on “Mexican Stuffed Peppers Recipe”

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  4. Motheroflittle

    Making this right now…I’m using home grown poblano peppers. Leaving the corn out and serving spanish style brown rice and fried corn as my side dishes. I’m new to gluten free cooking so this is a super easy meal with tons of flavor. I love stuffed peppers topped with feta cheese too…. I can’t wait for dinner!

    1. Yay! My fav is with poblanos as well… Sometimes the best gluten free meals are just that – ones that never needed gluten to begin with. 🙂 Katie

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  6. I made this for my familiy this week and we loved it! For some reason I’ve never really liked classic stuffed peppers but my husband and I loved this version and the leftovers, woo-hoo!

    Thanks for sharing!

    1. Thanks, Ashley- yes, the leftovers are so easy. I like freezing extra filling for an easy meal later, too. 🙂 katie

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  8. Thanks for the recipe Katie! I made it tonight for dinner and everyone loved it. (Even my 5 year old and 2 year old.)

  9. Mmmm….Just had this for dinner tonight. Dishes still on the counter, in fact 🙂 Very good! Thank you for the wonderful recipe.

  10. Made this last night, with a few variations – I used ground chicken instead of beef, skipped the black beans and corn and used a black bean and corn salsa, added kidney beans to make more filler. This was DELICIOUS! My husband (who normally does not like peppers) loved it also! And for my most picky eater, I used the filling and cheese and made quesidillas.

  11. I love stuffing veggies! I just posted a orzo stuffed zucchini recipe: http://copingwithfrugality.blogspot.com/2010/08/orzo-stuffed-zucchini.html
    .-= Amanda´s last blog ..Orzo stuffed zucchini =-.

  12. Lenetta @ Nettacow

    I don’t think about it often enough, but I love corn in Mexican food – I think the sweetness offsets the spicy nicely!

    BTW, so you decided corn is a grain and not a vegetable? ‘Cause I was still on the fence. :>)
    .-= Lenetta @ Nettacow´s last blog ..Link Roundup – Its a Boy! Edition =-.

    1. Lenetta,
      It’s just a starchy one, so when I’m thinking of my MIL with diabetes… I guess I call it a veg when it comes off the cob and a grain when I make flour with it. Can I get away with that duplicity?!? 😉 Katie

  13. These are super easy to use! You put an inch or so of water in the bottom of your, lower in the steamer basket (the “petals” will expand or collapse to fit the diameter), place food on top, cover with a lid and simmer the water to steam as directed! You are correct, these take up little space in the cabinet (my mom kept hers in a drawer or nested in pots) while leaving more money in your pocket, unlike specialty single purpose steamers! The stainless cleans up great!

  14. MMMM, forget what’s on the menu from my CookingTF menu mailer—THIS is the new dinner for tonight!!! Thanks for describing how the recipes can “flex” for ingredients on hand! That is very encouraging. AND the tip of freezing half peppers!!! What a great idea to spice up a winter dinner instead of relying on the old stand-by chopped pieces stirred into a goulash! LOL! I could totally put my neglected FoodSaver to work for that one! Thanks again!

  15. We LOVE regular stuffed peppers (I have a recipe on my blog) and these look delicious! I just put away 40 peppers or so in the freezer so I may have to make this! Oh, so yummy…I love Mexican….
    .-= Kate´s last blog ..Why Reading- Riting and Rithmatic are the LAST Things I Want my Kids to Learn =-.

  16. Mary @ Giving Up on Perfect

    This looks so good! I’ve been wanting to make stuffed peppers for a long time. My daughter LOVES peppers, and I think this would be a huge hit!
    .-= Mary @ Giving Up on Perfect´s last blog ..Monday Morning Mmmm- Cheesy Beef Enchiladas =-.

  17. That looks fantastic! This may seem like a ridiculous question, but here goes. How do you use the steamer basket in your link? In the past, I’ve used a microwave plastic steamer (yikes! I know…) and have been eyeing one like yours since they are not hugely expensive like a fancy steaming pot. But I can’t figure out what in the world you do with it. Thanks!

    1. These are super easy to use! You put an inch or so of water in the bottom of your pot, lower in the steamer basket (the “petals” will expand or collapse to fit the diameter), place food on top, cover with a lid and simmer the water to steam as directed! You are correct, these take up little space in the cabinet (my mom kept hers in a drawer or nested in pots) while leaving more money in your pocket, unlike specialty single purpose steamers! The stainless cleans up great!

  18. carrie @ gingerlemongirl.com

    You just can’t go wrong with stuffed peppers! Your meal here looks fantastic! And your filling would make a great chili all by itself!! Yum!

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