Incredibly cheesy, juicy and delicious Mexican Stuffed Peppers with a beef and rice mixture! So good and so easy to make. Total comfort food and a very satisfying meal!
Easy Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Maybe it’s because I grew up Romanian and ate stuffed peppers semi constantly, but I find myself cooking them more and more now as an adult. I’ve even shared a lot of recipes for them here on the blog but these are a totally new take on a well loved classic. Believe me if you’re a stuffed pepper fanatic, you’ll want to try these Mexican stuffed peppers out.
The changes we’re making today are super easy, we’re adding some taco seasoning to our ground beef as it cooks and mixing in a bit of salsa. We’re still using some perfectly cooked long grain rice, lots of melty gooey cheese, and sauteed onions. Just like that we have a totally different flavor profile, believe me this is about to be a weekly meal.
What Are Stuffed Peppers?
Now stuffed peppers are a dish that exists all around the world using a variety of meats, starches, and cheeses, I’ve even shared my traditional Romanian recipe on my sister site, Jo Cooks. That recipe is more traditional with lots of fresh dill and ground pork and while it is a classic for a reason, there is no reason to not innovate! Don’t they say innovation is the engine of growth?
They must have been thinking of these stuffed peppers when they said that, I’m sure of it. Did I mention that this dish is also perfect for making ahead and storing in the freezer? Innovative and efficient!
Ingredients In Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Keep scrolling for the full recipe and ingredient amounts.
- Ground beef – We’re using ground beef today, regular or extra lean will work just fine.
- Onion – One large onion that cooks down well like white or yellow.
- Garlic – Fresh minced up finely, if jarred is all you have on hand keep in mind that 1 1/2 teaspoons equals 1 fresh clove.
- Spices – Taco seasoning and salsa. I used my homemade salsa, but feel free to use store bought.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper to taste.
- Bell peppers – I like to use a green, orange, and red bell pepper in this recipe for a variety of color. However, feel free to use any type of bell peppers you like!
- Cheddar cheese – I used a white cheddar cheese. But feel free to use any kind of super cheesy, mild cheese you’d like.
- Rice – Long or medium grain rice works best in this recipe as it will soak up lots of flavor and cook in a reasonable amount of time.
- Parsley – We want fresh parsley chopped up as our garnish to be sprinkled liberally on top.
How To Make Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Detailed measurements and instructions can be found in the printable recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Preheat the oven: To 375 F degrees.Wash and seed the bell peppers and cut in half from top to bottom. Place in a greased 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
- Prepare the mixture: In a large skillet brown the ground beef, onion and garlic. Drain any fat if necessary. Season with taco seasoning, salt and pepper. Add the rice and 1/2 cup of the salsa then stir well. Scoop the mixture into the bell pepper halves and top with remaining salsa and half the cheese evenly over each pepper.
- Finish the dish: Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover, top each pepper with remaining cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.
- Garnish and serve: Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with sour cream or guacamole.
Tips For Making The Best Mexican Stuffed Peppers
- If you want low carb use cauliflower rice instead of regular white or brown rice.
- If you want the dish to be vegetarian substitute the meat with extra rice or quinoa. You can also pack it with mushrooms and eggplant.
- Cook the rice before mixing with the meat. Alternatively you could use instant rice, to make sure it will cook through.
- This recipe also works well with ground chicken or ground turkey!
What Else Can I Use In These Stuffed Peppers?
I personally think this recipe is picture perfect as is, but if you’d like to use up some stuff that is taking up space in your fridge, then here are some great additions:
Meat
- Ground veal
- Turkey
- Ground chicken
- Sausage removed from the casing
- You can even mix any combinations of ground meat!
Veggies
- Corn
- Zucchini
- Mushroom
- Eggplant
- Green beans
- Chopped fresh tomato
How To Serve Served Stuffed Peppers
If you want some carbs to bulk up this meal and soak up all that delicious sauce, I have a few suggestions.
- Traditionally this meal is served with an extra dollop of sour cream, guacamole and some good crusty bread.
- Some soft dinner rolls.
- Spooned over Mashed Potatoes.
- Served over fluffy white rice to soak up all that delicious sauce.
How To Store Leftover Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Fridge
Refrigerate the peppers in an airtight container. Properly stored, cooked peppers will last for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.
Freezer
Mexican Stuffed Peppers are an ideal dish for freezing. This dish it’s a freezer friendly meal. So, you can make and freeze the peppers in advance.
- Unbaked: Freeze the unbaked peppers (without cheese), then thaw them in fridge for 24 hours. Bake the peppers once thawed. Once ready, add the cheese as above.
- Baked: After removing from the oven, allow to cool slightly before placing them in the freezer. Store in freezer Ziploc bags they are good for 3-4 months.
More Incredible Mexican Recipes To Try:
- Mexican Chicken And Rice Salad
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Mexican Street Corn salad
- Tres Leches Cake
- Taco Lasagna
- Crockpot Pork Carnitas
- Beef Tamale Casserole
- Antojitos
- Mini Mexican Street Corn Tacos
- 3 Ingredient Mexican Rice
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Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
- 1/2 tsp pepper, or to taste
- 1 cup rice, cooked
- 2 cups salsa
- 3 large bell peppers, cut in half through the stem, seeded
- 8 oz cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 tbsp parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: To 375 F degrees.Wash and seed the bell peppers and cut in half from top to bottom. Place in a greased 9×13 baking dish and set aside.
- Prepare the mixture: In a large skillet brown the ground beef, onion and garlic. Drain any fat if necessary. Season with taco seasoning, salt and pepper. Add the rice and 1/2 cup of the salsa then stir well. Scoop the mixture into the bell pepper halves and top with remaining salsa and half the cheese evenly over each pepper.
- Finish the dish: Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover, top each pepper with remaining cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.
- Garnish and serve: Garnish with fresh parsley and serve with sour cream or guacamole.
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