Mexican Stuffed Peppers – one pan meal – bright bell peppers stuffed with Mexican flavored ground meat, rice and black beans topped with melty cheese and baked in zesty enchilada sauce.
Tender halved bell peppers packed with a ground meat, rice and beans mixture, topped with plenty of cheese and baked in enchilada sauce until bubbly and the cheese is melty.
These Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers are a simple, prep ahead meal, one pan meal is easy to customize with all your favorite taco toppings.
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Why I love this recipe:
- Mexican food lovers – will flip for this recipe!
- All in one meal loaded with spicy flavor.
- Prep ahead – bake just before eating.
- Great low carb option that doesn’t sacrifice taste.
- Leftovers make a great lunch the next day. Refrigerate in an airtight container.
Subs and variations to this recipe:
- Use lean ground turkey or ground chicken instead of beef.
- Sub brown rice or cauliflower rice for white rice.
- Add corn or fresh diced zucchini.
- Use green peppers or any color you like.
- Next time try different kinds of beans like kidney, pinto or garbanzo.
- Use pepper jack cheese or cheddar cheese.
Ingredients in Mexican Stuffed Peppers:
- fresh bell peppers
- olive oil
- lean ground beef
- onion
- packaged taco seasoning
- canned diced tomatoes
- black beans
- cooked rice (90 second instant rice works great!)
- canned enchilada sauce
- fresh cilantro
- lime
- shredded sharp cheddar cheese
How to make this Mexican Stuffed Peppers recipe:
Slice the peppers lengthwise, remove seeds and stems then scrape the inside with a teaspoon until it’s clean.
Drain and rinse black beans and set aside. Preheat oven to 375°.
Drizzle the olive oil into a large skillet, add the ground beef and diced onions and season with salt and black pepper. Cook until the beef is no longer pink and the onions are tender.
Drain excess grease, sprinkle in taco seasoning, diced tomatoes and their juices, black beans, cooked rice, lime juice and 3 tablespoons of enchilada sauce.
Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish. Add meat mixture to the pepper halves, filling about halfway up.
Press with your fingers or the back of a teaspoon so the meat fills the pepper crevices. Top with 1/2 cup of cheese then add the rest of the meat to the top of each pepper and top with the another 1/2 cup of cheese.
Place peppers in the bottom of the dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes remove the foil, top with the remaining cheese. Bake uncovered 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the peppers are tender. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve right away.
What to serve with Mexican Stuffed Peppers:
- pickled jalapenos
- fresh salsa (homemade salsa)
- lime wedges
- dollop of sour cream or Greek yogurt
- refried beans
- sliced avocado
- guacamole
- black olives
- 5 ingredient mexican rice
Full details in the printable recipe card below. Enjoy!
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Best Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 2 large bell peppers cut in half and seeded
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 pound lean ground beef
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 cup diced tomatoes
- 1 cup black beans rinsed and drained
- ½ cup COOKED rice can use white, brown or cauliflower rice
- 1 1/2 cups Mexican blend cheese shredded
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 10 ounces canned Enchilada sauce medium spice used
- 2 tablespoons cilantro
Instructions
- Slice the peppers lengthwise then pull the seeds and stems from inside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Drizzle olive oil into a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground beef and onions. Season with salt and pepper and cook until the beef is no longer pink and onions are tender.
- Drain excess grease, sprinkle with taco seasoning and add diced tomatoes, black beans, (cooked) rice, lime juice and 3 tablespoons of enchilada sauce. Cook for 2 minutes over medium heat.
- Pour the remaining enchilada sauce into the bottom of a casserole dish. Add beef filling to peppers halfway up, top with 1/2 cup of the cheese then add the remaining beef mixture. Place peppers in the casserole dish.
- Cover with aluminum foil and bake 30 minutes. Remove foil, top with the rest of cheese and bake UNCOVERED 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the peppers are tender.
- Garnish with cilantro and serve right away with your favorite toppings: sour cream, sliced jalapeno, avocado or guacamole.
This is totally going on our menu list! Goodness, these peppers look so darn good. I like that the filling is Mexican-style flavored……always looking for new ideas for old classics. Pinned, and passing along to my sister. Thanks for sharing. Have a good week…..chat again soon.
Hi Mary – I sure hope it does! Thank you so much for your kind words and pinning the recipe — also for passing along to your sister. By the way, any leftovers make a good lunch, too. Enjoy friend!
Can these be done in an instant pot?
Hi Tammy – I’ve never made them in an instant pot. If you try it, I’d be interested to see how they turn out. ~ Bernie
Fabulous flavor. The right amount of heat. Just add a margarita.
Thanks Remo! Definitely a good margarita is in order with this one.