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These easy Southwestern Style Stuffed Peppers are sure to be a hit in your home! They are loaded with delicious seasoned beef, perfectly cooked rice, roasted tomatoes, green chilis, and topped with melty cheese! Stuffed peppers are the perfect make-ahead one pan weeknight meal that your family will love!
The Best Southwestern Style Stuffed Peppers
I actually grew up in Romania eating stuffed bell peppers almost weekly and still love them today as an adult. They are one of those comfort meals that remind me of home. So I love creating new ways to stuff peppers like my incredible Mexican Stuffed Peppers and my deliciously unique Stuffed Pepper Soup. So when the idea of stuffing these tasty veggie boats with southwestern flavors popped into my head, nothing was going to stop me! And the results are scrumptious!
Just imagine perfectly cooked fresh bell peppers jam-packed with intense southwestern style flavors like cumin, green chilis, and roasted tomatoes! It’s everything you ever wanted in a stuffed pepper and didn’t know it! Southwestern style stuffed peppers make a fantastic healthy stand-alone meal or you can serve them with some Fluffy Dinner Rolls and my Avocado Tomato Salad to make it a heartier meal.
Why We Love These Southwestern Stuffed Peppers
- Easy Peasy! How do you say little to no clean-up!?! This easy recipe is a one pan meal that you can also make ahead! Yes, please!
- Healthy and Customizable. The simple recipe is very easy to modify and make low carb, keto, vegetarian, or vegan. Not to mention it’s already gluten-free!
- Family Friendly. It’s an affordable and delicious meal that everyone will love. Especially the kids with the melted gooey cheese topping.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Bell peppers – I like to use a colorful mix of green, orange, and red bell peppers in this recipe, but you can use any color of peppers you like!
- Ground beef – Regular or lean ground beef works just fine. If you like you can even use ground turkey or ground chicken to lower the fat content.
- Onion – I used brown onion, but any type of onion will do.
- Celery – You will need a few stalks for fresh celery.
- Garlic – Fresh finely minced garlic is the best choice, but if jarred is all you have on hand it will work too. However, keep in mind that 1½ teaspoons of jarred garlic is equal to 1 fresh clove.
- Fire-roasted tomatoes – Make sure to get the canned fire-roasted tomatoes for the added smokey flavor. In a pinch, regular canned diced tomatoes can be used as a replacement, but it’s just not quite the same.
- Green chilis – These canned chilis are somewhat pretty mild, but really boost the yummy southwestern flavors of the stuffed peppers. So do not leave these out!
- Spices – Earthy warm cumin and mild chili powder are the superstars in this southwestern style stuffed peppers recipe that beautifully spice the filling.
- Seasoning – Salt and pepper to taste.
- Black beans – You will need a can of your favorite black beans.
- Frozen corn – Any brand will do and you can even use fresh corn cut off the cob if you prefer.
- Rice – Long grain rice works best in this recipe as it tends to soak up lots of flavor and also cooks fairly quickly.
- Chicken broth – Your favorite store-bought chicken broth is the one you want.
- Provolone cheese – Similar to mozzarella, provolone is mild in flavor. But feel free to use any kind of mild cheese you’d like such as cheddar or Monterey Jack.
- Cilantro – Fresh chopped cilantro is used to garnish the colorful peppers.
- Preheat the oven: Turn your oven on to 350°F.
- Prep the peppers: Wash the bell peppers. Next, slice a thin slice from the bottom of each pepper to help them stand upright. Then slice the tops off the peppers and deseed them being careful not to break the pepper. Now, place the peppers in an upright standing position in a greased casserole dish and cook them for about 15 minutes or until they begin to soften.
- Brown the beef: Cook the ground beef over medium-high heat in a large skillet for about 5 minutes or until it is no longer pink. Then add the onions and celery. Now, continue cooking for 3 minutes until the onions have softened up a bit and are translucent. Finally, add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds until it is fragrant and smells garlicky good.
- Finish the filling: Add the fire-roasted tomatoes, canned green chilis, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper to the cooked ground beef mixture. Then stir everything together and add the black beans, frozen corn, rice, and chicken broth. Now, stir it all together once more, cover the skillet with a lid, and cook the filling for about 15 to 20 minutes stirring from time to time until the rice is fully cooked. The rice must be fully cooked to proceed to the next step.
- Stuff the peppers: Spoon the meat mixture into the prepared peppers all the way to the top. You want to create almost like a dome. Then top each pepper with a slice of provolone cheese.
- Bake the peppers: Put the casserole dish into the oven and bake the peppers at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until the cheese melts and begins to brown. You will want to check your peppers around the 17-minute mark to see how they are doing.
- Garnish and serve: Garnish the cooked southwestern style stuffed peppers with fresh chopped cilantro and serve them with sour cream or homemade guacamole.
Can I Make The Recipe Low Carb?
Yes, just use cauliflower rice in place of the long-grain rice and your southwestern style stuffed peppers will be low carb and keto too!
Can I Make Stuffed Peppers Vegetarian Or Vegan?
Yes, for either choice simply use your favorite vegan or vegetarian beef-less “ground beef” option. Cooked brown lentils also work well to stuff the peppers in place of ground meat. And for the cheese, to make it vegan, you can either just omit it or use any vegan meltable cheese.
Can I Make The Filling Spicier?
Yes, and it’s easy to do. You can either use a hotter chili powder or add in some cayenne pepper with the cumin and chili powder when you are making the filling. It’s also possible to add finely diced jalapeno to the onion and celery when sautéing. But note, this will change the flavor profile a bit more.
Serve These With
Expert Tips
- Cook the rice ahead of time. You can easily cook the rice before mixing it with the meat to ensure that it is fully cooked before stuffing the peppers. Instant rice is another option as well, which will save time too!
- Make it lower in fat. Southwestern style stuffed peppers can also be stuffed with ground chicken or turkey for a leaner option. Or, you can leave the meat out altogether and make a vegetarian or vegan version with my suggestions above.
- Don’t overcook your peppers. When prebaking your peppers in the oven before stuffing, be careful not to overcook them. If they get too limp they are hard to work with and stuff. You want them to be cooked, but still firm and hold their shape, so watch them closely.
Storing Leftovers
This southwestern style stuffed peppers recipe is a great make-ahead meal that freezes really well too! To do this you have 2 options:
- Fridge: Make the peppers, wrap them in plastic wrap, and put them in the fridge for up to 3 days. Then the day you plan to serve, just bake the stuffed peppers as stated in the recipe.
- Freezer: Make the peppers without the cheese, double wrap them in plastic wrap, and put them in the freezer for 3 to 4 months. Then when ready to eat, thaw them out in the fridge the day before, top them with the cheese, and bake according to the recipe instructions.
Other Delicious Ground Beef Recipes To try
- Rissoles
- Easy Mexican Casserole
- The Best Lasagna
- Easy Meatloaf Recipe
- Cheesy Beef Quesadillas
- Sloppy Joes
- Instant Pot Salisbury Steak
- Stuffed Shells
Southwestern Style Stuffed Peppers
These easy Southwestern Style Stuffed Peppers are sure to be a hit in your home! They are loaded with delicious seasoned beef, perfectly cooked rice, roasted tomatoes, green chilis, and topped with melty cheese! Stuffed peppers are the perfect make-ahead one pan weeknight meal that your family will love!
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 1 hour 5 minutes
Total: 1 hour 20 minutes
Video
Equipment
Ingredients
- 8 large bell peppers different colors
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 stalk celery chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 15 ounce fire roasted tomatoes diced (1 can)
- 4 ounces canned green chilis (1 small can)
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder mild
- salt and pepper to taste
- 15 ounce black beans (1 can)
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 1 cup rice long grain, uncooked
- 2 cups chicken broth unsalted
- 8 slices provolone cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven: Turn your oven on to 350°F.
- Prep the peppers: Wash the bell peppers. Next, slice a thin slice from the bottom of each pepper to help them stand upright. Then slice the tops off the peppers and deseed them being careful not to break the pepper. Now, place the peppers in an upright standing position in a greased casserole dish and cook them for about 15 minutes or until they begin to soften.
- Brown the beef: Cook the ground beef over medium-high heat in a large skillet for about 5 minutes or until it is no longer pink. Then add the onions and celery. Now, continue cooking for 3 minutes until the onions have softened up a bit and are translucent. Finally, add the garlic and cook for another 30 seconds until it is fragrant and smells garlicky good.
- Finish the filling: Add the fire-roasted tomatoes, canned green chilis, cumin, chili powder, salt, and pepper to the cooked ground beef mixture. Then stir everything together and add the black beans, frozen corn, rice, and chicken broth. Now, stir it all together once more, cover the skillet with a lid, and cook the filling for about 15 to 20 minutes stirring from time to time until the rice is fully cooked. The rice must be fully cooked to proceed to the next step.
- Stuff the peppers: Spoon the meat mixture into the prepared peppers all the way to the top. You want to create almost like a dome. Then top each pepper with a slice of provolone cheese.
- Bake the peppers: Put the casserole dish into the oven and bake the peppers at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until the cheese melts and begins to brown. You will want to check your peppers around the 17-minute mark to see how they are doing.
- Garnish and serve: Garnish the cooked southwestern style stuffed peppers with fresh chopped cilantro and serve them with sour cream or homemade guacamole.
Tips & Notes:
- Cook the rice ahead of time. You can easily cook the rice before mixing it with the meat to ensure that it is fully cooked before stuffing the peppers. Instant rice is another option as well, which will save time too!
- Make it lower in fat. Southwestern style stuffed peppers can also be stuffed with ground chicken or turkey for a leaner option. Or, you can leave the meat out altogether and make a vegetarian or vegan version with my suggestions above.
- Don’t overcook your peppers. When prebaking your peppers in the oven before stuffing, be careful not to overcook them. If they get too limp they are hard to work with and stuff. You want them to be cooked, but still firm and hold their shape, so watch them closely.
nutrition facts
Serving: 1pepper Calories: 463kcal (23%) Carbohydrates: 52g (17%) Protein: 25g (50%) Fat: 18g (28%) Saturated Fat: 8g (50%) Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g Monounsaturated Fat: 7g Trans Fat: 1g Cholesterol: 53mg (18%) Sodium: 351mg (15%) Potassium: 920mg (26%) Fiber: 10g (42%) Sugar: 9g (10%) Vitamin A: 5647IU (113%) Vitamin C: 219mg (265%) Calcium: 223mg (22%) Iron: 4mg (22%)
