Tex Mex Stuffed Peppers

You’ll love the unique texture of these Tex Mex Stuffed Peppers. They’re easy to make and a great healthy alternative to meat and potatoes! The filling for these Tex Mex stuffed peppers can be made ahead as a freezer meal.

If you love the flavors of stuffed peppers, you will also like our Stuffed Pepper Soup, Unstuffed Peppers Skillet Meal, and Stuffed Pepper Casserole.

Tex Mex Stuffed Peppers Recipe:

• 1 lb. ground beef, browned
• 1/2 cup onion, diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup rice, cooked and cooled
• 14 oz. can tomato sauce
• 3 Tbsp. taco seasoning

For day of cooking:

• 6 bell peppers
• shredded jalapeño jack or cheddar cheese

Assembly instructions:

Add ground beef, onion, garlic, corn, cooked rice, tomato sauce, and seasoning to a large freezer bag. Remove excess air. Freeze.

Cooking Instructions:

Thaw. Cut the top off of 6 bell peppers and hollow them out. Fill with mixture and top with shredded  cheese. Place in baking dish and bake in the oven at 350° for 30 minutes.

These peppers make a delicious and healthy weeknight meal. Not to mention that when you have the filling pre-made in the freezer, they are super easy to assemble. 

All that’s left to do is cut the tops off your peppers and take out the seeds and membranes before filling and topping with cheese. I find the easiest way to hollow out the peppers is scooping them out with a spoon. 

Can you make Stuffed Peppers ahead and freeze?

Yes, you can make this complete meal as a freezer meal including pre-stuffing the peppers with the filling. I prefer to only make the filling ahead and stuff the peppers on the day of serving. I prefer the texture. And having the filling already made saves a lot of time. 

But if you prefer, you can actually freeze the peppers already stuffed (before baking) and then on the day of serving, allow them to thaw, top with cheese, and bake. Just be sure to remove as much air as you can from the freezer bag in order to prevent freezer burn.

Variations and Substitutions:

• Substitute Mexican ground round for the ground beef to make these stuffed peppers vegetarian. This is my favourite way of eating them actually.
• Another vegetarian option is to omit the ground beef entirely and add a can of black beans that have been drained and rinsed.
• To make a healthier version of these, use lean ground turkey as your protein in place of the beef.
• Omit the peppers and make this meal as a rice bowl. Serve salsa and sour cream on the side.
• Garnish with fresh chopped cilantro if desired.
• Use mozzarella cheese, pepper jack cheese, or a tex mex blend if you prefer.

Should peppers be precooked before stuffing?

Peppers do not need to be blanched or cooked before stuffing. Simply stuff the raw peppers and bake. They will soften in the oven as the filling warms and cheese melts on top. 

Print

Tex Mex Stuffed Peppers

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

30 mins

 

Course: Main Course

Servings: 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground beef browned
• 1/2 cup onion diced
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 cup corn frozen
• 1 cup rice cooked and cooled
• 14 oz. tomato sauce
• 3 Tbsp. taco seasoning

For day of cooking:

• 6 bell peppers
• jalapeño jack or cheddar cheese shredded

Instructions

Assembly instructions:

1. Add ground beef, onion, garlic, corn, rice, tomato sauce, and seasoning to a large freezer bag. Remove excess air. Freeze.

Cooking Instructions:

1. Thaw. Cut the top off of 6 bell peppers and hollow them out. Fill with mixture and top with shredded jalapeño jack or cheddar cheese. Place in baking pan and bake at 350° for 30 minutes.