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Easy Taco Stuffed Peppers – these Mexican stuffed peppers are a fun twist on a classic! Taco meat, black beans, corn, salsa and more. If you love taco night these are going to be a huge hit!
If you know me, you know that I could probably live off of Mexican food. It is my favorite and I could eat tacos almost every day. Don’t get me wrong, I like to change it up and have Sour Cream Enchiladas every now and then. But if guacamole was a food group, I would be set! And then you could have Margaritas with it? That sounds like the life!
Today I am taking the classic stuffed peppers and giving them a Mexican twist. They are filled with taco meat, black beans, corn, salsa and cheese. Then topped off with enchilada sauce and more cheese. A dream come true!
What You’ll Need
- Bell Peppers
- Ground Beef Taco Seasoning
- Black Beans
- Corn
- Salsa
- Cheese
- Enchilada Sauce
- Cooked Rice
You can go easy with store bought or you can use Homemade Taco Seasoning and even Homemade Enchilada Sauce to make these completely from scratch.
Not a big fan of bell peppers? You can stuff tomatoes!! Or just make Taco Rice and skip the stuffing.
How Do You Cook Stuffed Peppers
- Microwave – while the meat and rice is cooking, you can microwave the cleaned out peppers. Place them on a microwaves safe plate and cover with a damp paper towel. Cook them for 4-5 minutes. They will be slightly tender and will cut your baking time down significantly.
- Boil – you can parboil the peppers if you want. Just boil them for 3-4 minutes before removing and filling them.
- Crockpot – this is for cooking the entire pepper after it has been stuffed. You can cook on low for 4-5 hours. Instead of slicing them in half, cut just the tops off and remove the seeds and membrane. Then fill and place in the bottom of your crock pot. Just cover and let them cook while you go about your day.
- Bake – the classic method is to just fill the peppers and bake for about 45 minutes until everything is hot and the peppers are tender. A crunchy bell pepper kind of wrecks the whole experience.
So to answer the question Should I Cook Peppers Before Stuffing? It depends which method you are going to use. This recipe calls for baking, so no, I wouldn’t precook them if you are following this exactly.
What To Put In Stuffed Peppers
You can get super creative with this and use anything you like!
- Taco Seasoned Ground Beef or ground turkey
- Black or Pinto Beans
- Corn Kernels
- Cooked Rice – use white or brown rice
- Enchilada Sauce
- Salsa – store bought or your favorite Restaurant Style Salsa
- Cheese – cheddar or a Mexican blend are my favorite
Can you Make Stuffed Peppers Ahead of Time
100% yes you can, and it is part of the reason I love them so much! You can make the filling and then fill the peppers a few days a head of time. Then you just bake them (or put them in the crock pot) the day you want to serve them.
Can you Freeze Stuffed Peppers
Yes, you can. I like to freeze them before I bake them, but if you have leftovers you want to freeze that works as well. Just place them in an air tight container for up to 2 months. When you are ready to serve them put them in the fridge overnight to thaw, and then you can bake according to the recipe directions.
How Do You Make Mexican Stuffed Peppers
Be sure to scroll to the bottom of the post for the FULL PRINTABLE recipe card.
These taco stuffed peppers are super easy to throw together with just a few simple steps.
- Brown ground beef and add taco seasoning once you have cooked and drained any fat away.
- Cook the rice. You can use long grain white rice, brown rice, or even minute rice. It doesn’t matter, just have it cooked and ready to go. It is about 3 cups of cooked right that you need.
- Mix together taco meat, black beans, corn, rice, salsa, and cheese.
- Slice the bell peppers in half and remove the seeds and membranes. You can use any color bell pepper that you like!
- Fill the peppers with the rice mixture. Then you just top with enchilada sauce and the rest of the cheese!
- Bake and you are done.
So the key to getting delicious stuffed peppers is getting the pepper actually cooked all the way. Your cheese will melt and your filling will be hot, long before the pepper is done. That isn’t necessarily a problem, you can just bake them for 45 minutes until the pepper is cooked. But if you are pressed for time, there are shortcuts, that you can make to speed things up.
Taco Topping Ideas
- Sour Cream
- Diced Avocado
- Diced Tomatoes
- Jalapenos
- Black Olives
- Cilantro
Want to make these even leaner? Use ground turkey in place of ground of ground beef.
If your family loves Mexican food than these stuffed peppers are a must try. You can mix up the filling to what your family likes as well. The meat can be ground turkey, shredded chicken, leftover pork…you name it! You can add jalapenos for spice, top with sour cream, avocado, tomatoes, or black olives if you like. You really can make these your own.
Other Mexican Dinner Ideas to Try
- Mexican Pizzas
- Chicken Tostadas
- Easy Taco Soup
- Fiesta Lime Chicken
- Crunchy Southwestern Chicken Wrap
- Dorito Taco Casserole
- Southwest Baked Chicken
Easy Taco Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers, sliced in half length wise with seeds and membrane removed
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 cup frozen corn kernels
- 1 cup salsa
- 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
- 1 10 oz can enchilada sauce
- 3 cups cooked rice
Optional Toppings
- Sour cream
- Diced Tomatoes
- Avocado
- Jalapeno slices
- Black Olives
- Cilantro
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- Arrange sliced peppers in a 13×9 inch baking dish.
- In a large skillet brown ground beef over medium high heat. Once broken up and cooked through drain any fat. Mix in taco seasoning until everything is well coated.
- In a large bowl (or if your skillet is large enough) mix together taco meat, black beans, corn, salsa, 1 cup of cheddar cheese and rice.
- Generously fill peppers with the rice mixture. If you have leftovers just store in the fridge or fill additional peppers.
- Pour enchilada sauce evenly over the peppers and top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes until everything is melted and the peppers are tender.
- Remove and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I’m on board with eating tacos every day:) We absolutely LOVE stuffed peppers and the flavor of these!
This is such a fun twist on taco night! Looks so filling and sounds flavorful!
We love tacos in just about any form. Can’t wait to give these a try!
what a fun twist on stuffed peppers! thanks for this great idea!
What a fun way to Taco Tuesdays in a new way. I loved the crispness of the pepper with all my favorite taco toppings.
I love these low carb taco stuff peppers! Thank you for the easy recipe
Oh wow, those look sooo good! All of that cheese oozing out is making my mouth water. I just picked up some bell peppers yesterday – bingo!
Such a delicious recipe; definitely adding this to my dinner line up for the week! Looks too good to pass up!
You can never go wrong with a taco recipe! This is a perfect version of a dish everyone will love!