Healthy Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers
There are times when you just need to use up ingredients already in your fridge or pantry.
These Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers are made for those days.
Change up the filling according to what’s on hand and you have an easy week night dinner that the whole crew will love!
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The key ingredient categories in Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers are:
Ground meat (chicken, turkey, beef or vegetarian meat substitute): we used ground chicken
Canned beans (black, kidney, white, or chickpeas): we used black beans
Cooked rice or grain (white rice, brown rice, quinoa, or couscous): we used leftover cooked rice and quinoa
Tomatoes (canned or fresh diced tomatoes, salsa, or tomato sauce): we used canned fire roasted diced tomatoes
Shredded Cheese (cheddar, monterey jack, pepperjack, or colby): we used monterey jack
Aromatics (onion, shallot, garlic, jalapeno, scallion, and/or cilantro): we used diced onion and jalapeno, and fresh cilantro
Seasoning (chili powder, cumin, oregano, garlic powder): we used them all
Besides being as satisfying as a casserole or comfort food, Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers are a healthy and hearty meal.
Did you know that red bell peppers compared to green bell peppers have 10 times more beta-carotene and are loaded with Vitamin C, Vitamin A and are rich in antioxidants?
And they make terrific leftovers for lunch the next day!
Enjoy!!
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All my best,
xo Libby
Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers halved, seeds removed
- 2 cups cooked rice or favorite grain such as quinoa or couscous
- 1 Tbl olive oil
- 1 sweet onion diced
- 1 jalapeno fine diced
- 1/2 pound ground chicken or turkey, beef or meat substitute
- salt & pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground oregano
- 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed or kidney or white beans
- 2 1/2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese, reserve 1/2 cup for topping or cheddar or pepperjack or colby
- 1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place halved bell peppers cut side up in a shallow baking dish.
- In a large skillet, saute onion and jalapeno in olive oil until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add ground meat, season with salt & pepper and brown until cooked through, breaking into pieces with wooden spoon. Add the garlic powder, chili powder, cumin and oregano, stir to combine. Remove from heat and fold in beans and cooked rice (or grain), 2 cups shredded cheese, and chopped cilantro.
- Stuff pepper halves with filling. Bake for 30 minutes covered in foil. Remove foil, top with remaining 1/2 cup shredded cheese and bake uncovered for an additional 15-20 minutes until peppers are tender.
Notes
Other recipes you might enjoy:
2 Comments
Chef Mimi
I love dishes like this because you can switch out the ingredients so easily and change up the seasoning. This is a perfect recipe.
libby
You are so right! So many variations, especially nice when you’re trying to stay out of the grocery store ;)