Mexican Stuffed Peppers made with ground beef, rice, salsa and cheese. Perfect for meal prepping and easy weeknight dinners!
We love these Mexican flavors in the stuffed peppers almost as much as we love these classic Stuffed Peppers and Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers.
Mexican Stuffed Peppers are the second stuffed pepper on the site after the Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers (small secret, I actually meal prep my stuffed peppers together and make different fillings!).
Stuffed Peppers have been a family meal I’ve enjoyed as a kid my whole life (though never Philly or Mexican flavored). My mom used to make stuffed vegetables like peppers, cabbage, zucchini and eggplant and fill them with ground beef before baking them. We never got the awesome cheese topping.
Like in the previous Philly stuffed peppers here is a rundown of all the different ways you can cook stuffed peppers. The main differences are in the park cooking of the bell peppers themselves. Many complaints I’ve seen from people is that the bell peppers are still raw/crunchy/underdone when they are served.
You can see in the pictures I cook my bell peppers until they are tender. A fork can easily cut right through the pepper. This is important because the filling we are putting inside the stuffed peppers are fully cooked, so any pre-cooking of the peppers we do is less time in the oven with the already cooked ingredients.
How do you cook stuffed peppers?
- In the Microwave: This trick will cut down on cooking time if you don’t have to cook rice in the peppers. Clean and cut them, then cover them with a wet paper towel on a plate and cook for 4-5 minutes while preparing the stuffing. You just cut your cooking time in half.
- In the Oven: Depending on the filling, you’ll want to cook the peppers for at least 30 minutes. Keeping the bell peppers covered and including a bit of liquid in the filling or in the pan will help cook the bell peppers faster by creating steam.
- Parboiling: If you have a pot of water going drop the bell peppers in it for 3-4 minutes to cook them halfway before stuffing them. This leeches vitamins so I don’t normally do this (but I did for an upcoming chicken parmesan stuffed peppers since I had pasta cooking for the recipe too).
- On the Stovetop: The primary thing here is to keep liquid in the pot and to keep it covered to help steam the bell peppers. Depending on the filling you could even be done in 15-20 minutes with the direct heat of a stovetop.
- In the Slow Cooker: Add all the ingredients as you would below, but I suggest cutting the tops off the peppers and stuffing from the top of the pepper. Cook on low for 4 hours.
My favorite method is the microwave one. It’s a pretty easy method you don’t have to keep an eye on and it takes just minutes while you are preparing the filling.
Looking for more awesome Mexican flavors?
- Cheesy Taco Stuffed Shells
- Cheesy Taco Pasta – my most popular recipe right now!
- Classic Chicken Enchiladas
- Best Homemade & QUICK Enchilada Sauce (Top 10 Ways to Use It!) – this recipe has tons and TONS of positive reviews.
- Toasted Mexican Rice
Tools Used in the making of these Mexican Stuffed Peppers:
Cast Iron Skillet: This is my most used pan in my kitchen, heavy, keeps heat well and gives the BEST sear ever.
Jarred Salsa: Cuts the prep time down to just a couple of minutes and the flavors are still outstanding.
Taco Seasoning: I’ve use my homemade taco seasoning recipe if you’d prefer not to use a packet. This is the packet I’d recommend if not using homemade.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning (one packet)
- 1 cup rice , cooked
- 2 cups salsa , divided
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 3 bell peppers , split in half and de-seeded (through the stem)
- 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese , divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the ground beef to a large cast iron skillet (this browns very well) and brown until a deep brown crust appears before breaking the beef apart.
- Stir the ground beef and brown until a deep crust appears on about 50 or so percent of the beef.
- Let brown for 1-2 minutes before stirring, then let brown for another 1-2 minutes before stirring again.
- Drain the fat, add the taco seasoning and stir.
- Add in the rice and half the salsa. Stir.
- Scoop the mixture into the bell pepper halves and top with the remaining salsa and half the cheese.
- Bake for 45 minutes in a covered pan.*
- Uncover, top with remaining cheese and put back in the oven for 5 minutes to melt the cheese.
Nutrition
Used frozen green bell peppers out of our garden,cooked as directed,turned out great!
I just made this tonight it was nothing short of amazing!!! Thank you
These were awesome! Made them with poblano peppers and venison. Used my homemade red & salsa verde and topped them with homemade enchilada sauce. Thanks for the idea!
You’re welcome, April.
Most Excellent!!!
This has become one of my top 5 cooking blogs. You are amazing.
Yummmm
I added some leftover refried beans and some pepper cheese!
So good! Thanks
Thanks for the 5 stars, Lori.
Looks like you have sauce In the bottom of ur pan. You don’t put any sauce on the bottom so the peppers don’t stick? I’m confused
The sauce you see is just from them cooking down. I didn’t add any sauce to the bottom of the pan and didn’t have an issue with them sticking. I hope you enjoy them!
I love Mexican food, and this recipe is incredibly wonderful. I’ll be making these on a regular basis…even through the winter. My guess is that they will freeze well. I will soon find out.
It looks like this makes 3 whole peppers. For 6 whole peppers I would double the recipe?
Yes 🙂
First time making stuffed peppers after 36 years of marriage. Husband loved it ! Just added some onion and corn to the meat/rice mixture. Thanks.
There’s a first time for everything! Glad it went so well!!
This is great! I had mini peppers that I wanted to use up, so instead of stuffing them, I simply layered them on the bottom of the casserole and then layered the meat mixture, salsa and cheese on top.
Fantastic idea!
Just made this for dinner. Great recipe! We all loved it! Thanks you
You’re welcome, Jody. Thanks for coming back to let me know how much you enjoyed it.
Very good. I added sour , fire sauce, and crushed fruits on top after cool down. Simply delicious.
Question, if you are microwaving the peppers first, how long do they have to bake in the oven?
You’ll want to cut the cooking time in half if you microwave the peppers first. Enjoy!
I made this recipe tonight and it was awesomely delicious! It was easy to make and I used fresh green peppers from the garden, which is always a plus, and used the microwave method to speed up the baking process (cause I was impatiently anxious to try them!). My granddaughter,11, refused to try them for dinner(she’s picky!), then tried a bite when no one was peeking ,loved them and ended up eating a whole stuffed pepper!!! This is definitely my kind of recipe-easy and delicious! Thank you so much!
I’d definitley call that a success!!
Wow..my family loved these stuffed peppers. It’s fast, and easy. I loved the idea of microwaveing the peppers first. It indeed speeded up the process and supper was served and all enjoyed
I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it! Thanks for he 5 stars and for coming back to let me know!
These look amazing but one question… you cook the peppers in the microwave and again in the oven? I just want to be sure of this. Thank you!
That’s my method of choice. So easy. 🙂
Thank you I will be trying them tonight
Wow! These were super easy to prepare and absolutely delicious!! I used ground chicken and brown rice cuz I need to shed a few pounds. I added 2 tablespoons of water with the taco seasoning because the chicken is a little drier than ground beef. I will be making again and again. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Hi- if you cook in microwave for 4-5 mins, then you only bake them for about 20 mins in the oven or do you still bake for 45 mins?
Yes, if you microwave the peppers first you’ll only need to bake them for around 20 minutes in the one. Enjoy!
Have you (or anyone) tried cooking this and freezing and baking. I work two nights a week and so we try and meal prep as much as possible to make it easier. Thanks in advance!
I would suggest making the filing and freezing that portion. When ready to make, cut up fresh peppers and finish the recipe that way. Hope this helps with meal prepping.
Sabrina, my family loved this stuffed peppers! My son who does not care for bell peppers ate 2 halves at one sitting! I used cooked brown rice and no one is wiser?Thank you for sharing this yummy recipe!
You made my day! Anytime I can get the little ones to enjoy something I feel like I have won the lottery!
These would be SUCH a big hit in my house!
I love when everyone in the family enjoys a dish! Enjoy!!
OMG the cheesiness has me swooning! So epic!
Thanks Jenn!
These are calling my name! The best comfort food!
Loving this Mexican twist on traditional stuffed peppers! 🙂
Thanks Carrie!
These look great! I bet my husband would love them!
This is a great recipe for dinner!
Thank you! I hope you enjoy them!!
So do you add water with the taco seasoning or no?
No water is needed, just the seasoning. Enjoy!
These peppers look amazing! Going on our dinner rotation next week 🙂
Enjoy!