• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Laughing Spatula logo

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • YouTube
  • All Recipes
  • Most Popular
  • Chicken Recipes
  • Healthy Recipes
  • About
Laughing Spatula / Recipe Index / Casseroles / Southwest Stuffed Peppers

Southwest Stuffed Peppers

By Kathi & Rachel

8486 shares
  • Share
  • Email
Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

These Southwest Stuffed Peppers are chock full of beef, rice, corn  and beans.   Sub ground turkey or chicken for an even leaner meal!

Southwest peppers ready to serve in a baking dish

This beautiful colorful dish is so easy to make and chalk full of veggies and lean meat!

How to make Southwest Stuffed Peppers

Cut the ends off of your rainbow of peppers.  Save those tops because we are chopping them up and tossing them in the meat mixture.  More veggies!

Colorful peppers chopped up on a cutting board

 This recipe calls for rice but who wants to spend 30 minutes watching it cook.  I got a secret!   OVEN BAKE YOUR RICE! While you are cooking up the beef filling on the stove top your rice is cooking away in the oven.  Once you make your rice like this, you will never go back to pot watching!

You can also Oven Bake Quinoa and Brown Rice!

HOW TO OVEN BAKE RICE:

Combine rice, hot water, cover and bake for 25 minutes.  It will come out fluffy every time! (see recipe card below for exact instructions).

how to oven bake rice

So your rice is ricing in the oven and you are working on the stuffing.  Hang in there..you are almost done and you just got started!

Cut the tops off the peppers and remove the seeds and veins. Add a bit of water to the casserole dish, cover with plastic wrap and microwave on high for 2-3 minutes.  This will soften up the peppers and they will be perfectly done when the dish bakes in the oven.

Ground beef and southwest flavors ready to stuff the peppers

So you have done all your chopping, mixing and TASTING FOR SEASONING!    Especially when working with seasonings like chili powder and cumin.  They vary greatly in their intensity.

Now its time to stuff ’em!

Stuffing Southwest Peppers with beef mixture

 

Your all stuffed up and ready for the oven!  Bake about 20 minutes, top with cheese and you have a hearty but healthy meal!

We eat these for days.  I chop up the leftovers and  toss them in salads and stuff them in tortillas.  They make a great lunchbox treat as well!

Southwest Stuffed Peppers ready to eat

 

We love our Southwest and Mexican flavors around here…check out two of our most popular recipes:

One Pan Southwest Chicken and Rice – Even the uncooked rice goes in the same pan!- made with store bought rotisserie chicken and a handful of ingredients you probably have in your pantry !

Healthy Mexican Casserole – made with ground chicken, turkey or beef along with black beans and Enchilada sauce for a super flavorful but healthy dinner…oh and fast!

To Easy Dinners with Tons of Flavor!

Clink!

Kathi

What do you think about this recipe? Have questions? Comment below! Don’t forget to like us on Facebook, and connect with us on Instagram and tag your @Laughingspatula recipes with #laughingspatula, while you’re at it…We love to see your pics!  

Southwest Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed with ground beef, chicken or turkey.  Add corn, black beans and rice to make a super flavorful filling!    I include a super easy oven baked rice recipe as well but you can also cook it stove top following package directions or even easier, buy it pre cooked!
4.65 from 17 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes minutes
Servings: 6
Author: Kathi & Rachel

Ingredients

  • 1 pound lean ground beef ground chicken or turkey
  • 1 cup cooked white rice brown rice, quinoa or couscous
  • cup yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 large garlic cloves, chopped
  • 6 whole peppers 2 green, 2 yellow, 2 red
  • 1 poblano pepper, seeded and chopped or one 6 ounce can roasted chilies
  • 1 cup tomato puree or tomato sauce
  • 1 cup yellow corn fresh or thawed frozen
  • 1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 cup grated mexican blend cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  •  For the one cup of rice, you can follow my easy oven bake recipe or just follow the directions on the package.   To oven bake rice.  In small casserole dish combine 1 cup rice with 2 cups very hot water. (I microwave water on high 2 minutes before adding to rice).   Cover tightly with foil and bake for 25 minutes.  You will not need all of the rice for this recipe.  Remove one cup and  save the rest for another use.
  • Slice tops off of green peppers .  Remove seeds and veins.  Remove the stems from the tops of the pepper and chop up to use in the filling.  
  • Place peppers in baking dish.  Add 1/3 cup water.  Cover with plastic wrap and cook in microwave on high for about 3 minutes or until slightly soft.  Discard remaining water from baking dish.
  • In large skillet, brown ground beef over medium high heat.  Drain fat if any.  Add chopped onion, the chopped pepper tops,  and garlic. Season with salt and pepper.  Saute until onions and peppers are soft.  Add tomato puree, cooked rice, corn and beans.
  • Add chili powder and cumin.  Taste for seasoning.  More salt, pepper or spices?  
  • Using a large spoon, divide beef mixture into the peppers.  Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes until filling is heated through and peppers are tender.
  • Top with cheese.  Put back in oven for 5 minutes and serve with your favorite southwest toppings like sour cream, avocado and salsa!
  • Store leftovers in the fridge.  These are great chopped up and thrown on a  salad or in a tortilla!

Nutrition

Calories: 370kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 56mg | Sodium: 558mg | Potassium: 965mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 1630IU | Vitamin C: 116.2mg | Calcium: 122mg | Iron: 5.5mg
8486 shares
  • Share
  • Email

Filed Under: Casseroles, Gluten Free, Healthy Recipes, Main Course Recipes, Most Popular Recipes

Never miss a Laughing Spatula recipe!

Sign up for free recipes delivered straight your in box ! Sign up Here

Reader Interactions

4.65 from 17 votes (12 ratings without comment)

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Kathi and Rachel Kirk in a kitchen in floral dresses
Hi! We are Kathi and Rachel, a mother daughter blogging team creating easy to prepare foods made with fresh ingredients that your whole family will love!

FREE RECIPE EBOOK!
Join our free list below and receive our Ebook: TOP 10 EASY DINNER RECIPES! The best of the best all in one little book!

YOUR FAVORITE RECIPES!

side view of cucumber crab salad bite

Cucumber Appetizers with Crab Salad & Sweet Chili

double view of baked chicken parmesan

Baked Chicken Parmesan

a 3 photo collage with text that says 'best salmon recipes' featuring salmon burgers, miso salmon, and honey mustard salmon as graphics in the collage

The Best Salmon Recipes

Chili Lime Chicken Burger

Chili Lime Chicken Burgers with Avocado Salsa

Cobb Salad Dip served with crackers

Cobb Salad Dip

Sheet Pan Chili Lime Shrimp Fajitas

Footer

As Seen On

Laughing Spatula Featured on Buzzfeed
Laughing Spatula Featured on Fitness Magazine
Laughing Spatula Featured on The Huffington Post
Laughing Spatula Featured on MSN
Laughing Spatula Featured on NBC News
Laughing Spatula Featured on PBS
Laughing Spatula Featured on RedbookMag.com
Laughing Spatula Featured on Country Living

WE LOVE HELPING YOU MAKE FRESH, DELICIOUS AND SIMPLE RECIPES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!

  • Main Course Recipes
  • Sheet Pan Recipes
  • Fast and Fresh Recipes
  • Most Popular Recipes
  • Salad & Dressing Recipes
  • Desserts
  • Soup Recipes
  • Side Dish Recipes
  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • YouTube

Copyright © 2025 Laughing Spatula | Contact & Privacy Policy

Rate This Recipe

Your vote:




A rating is required
A name is required
An email is required

Recipe Ratings without Comment

Something went wrong. Please try again.