These Mexican Stuffed Peppers are naturally vegetarian, nutritious and very filling. That's because I've loaded them with tons of fresh veggies! This recipe is a bit time consuming because of all the chopping, but it's worth the effort because this dish is great for meal prepping. It's easy to freeze and leftovers reheat well too. See the notes for more details!
Course Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine Fusion, Mexican
Season Fall, Spring, Summer, Winter
Key Ingredient Black Beans, Poblano, Quinoa, Sweet Potato
12largebell peppers, tops cut off and seeds removed
1cuppepper jack cheese
1cupcrumbled tortilla chips(optional)
Instructions
Quinoa
Place quinoa, water and salt in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil.
Once boiling, stir, reduce heat to low and cover with a lid. Cook until all water is absorbed, about 15 minutes.
Stuffing
Preheat oven to 400F
In a large dutch oven or pot, heat oil over medium heat.
Add onion and saute until golden then add poblanos, jalapenos and sweet potato and cook until the vegetables are slightly tender.
Turn off the heat and add quinoa, black beans, 2 cups grated cheese, corn, chopped cilantro stems, lime zest and two cups of enchilada sauce.
Mix the filling well and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Assembly
Scoop stuffing into peppers, and top with a spoonful of enchilada sauce, then top with cheese and tortilla chips.
Lightly oil a large casserole dish and pour the remaining enchilada sauce in the bottom of the dish. Place stuffed peppers on top and bake 25-30 minutes.
Serve garnished with cilantro leaves and lime wedges.
Notes
These peppers can be served as a main course or a side dish. Since one whole pepper is very filling, I suggest cutting the peppers in half (as pictured) if you plan to serve these Mexican Stuffed Peppers as a side.
Short on time? Feel free to use store bought enchilada sauce. Since store bought can be saltier, omit the salt in the quinoa and salt to taste after combining filling ingredients.
This recipe is very easy to freeze! Place uncooked stuffed peppers in a freezer/oven safe dish and tightly wrap. To bake, place the frozen peppers in a cold oven, turn on heat to 400F and bake until hot, about 45-60 minutes. (Why not preheat the oven? I typically use glass or ceramic dishes to freeze my casseroles and the dish has a much smaller chance of cracking if it slowly warms up. Placing a frozen dish in a hot oven can result in dinner disaster!)