What I Cooked Wednesday – Mexican Stuffed Peppers

I’m a big fan of traditional stuffed peppers (ground beef, rice, onions, tomato soup, salt and peppers) – which are so bland in my husband’s opinion! I bought a big bag of bell peppers from Costco last week and I thought – stuffed peppers on the brain for dinner.

Problem is, they couldn’t be plain old boring stuffed peppers…I had to spice these up a bit for my husband to even give it a chance! Mexican Stuffed Peppers for the win!!

4 bell peppers (I like using red, orange or yellow bell peppers)
1 lb ground turkey (optional)
1/2 white onion, diced
1 cup brown or white rice (cooked)
Taco seasoning packet
1 can of chopped mexican tomatoes
1/2 can of black beans
1/4 cup of taco sauce
1/4 cup salsa (I used medium heat for a little kick)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
GARNISHES
Sour cream
Guacamole/avocado slices
Jalapeno slices (optional – I don’t like things super spicy)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Start by cooking your rice – generally equal parts rice and water – I used 1 cup of water and 1 cup of rice – follow instructions according to your rice package

While rice is cooking…

Chop up onions and remove the tops of the peppers in order to remove seeds and prepare for the filling.

Insert optional step…

This time around I pre-cooked the peppers in the oven before stuffing them. I placed them in an 8″ x 8″ cooking dish and cooked them for 20 minutes.

I have seen people boil, microwave or simply do nothing at all! The pre-cooking did cut down on the ultimate cook time, but next time, I will possibly add a little water to the bottom of the dish and cover with foil to “steam” soften them.