These Taco Stuffed Peppers are such an easy weeknight dinner packed with amazing flavor. These come together fast and freeze great for perfect leftovers and lunches.
When you have kids who love tacos and stuffed peppers, the obvious thing to do is make Taco Stuffed Bell Peppers. This dinner is a huge win because of its delicious and simple flavors. It is perfect for picky kiddos.
In addition to being a hit with the kids, I love this recipe because it comes together simply with easy-to-find ingredients. Finally, this recipe freezes really well, so it makes perfect leftover lunches for me.
I’ve been making these two times a month for the past year and they are a huge hit! My fiancé and I are OBSESSED. So easy and soooooo yummy. The leftovers are great too!
Taco Stuffed Pepper Ingredients
These simple ingredients come together so quickly to make a great and easy dinner that your family will love. For the full recipe including all measurements and directions, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Bell peppers: You want to look for bigger peppers that will hold a lot of filling since this recipe makes so much.
- Ground turkey: You could also make this recipe with ground beef, read more on this below.
- Olive oil: This is to prevent the turkey from sticking to the skillet. However, if you are cooking with ground beef, you can eliminate this.
- Taco seasoning: Homemade or store-bought, read more on this below.
- Black beans: Thoroughly rinsed and drained. If you want to use dry black beans you will need to soak them and cook them before using them in this recipe.
- Frozen corn: I love using frozen corn in recipes because it is actually already cooked. It typically can be thrown in at the last minute and the heat from the dish will warm it perfectly.
- Shredded cheddar cheese: See my tip below on shredding cheese from a block.
- Microwaveable rice: Another way we keep this recipe quick and convenient.
- Salsa: I love my homemade salsa recipe, but you could certainly use store-bought here as well.
How to Make Taco Stuffed Peppers
Here is a brief overview of how this stuffed peppers recipe comes together. For the full recipe including all ingredients, be sure to scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Prepare the peppers. Read more on this below.
- Cook the turkey. Add some olive oil with the ground turkey and taco seasoning, breaking up the meat. Cook until the meat is browned and cooked through.
- Make the filling. Mix together the browned taco meat, black beans, salsa, frozen corn, some cheese, and the cooked rice in a large bowl.
- Stuff the peppers. Put the peppers on a baking sheet and divide the mixture among the peppers. Bake for 30 minutes. Add the remainder of the cheese to the top of the peppers and bake for 5 more minutes.
- Serve and enjoy! Top the peppers with sour cream, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and pickled jalapeños.
Preparing Bell Peppers
The color of bell pepper that you buy is completely up to you. Green bell peppers tend to be less expensive, but also not as sweet and delicious in this recipe. I typically mix it up with some red, yellow, and orange.
In this recipe, I use four bell peppers, cut in half from top to bottom. I then carefully cut out the seed pod inside the pepper and remove the ribbing. We microwave them to soften them before baking, cutting down on the overall baking time of the recipe.
As noted in the recipe card, if your peppers are on the smaller side, you may have leftover filling. You could also add in an extra pepper or two, and simply remove the tops from the peppers and fill them whole, rather than after being cut in half.
Ground Turkey or Ground Beef
The type of meat you use in this recipe is again, a matter of personal preference. My family often enjoys ground turkey in recipes. If you decide to use ground beef, skip the olive oil in the recipe and make sure to drain the fat from the pan before moving on.
Shredded Cheese
I highly recommend that you shred cheese from the block for this recipe, and really any recipe that calls for shredded cheese. The reason for this is because pre-shredded cheese, while a time saver, does not melt as well. In order to keep the shreds in individual pieces in the bag, they are coated in preservatives. These same preservatives keep the cheese from melting well. Spend a few extra minutes on this recipe and shred the cheese from the block.
Taco Seasoning
One of the things that brings great flavor to this recipe is the taco seasoning. I love using homemade taco seasoning because I can control the flavor of it so easily.
My recipe for taco seasoning contains instructions for making a big batch or a small amount. The small batch is enough to perfectly replace the amount that comes in a packet from the grocery store. The larger batch is great to keep on hand because we use it in so many recipes like my easy chicken tostadas, my taco spaghetti, and my taco pinwheels. Three tablespoons of the big batch will replace the store-bought packet.
Homemade Taco Seasoning
Rice For Stuffed Peppers
When making stuffed peppers, I often use microwaveable rice. Uncle Ben’s makes an 8.5 ounce pouch that microwaves in 90 seconds. It’s such an easy solution that makes stuffed peppers much faster. Other options would be Minute Rice or making the rice ahead of time.
Whatever type of rice you use, you are looking for 2 cups of cooked rice.
Storing and Reheating Leftovers
Store any leftover stuffed peppers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat only the portion you plan to eat by putting them in the oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or on half power in the microwave. You could also reheat them in the air fryer.
Freezing Instructions
As mentioned above, this is a great recipe for freezing.
- Prepare the peppers up to the point of baking them. Before baking, place the peppers that you want to freeze on a baking sheet or plate lined with wax paper.
- Put the peppers in the freezer for one hour.
- Transfer peppers into sandwich bags so they can be frozen individually.
- Store in the freezer for up to three months.
- When ready to eat, either thaw in the refrigerator overnight and bake as directed or bake right from the freezer at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.
Toppings For Stuffed Peppers
These stuffed peppers are great on their own, but we are in love with condiments around here. Some suggestions are:
- Salsa: The recipe calls for salsa in the filling, but more can be added on top.
- Sour Cream
- Pickled Jalapeños
- Olives
- Chopped Tomatoes
Other Great Stuffed Peppers
If your family can’t get enough of stuffed peppers, try out some of our other favorites:
If you make this recipe or any of my other stuffed pepper recipes, make sure to leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
Taco Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers sliced in half length-wise and de-seeded (see note)
- 1 pound ground turkey (read in the post about replacing with ground beef)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 15 ounces black beans drained and rinsed (425 grams before draining and rinsing)
- 16 ounces salsa (454 grams)
- 1 cup frozen corn (135 grams)
- 2 cups brown rice read above for how to make a short-cut
- 2 cups cheddar cheese shredded and divided (226 grams)
- sour cream for topping (optional)
- diced tomatoes cilantro and pickled jalapeños for serving (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and spray a 9 by 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- Place the pepper halves in a large mixing bowl. Cover with a plate and cook for 6 minutes in the microwave. This will soften the peppers and shorten the overall baking time.4 bell peppers
- While the peppers are cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground turkey and taco seasoning, breaking up the meat. Cook until the meat is browned and cooked through.1 pound ground turkey, 3 tablespoons taco seasoning, 2 tablespoons olive oil
- In a large bowl, combine the cooked meat, black beans, salsa, frozen corn, cooked rice, and 1 cup of the cheddar cheese. Mix until combined.15 ounces black beans, 16 ounces salsa, 1 cup frozen corn, 2 cups brown rice, 2 cups cheddar cheese
- Place the peppers in the baking dish, making sure to tip them to get out any accumulated cooking liquid before placing them in the baking dish. Add the filling to the prepared peppers. (You may have leftover filling.)
- Top the peppers with the remaining 1 cup of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes. To serve top with sour cream, diced tomatoes, cilantro, and pickled jalapeños.
Notes
Kelly says
Yummy. I love stuffed peppers. The only change I did was i made a second batch with turkey (1st was beef) and used only about 1/4 rice and just a bit of corn and black beans. I wanted to keep the calories down.
I also always par boil the peppers.
Vanessa says
This recipe is a keeper! Everyone loved it – so much so that it was a recipe for 4+, not 8! 🤣. I also used shredded chicken since that’s what I had on hand. Sooo good! My 16-yr old said to tell you “Good Job!”
I’m so glad everyone liked them!
Sony Sherpa says
I’m so excited to try this recipe for taco stuffed peppers! I’ll add lion’s mane mushroom powder from https://www.naturesrise.com/ for the protein and health boost. I can’t wait to see how it turns out! Thanks for sharing!
Clara says
Going to try these they look good
I hope you love them!