Give your next taco night a tasty new twist with these taco stuffed peppers. These bell peppers are packed with a delicious filling of seasoned ground turkey, black beans, and tomatoes with green chilies. All topped with melty cheese, of course! They're a delicious and easy weeknight dinner that the whole family will love.
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I love making stuffed peppers because they're an ideal vessel for all kinds of fillings. Some of my favorites are my sausage stuffed mini peppers, and my popular stuffed Anaheim peppers.
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Why we love this recipe
- Quick and easy. Only 5 simple ingredients and 30 minutes are all you need to have these taco stuffed peppers on the table.
- Customizable. Just like regular tacos, you can use different fillings, and all of your favorite taco toppings, too.
- Tasty and nutritious. These stuffed peppers have all the delicious taco flavors, without the tortilla. They're high protein but low in carbs and calories. And of course, gluten-free.
Ingredient notes
Ingredient quantities and full instructions are in the printable recipe card at the end of this post.
- Bell peppers. For most pepper recipes, I usually choose red peppers for maximum nutrition and sweetness. But this recipe works equally well with orange, yellow or green bell peppers.
- Ground turkey. I have also made taco stuffed peppers using lean ground beef or chicken. Look for 93 percent lean ground turkey. Any leaner, and the meat will be very dry.
- Taco seasoning. Try my easy homemade taco seasoning, or use a store bought packet. If you do use a store bought blend, be sure to read the ingredients if you are gluten-free. Many of them contain wheat flour.
- Black Beans. Black beans are my favorite for tacos, but I sometimes use pinto beans, which work too.
- Tomatoes with green chiles. I use Rotel, which is a combination of diced tomatoes and green chiles. for these stuffed peppers, and keep it in my pantry for other Mexican dishes like my cream cheese chicken chili. You can also just use diced tomatoes and add green chiles separately.
- Cheese. For this recipe, I'm using a Mexican cheese blend of cheddar and Monterey jack cheese. Pepper Jack is also a great choice.
How to make it, step by step
- Slice peppers in half, removing seeds and stems. Bake them for 10 minutes until just tender.
- While the peppers are pre-baking, brown the ground turkey.
- Stir in the beans, tomatoes, and seasoning.
- Fill each pepper half with the ground turkey mixture.
- Top each filled pepper with shredded cheese.
- Bake until cheese is melted and golden.
Variations
Filling
For the taco meat, you can substitute the ground turkey with any other ground meat. Lean ground beef or ground chicken are great, or use leftover shredded rotisserie chicken. You can also try these with sausage meat, like chorizo. Use refried beans for a vegetarian version.
Add frozen corn or canned sweet corn (drained) to the filling, and you can substitute chunky salsa for the tomatoes & chilies.
Toppings
Any of your favorite taco toppings work just as well for stuffed pepper tacos. Try Avocado slices, sour cream, hot sauce, jalapeno slices, pickled red onions, chopped cilantro, sliced black olives, or salsa.
Serving suggestions
Serve rice as a side dish for taco stuffed peppers, especially Mexican fried rice. Cauliflower rice is another great choice if you want to keep it low carb.
My roasted chili corn salsa, or a fiesta salad are great sides for this, or any Mexican dish. And don't forget the hot sauce! If you want to try making your own, check out these recipes for mango habanero or cayenne hot sauce.
For dessert, you can't go wrong with Mexican chocolate brownies!
Top Tips
- Slicing peppers. Although you can simply cut the tops off of the peppers, I like to slice them vertically for stuffing. They will lay in the pan without toppling over, and they will also cook faster. Plus, you'll get more surface area for cheese when sliced from stem to tip. Win, win!
- Pre-bake peppers. Be sure to pre-bake the peppers as specified in the recipe. Peppers contain a lot of water, and this step helps to eliminate excess water so that the filling won't be soggy and watery. After pre-baking, the pepper halves will contain water that can be discarded.
- Seasoning. My homemade taco seasoning contains chili powder, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and other spices. If you use a packaged blend, check the label. It will usually also contain those. Some grocery store taco seasoning blends also contain flour and you may need to add water. Either way, taste the taco filling and add more salt, pepper, or other seasonings to taste.
- Spice level. This recipe is mildly spiced. If you want to amp up the spice level, you can add red pepper flakes, chopped jalapeno peppers, or hot sauce to the filling. Or you can use the hot version of Rotel tomatoes.
- Storage. These stuffed peppers will keep, stored in an airtight container in the fridge, for 3-4 days, making this recipe ideal for meal prep. Reheat them in the oven or microwave.
- Air Fryer. Yes, you can make stuffed peppers in an air fryer. Just pre-heat your air fryer to 350 degrees. Add the pepper halves while you cook the taco filling, allowing them to cook for 5 minutes. Fill and top the peppers and return them to the air fryer to cook at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
Did you make this recipe? Please leave a rating in the comments below and let us know how it turned out. Did you make any changes? We would love for you to share and your feedback is important! Thank you for visiting The Food Blog!
Recipe
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Taco Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 3 large bell peppers any color
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 2 tablespoon taco seasoning
- 1 15 ounce can black beans drained
- 1 10 ounce can Rotel tomatoes with green chilies drained
- 2 cups shredded Mexican cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° Lightly oil a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish or a rimmed baking sheet.
- Wash and dry the peppers and slice them in half from stem to end (lengthwise).
- Remove the seeds and membrane from each pepper half. Use a paring knife to cut out the stem.
- Place the halved peppers in the baking dish, cut side up.
- Bake for ten minutes, or until the peppers are slightly tender.
- Pour off the liquid from in the hollow of each pepper.
- While the peppers are baking, heat a large skillet with a small amount of oil over medium high heat.
- Brown the ground turkey, breaking up with a spoon. (Five to ten minutes).
- Stir in the taco seasoning, black beans and tomatoes.
- Divide the meat mixture evenly into the pepper cavities.
- Top each filled pepper half with grated cheese.
- Return to the already pre-heated oven and bake for 15 minutes until cheese is melted.
- Serve with your favorite toppings.
Notes
-
- Slicing peppers. Although you can simply cut the tops off of the peppers, I like to slice them vertically for stuffing. They will lay in the pan without toppling over, and they will also cook faster. Plus, you'll get more surface area for cheese when sliced from stem to tip. Win, win!
-
- Pre-bake peppers. Be sure to pre-bake the peppers as specified in the recipe. Peppers contain a lot of water, so this step helps to eliminate excess water so that the filling won't be soggy and watery. After pre-baking, the pepper halves will contain water that can be discarded.
-
- Seasoning. My homemade taco seasoning contains chili powder, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and other spices. If you use a packaged blend, check the label. It will usually also contain those. Some commercial taco seasoning blends also contain flour and you may need to add water. Either way, taste the taco filling and add more salt, pepper, or other seasonings to taste.
-
- Spice level. This recipe is mildly spiced. If you want to amp up the spice level, you can add red pepper flakes, chopped jalapeno peppers, or hot sauce to the filling. Or you can use the hot version of Rotel tomatoes.
-
- Storage. These stuffed peppers will keep, stored in an airtight container in the fridge, for 3-4 days, making this recipe ideal for meal prep. Reheat them in the oven or microwave.
-
- Air Fryer. Yes, you can make stuffed peppers in an air fryer. Just pre-heat your air fryer to 350 degrees. Add the pepper halves while you cook the taco filling, allowing them to cook for 5 minutes. Fill and top the peppers and return them to the air fryer to cook at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.
Colleen
We love this recipe. These taco stuffed peppers are delicious, easy to make and nutritious. You can't go wrong!