Tender stuffed bell peppers full of Mexican flavors.
Peppers come in all kinds of shapes and sizes, but husky and hollow bell peppers are practically begging to be filled with scrumptious stuffings. This version starts with a Mexican-style rice, made with onions, garlic, tomatoes, and chipotle peppers. Once it is cooked beans, blacks olives, and crumbly cotija cheese are mixed in. The peppers are loaded with this flavorful mix, then sprinkled with cheese and baked until melty and tender. A sprinkling of cilantro finishes them off, for a meal that is meatless but still hearty and robust.
Mexican-Inspired Rice and Bean Stuffed Peppers
The secret to this hearty and wholesome stuffed pepper meal is a fragrant Mexican-style rice with piquant flavors cooked-in. And once this tomatoey, chipotle-infused rice is ready to go, it mixes with beans, black olives, and cotija cheese, for a full array of flavors and textures. This dynamic jumble is packed into peppers, sprinkled with cheddar, and baked until tender and melty. A garnish of cilantro is all you need after that, and there you have it: a bright, savory, and satisfying take on the classic stuffed pepper.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 yellow onion chopped
- 8 cloves garlic chopped
- 1/2 cup long-grain white rice
- 1 cup diced tomato from about 1 large tomato
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo plus 1 tbsp adobo sauce
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- ¾ cup pinto or black beans drained and rinsed
- 1/2 cup pitted black olives cut in half
- ¼ cup cotija cheese
- 2 bell peppers any color
- ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese
- Cilantro for garnish
Instructions
- In a medium saucepan heat olive oil over medium heat. When hot add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes until starting to soften. Add garlic cook for about 1 minute until fragrant.
- Mix rice, tomato, chipotle peppers, adobo sauce, and salt into the saucepan. Stir in ¾ cup water and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and leave covered.
- While rice is cooking, preheat oven to 400º. Cut peppers in half lengthwise and remove stem, seeds, and membranes. Grease a casserole dish or 9×13-inch pan with oil or nonstick spray. Place peppers in pan and set aside.
- When rice is done cooking uncover and mix in beans, black olives, and cotija cheese.
- Fill peppers with rice mixture. Top peppers with shredded cheddar cheese.
- Add 1/4 cup of water to the bottom of the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes or until peppers are tender. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until cheese is completely melted.
- Serve peppers topped with cilantro.
