Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers was a dish I only knew from the freezer section as a kid, but I loved it! I still think the traditional kind with the green peppers and tomato sauce reigns supreme, but this is a great alternative. This has spicy and cheesy flavors all stuffed into a pepper. This is something that looks fancy but it is pretty simple. Try these peppers out with some guests and they will think you went through a mountain of trouble. It can be just our secret that it's just as easy as making rice and browning ground beef.

Ingredients

4 red or green bell peppers

1 pound of ground beef

 1/ 2 onion, chopped

2 1/2 cups of cooked rice

1 teaspoon each, salt and pepper

1 large can of red enchilada sauce, divided

2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese, divided

Cut the tops off of the peppers. I like to make a shallow cut and then dig everything out of the pepper.

 

Make sure the seeds and the membranes are out of the pepper as they can be a bit bitter.  Then rinse this out to make sure it's nice and clean for the filling.

Cook the ground beef over medium heat with the onion until the beef is browned and the onion is tender. Add in the cooked rice, the salt, pepper and about 3/4 cup of the enchilada sauce. I like to let this sit over very low heat for a few minutes to let the rice soak up the tasty sauce. Then add in about 1 cup of cheese and turn off the heat completely. 

 

If you want, let the filling cool before stuffing the peppers. I like to burn my hands in the process to make me feel like I have worked for it. You can cram quite a bit into the peppers, too.  Once the peppers are stuffed, place them into an oven safe dish.

Getting the peppers to stand upright is not completely necessary.  If it happens, it happens. These two stood up nicely until I put them in the oven. What's the worst that could happen? They soak up the sauce and get blistery on one side. Oh no! After you have placed your peppers in the pan, pour the remaining enchilada sauce into the bottom of your baking dish. Then, sprinkle the remaining cheese over the tops of each pepper.

Bake the peppers at 350 degrees for about thirty to forty five minutes or until the peppers are a bit tender.  I like to spoon over the enchilada sauce about half way through the baking time to make sure the top is nice and saucy.

This is great with just a salad, but some beans would go with this nicely as well!