This recipe for stuffed poblano peppers is tender pasilla chiles filled with a mixture of ground beef, rice, black beans and vegetables, then topped with cheese and baked. A hearty Mexican style meal that’s sure to get rave reviews!
We love Mexican food recipes, and some of my family’s favorites include tacos al pastor and chicken enchilada casserole. When I’m looking to mix things up a bit, I serve these stuffed poblano peppers for a unique and unexpected dinner with tons of flavor.
Stuffed bell peppers are a classic dish that never goes out of style, but this zesty Mexican version kicks things up a notch. These poblano peppers are filled with a savory blend of meat, rice, beans and cheese for an easy yet satisfying meal.
Table of Contents
Stuffed Poblano Peppers Ingredients
To make this recipe, you will need poblano peppers, vegetable oil, ground beef, garlic, taco seasoning, cooked white rice, black beans, corn, tomatoes, Monterey jack cheese and cilantro.
How Do You Make Stuffed Poblano Peppers?
This recipe starts with prepping your peppers. Slice the tops off the peppers, then remove the ribs and seeds. I find it easiest to remove the seeds and ribs with a serrated grapefruit spoon or a small paring knife. Preheat the oven, and coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place the peppers on the pan, then bake them until they start to soften. While the peppers are in the oven, prepare the filling. Brown the ground beef in a pan or large skillet, then add the garlic and some taco seasoning. Next, add rice, beans, corn, tomatoes and some of the cheese to the pan. Stir everything together, then divide the filling evenly among the peppers. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top of the peppers, then bake until the cheese melts. Top with cilantro, then serve.
Tips For Stuffed Poblano Peppers
- Look for large, firm chilis without any wrinkled spots that have fresh looking stems.
- You just want to slice the very top off the pepper right where the base of the stem begins, do not cut the peppers in half.
- You can assemble the peppers up to 8 hours before you plan to bake them. You may need to add another 5-10 minutes in the oven to compensate for starting with cold peppers.
- Serve your peppers with side dishes such as Mexican salad, avocado corn salad or Mexican fruit cups. You can also add toppings such as salsas like salsa verde, a dollop of sour cream, or sauces like enchilada sauce.
Quick Tip
I recommend using freshly grated cheese rather than the pre-shredded kind that comes in a bag. The pre-shredded cheese doesn’t melt as nicely because it contains anti caking additives.
Recipe FAQs
Poblano peppers are quite mild. The heat of peppers is measured in terms of Scoville units. A jalapeno has a Scoville measurement that’s anywhere from 2,500 to 8,000 units. A poblano pepper measures from 1,000 – 1,500 on the Scoville scale.
You can absolutely eat the skin of a poblano pepper. In situations where a poblano has been roasted, you may want to consider removing the skin if it’s been blackened by the heat source. In this particular case, the peppers are baked to soften them, but are not blackened, so it’s perfectly fine to enjoy the skin. I also find that if you remove the skin of a pepper that you’re planning to stuff, the pepper is more likely to fall apart when you add the fillings because the skin helps it to hold its shape.
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Stuffed Poblano Pepper Variations
There are so many different ways to customize this recipe to your personal tastes.
- Protein: Try diced chicken, ground turkey, ground pork or chorizo instead of the ground beef.
- Beans: Pinto beans are a great substitute for black beans.
- Vegetables: You can add other veggies to the mix such as onion, red bell pepper or zucchini.
- Cheese: I typically use Monterey Jack cheese for this recipe, but cheddar cheese or pepper jack cheese are also great choices.
- Flavorings: Feel free to add more spices to the filling like cumin, chili powder, black pepper, and lime juice.
- Grains: Instead of white rice you can use quinoa or brown rice. Cauliflower rice also works for a low carb option.
These peppers have it all, they’re the perfect blend of meat, cheese, beans and rice. It’s almost like a burrito without the tortilla! Stuffed poblano peppers are sure to become a family favorite.
More Mexican Recipes
Shrimp Fajitas
25 mins
Salsa Chicken
40 mins
Barbacoa Beef (Slow Cooker)
4 hrs 10 mins
Taco Salad Recipe
30 mins
Chicken Enchilada Soup
30 mins
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Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Ingredients
- 6 large poblano peppers cut a slice off lengthwise, then remove seeds and ribs
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1 pound ground beef I use 90% lean
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 packet taco seasoning
- 1 cup cooked white rice
- 1 cup black beans rinsed and drained
- 1/2 cup corn kernels thawed from frozen
- 15 ounce can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese divided use
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Lay the poblano peppers on the pan in a single layer.
- Bake the peppers for 10-15 minutes or until softened.
- Heat the oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the ground beef and cook for 5-6 minutes, breaking up the meat with a spatula, until the meat is cooked through.
- Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
- Add the packet of taco seasoning along with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir to coat the meat in seasoning.
- Add the rice, beans, corn, tomatoes and 3/4 cheese to the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and stir to combine.
- Divide the meat mixture evenly between the peppers. Top with remaining cheese.
- Return the peppers to the oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with cilantro, then serve.
Notes
- Look for large, firm peppers without any wrinkled spots that have fresh looking stems.
- You just want to slice the very top off the pepper right where the base of the stem begins, do not cut the peppers in half.
Will be doing this with riced cauliflower in place of rice. Also, custom-mixed seasonings, as I don’t do packets. No cilantro (I hate it.) Nothing personal. I virtually never follow a recipe to the T. 😜
Probably just me, but I ended up with 12 half slices of peppers and a ton of leftover filling. I think this would have been easier to also put in an enchilada or casserole dish instead of a pan. But other than that its amazing 🙂 ❤️
This is a winner! I used Siete brand spicy taco seasoning, and I added some fresh roasted Hatch chilies, otherwise I made the recipe exactly as written. If you can’t get poblanos where you live, this would probably work well with any large pepper whether sweet or hot. It would probably also be great for stuffing zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, or even cabbage leaves.
I’m about to make your recipe. Do you end up with 12 stuffed 1/2 peppers? Thx!
No it’s 6 peppers, you just cut a slice off the top of each one so you can fill them up!
I add a jar of alfredo or four cheese sauce……1/2 to the bottom of my dish, and the other to the top of my peppers. After 30 minutesi sprinkle the shredded cheese on top and let melt in oven for a minute. When served, try some sour cream on top.with the cilantro!
This recipe is terrific! I did use ground turkey and we all inhaled it!
Loved this, thank you! I swapped out the white rice for Knorr’s Mexican rice becuase I had it on hand and added a bit more cheese, but other than that, followed this exactly. I’d never eaten poblanos before and they were delish!
This recipe is great!! My whole family loved it. My 5 year old just had the filling because the peppers were a tad too spicy for him but he had a second serving of it. Thanks for the yummy recipe.
Thank you for this recipe!!! It has become a family favorite. Since it is just my husband and I, we freeze the left overs to have as a meal later on! It has become a staple in my sisters household as well and she also freezers whatever she can’t eat the day of. They always come out perfect when thawed and reheated in the oven. We love it!!!
Made these and they were amazing
I made them again so each person could have their won serving. I got tons of compliments and many asked for the recipe!
Only three changes to mine, diced fresh jalapeños into the ground meat and added two more garlic cloves. Used queso Fresca instead for the cheese. Amazing recipe!!!!
Hi.
Really want to make this dish but who in the UK dells LARGE POBLANO PEPPERS. Supermarket staff just shrug their shoulders at me and walk off.
If anyone knows Supermarket that sells them regularly I would be grateful
Thxa
Mik
Try asking for pasilla peppers, sometimes poblanos can be labeled that way!
I tweaked your recipe a bit to make it lower carb — nixed the rice, and poured two beaten eggs into the peppers before topping with cheese. (sadly, I only made 2 peppers.) Added a few other veggies into the saute as well. I like your method of just cutting the tops. I’ve always cut poblanos in half when stuffing them, but this, along with the first, softening bake, made stuffing them much easier to manage. I’ll use the tops for leftovers tomorrow. This recipe’s a keeper. thanks.
I changed almost everything about this recipe to make it Cheato Keto and suit our palates, but it is still your recipe AND it was delicious. It only used about half of the filling to fill my home-grown poblanos so the other half is for dinner tomorrow!
12 medium poblano peppers cut a slice off lengthwise, then remove seeds and ribs
1 teaspoon pure olive oil, added after the beef was browned and drained
1.5 pound ground beef, 85% lean
1.5 teaspoon minced garlic
1 Recipe taco seasoning
12oz under-cooked frozen cauliflower rice
1 can black soybeans, seasoned with 1/2 taco seasoning, cooked, drained
1 can baby corn, chopped to size of corn kernels
14 ounce canned salsa (Herdez brand)
1 1/2 cups shredded mixed Mexican cheeses
Parchment sheet
This recipe is amazing!! I substituted steamed chopped cauliflower rice for the white rice, otherwise did everything as called for. Can’t wait to make it again!!
Best recipe hands down! Do you think theses would freeze well?
Yes you can freeze them!
This recipe is awesome! Grew many pablano peppers in our garden this year – what a great way to use them! Family loved it!
Fantastic! Made these last night with fresh poblano peppers from our garden. Subsituted fresh tomatoes for the canned (because we also had fresh tomatoes in the garden) and added a little more cheese. Loved the flavor and color. Would also make a great stuffing for bell peppers. Will definitely be making this again!
The peppers came out t perfect, so delish!
Ii didn’t know what to do with tps….so I did diced the top of poblanos and put them into the stuffing.
You are a genius. I just threw mine out. I was afraid they would be too tough…
Deliciousness!…Thank you!