Mexican Style Venison Stuffed Bell Peppers
Filled with ground meat, diced tomatoes, corn, black beans, quinoa, and spices, all stuffed into a soft and tenderly baked bell pepper for some extra greens!
Looking for some inspiration to cook up that venison you have in your freezer? Try this Mexican inspired stuffed bell pepper dish for an easy summer dinner, tonight!
Bell peppers are a staple in our household. It’s a vegetable we always have on hand, I usually buy them in bulk since they last so long in the refrigerator, and they are always budget friendly. They are such a versatile vegetable: we slice them for snacking, sauté them as a side dish, or put them in dishes like soups and stews. I have discovered that they are also a great shell to house some of our regularly rotating dishes that we want to put a different twist on, instead of our usuals like tortillas and noodles. I stuff them with things like fajita meat, Philly cheese steaks filling, cajun style sausage and rice… you name it!
This recipe was born out of having nothing ready for dinner, like most of the food I make! I started these bell peppers and realized I didn’t have any rice. I found some quinoa, had my staples like black beans, corn, and diced tomatoes, and these Mexican style bell peppers were born. My dear friend Jessika briefly came over one afternoon when I had prepped these and I sent her on the road with some of the stuffing and tortilla chips to eat it with. She shared how much she liked it and asked if it was on the blog yet. So this post is for her! They have been a major hit in our house since, and I have made them about once a week.
I love a dish that I can prep the night before, or even the morning of, so that we can go about the day without having to be stuck in the kitchen. Especially during summertime, when we have days off from chores around the house and ranch when we can be out on the grass with the sprinklers, at the splash pad with some friends, or making a day trip to the lake, all I have to do is put the peppers inside the oven to reheat and melt the cheese. And dinner is done!
The fall hunting season is quickly approaching and I am trying my best to go through the freezer and use up older meat to make room for the new. I treat wild game like beef, and so any recipe I use wild game or beef with, can mostly be interchangeable. If you don’t eat wild game, some other options you have for these peppers are ground turkey, sausage, beef, chicken, or even sweet potatoes for an all vegetarian dish. They turn out just as delicious!
If you’re not a big bell pepper fan, like some of the children in my family I feed these too, then I highly advise you to still make the filling. You can put it in a tortilla, eat it with chips like nachos, or place it on top of some salad greens for a lighter meal!
If you tested this recipe out, loved it, and maybe made it with other variations, I’d love to hear about it! If you loved the bell peppers, please rate it 5 stars. Best, Ana.
Ingredients:
How to Make Stuffed Bell Peppers:
1. Preheat oven to 420 F. Bring quinoa and water to a boil in saucepan. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes until water is absorbed. Cover and set aside when finished cooking.
2. Wash bell peppers. Slice in half and seed. Place on a baking sheet open face up and bake for 20-25 minutes until softened and moisture has pooled on the inside.
3. Add ground meat to preheated skillet and cook until almost fully browned. Dice onion and add to meat.
4. Brown meat until fully cooked and onion is sauteed.
5. Turn burner down to low. Add canned vegetables and spices. Mix until fully combined. Turn burner off.
6. Remove bell peppers from oven and leave oven on.
7. Fill peppers with approximately 1/2 cup of meat mixture. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top of each pepper. Bake in oven for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.
8. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Enjoy!
Mexican Style Venison Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground venison or other choice of ground meat
- 1 onion diced
- 1 15 oz can of corn
- 1 15 oz can of black beans
- 1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes
- 1 4 oz can of mild green chiles
- 4-5 bell peppers halved
- 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 3 tsp chili powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425.
- Bring quinoa and water to a boil in sauce pan. Reduce to simmer and cover. Cook for about 15 minutes until water is absorbed. Set aside when finished cooking.
- While quinoa is cooking, wash produce. Slice bell peppers in half and seed.
- Place on a baking dish open side up and bake for 20-25 mins until softened and moisture has pooled on the inside.
- Add ground meat to preheated skillet and cook until almost browned.
- Dice onion and add to meat. Cook until fully browned and onion is sautéed.
- Turn burner to low. Drain corn and black beans. Rinse beans if desired.
- Put corn, beans, diced tomatoes, green chiles, and cooked quinoa in skillet with meat and onion.
- Add spices. Mix together until well combined. Turn off burner.
- Remove bell peppers from oven when timer is up and leave oven on.
- Fill bell peppers with approx. 1/2 cup of meat mixture.
- Sprinkle shredded cheese evenly on top of each bell pepper.
- Place back inside oven and bake for another 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes. Serve and enjoy!
Absolutely delicious and easy !!!
5 stars! The combination of seasoning with the tomatoes gives these a juicy, delicious flavor. I love that you can use the extra stuffing and eat it on the go. And it’s such an easy way to get veggies in with protein. Thank you, Ana! This has become my new favorite!