Stuffed Green Peppers with a new twist

 I came across a recipe on Pinterest for stuffed green peppers and since seeing the picture I had been craving them.  I also wanted to have more of a Mexican inspired meal and that got my brain to thinking about using a rice packet that we love so much in the peppers: Knorr Taco Rice. So I came up with my own twist to stuffed green peppers using the taco rice.

I don’t have any photos of my actual cooking process or a photo of the end result. I had fully planned on doing so, but my son had other plans for me unfortunately.  Right in the middle of preparing the meal, he decided to uncap his sippy cup and spill its entire contents all over himself and the living room floor. So…I swiped a few images off the internet just to liven up the post and to point out a few of my explanations. I have every intention of making this dish again and when I do, I will post some photos. At the end I have also given a few twists you might want to add, that I plan on trying myself next time. This meal was such a hit with my family that I see myself fixing it several times in the future and constantly “perfecting” the recipe.

Ingredient list:

1 1/2 lb ground beef

6  green (bell) peppers washed and tops removed, insides cleared

1 - Knorr Taco Rice packet

2- 10oz cans of red enchilada sauce

Approx. 1/4 cup diced green onions

8 oz pkg of Mexican blend shredded cheese or shredded quesadilla (white) cheese

Prep-work and ingredient info:

You want peppers with at least four curves at the bottom; I'm sure there is a technical name for that part but I don't know it. This gives the pepper a wider and more level base.

I had about 1/2 of 2nd can of enchilada sauce leftover. I warmed it up and offered it as a garnish if someone wanted extra sauce.

Include some green ends of onions in your mix and extra ends for garnish.

If you do not want to pre-boil your peppers you will need to increase your cooking time to about 45 minutes.

Most of the recipes for other types of stuffed peppers said to cover the peppers with foil while baking. I didn’t cover mine and they did just fine.

• Pre-heat oven to 400
• Bring about 6 cups of water to boil in large pot
• Blanch the peppers for 5 min
• Remove and set aside to cool; Don't drain the water yet

•  Carefully pour out 2 cups of the boiling water into small sauce pan (I did this so I didn't have to wait for another pot to warm on my stove) and add rice packet. Cook 7-9 minutes

•  Brown and drain beef while rice is cooking.
•  Add enchilada sauce, onion, and cooked rice to browned meat. Bring mixture just to a boil then simmer for about 5-6 minutes or until sauce thickens.

•  Spray 9x11 glass baking dish lightly with cooking spray or line with parchment paper.
•  Stuff peppers to rims and place in oven uncovered for 20-25min.
• Remove peppers and top with a good helping of cheese; place back in oven uncovered for 5-7 min until melted through and just slightly brown.

 Garnish with a bit of finely diced green part of onions.

 Serve with refried beans topped with cheese and a side tortilla chips and guacamole.

 

Refrigerate any left over’s.

We also served this meal with restaurant style white Queso dip. (Velveeta makes some that is very good) I tried a few bites with this cheese drizzled over it and it tastes so wonderful that next time I am going to stuff a few cubes of the cheese down inside the peppers when I fill them with the meat mixture. I also tried a few bites mixed with refried beans. I am sure you could substitute beans for rice and it would taste well. You can also top the peppers with sour cream instead of cheese or in addition to cheese if you wanted to. I don’t have a substitute option for the Knorr Taco Rice. So if you cannot find it in your area then you might try white rice and add about half a taco seasoning packet to give it that extra punch of flavor. I originally intended on adding about half small can of diced green chilies, but due to the sippy cup chaos, I forgot all about them.

Hope you all enjoy and I would love to hear feed back or if you have any questions just post them in the comments.

God Bless!