Food & Entertaining
Vegetarian Stuffed Poblano Peppers
These delicious Vegetarian Stuffed Poblano Peppers are so easy to prepare and my shortcuts help to get them on the table in no time.
While shopping in the produce department the other day, I couldn’t help but notice these beautiful looking Poblano peppers. If you are not familiar with them, they are flavorful chiles with mild to medium heat. I usually go to the store with a specific list but sometimes deviate from it by what looks fresh and enticing. Once these peppers caught my eye, I decided to make Stuffed Poblano Peppers.
My pantry always has basic staples such as beans, rice, onions and garlic so I knew I could pull enough ingredients together to make some delicious peppers. It’s meals like these that I just make up as I go.
These peppers can be served as a delicious entrée or hearty appetizer.
Easy Vegetarian Stuffed Poblano Peppers
My recipe for Poblano Stuffed Peppers is very easy to prepare. One of my shortcuts is that I use pre-cooked rice from Trader Joe’s which I always have on hand in my freezer. You can use brown or white rice and TJ’s has both.
I cut a portion of the pepper out on top, creating a boat like vessel for the stuffing. Don’t waste the portion you remove. Chop them and add them to the stuffing.
I pre-cook the peppers while preparing the stuffing for two reasons. One, it helps them to be more tender. Second, it will take less time to cook the stuffed pepper which means getting dinner on the table faster!
Cutting out a portion of the pepper makes it easy to stuff them. Make sure to line your pan with foil for easy clean up.
At this point, you will want to snack on any left over stuffing! It’s delicious on its own!
After stuffing the peppers, generously top each pepper with cheese. Don’t worry about overflow as the foil will protect your pan from melted cheese.
Cook the peppers until the cheese is melted and golden brown.
Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with a trio of sauces for a delicious and easy entrée or appetizer.
Here’s the recipe. Enjoy.
- 8 Poblano peppers
- olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 Jalapeno pepper, minced
- 1 large clove garlic, minced
- 2 cups brown or white rice, cooked *
- 1 cup corn
- 1 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- salt and pepper
- shredded mozzarella cheese for topping
- ½ cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon lime juice
- green salsa verde & other favorite salsas and hot sauces**
- fresh cilantro for garnish
- * I use Trader Joe’s Frozen Brown or White Rice which is pre-cooked. Heat in microwave per package directions before adding to onion mixture.
- ** I used Tastefully Simple’s Sweet Jalapeno Dip Starter and it was delicious over the peppers with the sour cream
- Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
- Mix ½ cup sour cream, 1 teaspoon lime juice and ¼ teaspoon cumin and set aside for one of your toppings.
- Wash peppers. Lay them on cutting board to see where they lay flat without rolling. Cut a portion of the top to create a boat like vessel for the stuffing (see photo). Chop the discarded pieces and sauté with onions in next step. Using a paring knife, cut away at the interior root of the stem and the membrane and seeds. Discard.
- Sauté onion, the discarded pepper and jalapeno in olive oil until soft. While onions are cooking, place peppers on a foil lined pan and cook for 10 minutes in 400 degree oven.
- Add garlic to onions and sauté for an additional minute. Add rice, corn, black beans and spices. Adjust seasonings as needed. Cook until heated through.
- Remove peppers from oven and let cool slightly. Stuff with rice and bean mixture. Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and bake peppers on foil lined pan for 15-20 minutes, until cheese melts and is a golden brown.
- Serve stuffed peppers with prepared sour cream, salsa verde and other desired sauces.
Note: I had a jar of Sweet Jalapeno Dip Starter from Tastefully Simple in my pantry. It was spicy and sweet, a great combination on the peppers. My other sauce was a hot red pepper sauce for extra heat.
Let me know if you try this recipe! Have a great weekend.
