Mexican Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa & Black Beans
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Mexican Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa and Black Beans. This easy dinner reheats like a dream and makes a great freezer meal. Try it with the homemade enchilada sauce! (Gluten-Free & Vegan)
Recipe, photos, and post updated April 2018. Originally posted March 2012.Â
Do you guys do Meatless Monday? It’s a great way to change things up, mix in more plant-based meals, and even save a little money while you’re at it. I’ve been SO EXCITED to share this recipe with you since there are so many new faces around here.
These Mexican Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa & Black Beans have been in my top recipes every year since 2012. Isn’t that nuts?! They were a favorite long before we needed to eat gluten and dairy free, and they’ve continued to be a favorite ever since.
Why? So glad you asked….(or, at least I asked…myself…)
For one thing, Tex-Mex flavors are a forever favorite around these parts. Anything taco-y or enchilada-y, or burrito-y is right up my alley. These have lots of goodies tucked inside, like black beans, cilantro, a little red onion, some bright colorful tomatoes, and a tiny baby kick from some mild green chiles.
For another thing, they’re also a dynamite way to use quinoa. I love quinoa more than ever now that we’re gluten free because it’s such a flexible grain option. Plus, it packs a protein punch and is more nutrient dense than brown rice or white rice.
And while I could go on and on, I also love that they’re meal-prep and freezer friendly. You can easily make these ahead of time (perfect for packing away for a busy night or bringing to a friend in need), or make them to enjoy for lunches throughout the week.
You can mix and match filling options here too–feel free to stir in some corn, or a little grilled chicken or taco-seasoned beef/turkey (obviously not vegan).
And, I mean, I don’t want to tell you how to live your life, but while you’re at it, I *highly*Â recommend making your own enchilada sauce. It’s completely delicious and just the right amount of spicy!
TIPS FOR THE PERFECT MEXICAN STUFFED PEPPERS:
SPEED THINGS ALONG! If you want to speed the baking process along, you can pre-cook your peppers a bit. You can microwave them (seeded and halved) for a minute or two to soften, steam them for 1-2 minutes, or blanch them in boiling water for about a minute. If you pre-cook your peppers a bit, you’ll really only need about 20-25 minutes in the oven.
MIX THINGS UP! I love using flavored olive oils to give these an added boost–Mexican Lime, or even a bit of Jalapeño olive oil are really nice here, too! Or, you can switch up the filling, by mixing in some grilled corn, sliced black olives, or even some grilled chicken or taco-spiced turkey/ground beef (obviously the meat options are no longer vegan). You could also top these with shredded cheese if you’re not dairy free/vegan.
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS. To freeze these, you’ll want to put your assembled peppers in a freezer-safe baking dish (ceramic, glass, metal, or heavy-duty foil) and cover the baking dish with a layer of plastic wrap, then foil for extra insulation. You can bake them straight from frozen (add your enchilada sauce before freezing or right before baking–your choice!). Just follow the regular baking instructions and they should be ready to go! Just don’t forget to remove the plastic wrap before re-heating!!!
MEAL PREPPING? TRY THESE! I love these 2-compartment glass containers. They don’t hold onto odors, and they’re microwave and oven safe, which makes for easy re-heating.
TRY THESE TASTY TOPPINGS! You can enjoy these as is with some enchilada sauce drizzled on top, or you can kick things up a notch with some guacamole, citrus avocado dip, or sliced avocado. Non-vegans folks can also easily do a dollop of sour cream or a sprinkle of cheese.
CRAVING MORE? YOU MIGHT ALSO LOVE…
- How to Cook Quinoa
- Homemade Enchilada Sauce (This is THE BEST!)
- Confetti Quinoa Salad with Lime Vinaigrette
- Vegetarian Tortilla Soup
- Spring Roll Quinoa Salad
- Mexican Zucchini Boats – Another great way to fit in more veggies with a Tex-Mex twist!
Mexican Stuffed Peppers with Quinoa and Black Beans
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
This easy dinner reheats like a dream and makes a great freezer meal. Try it with the homemade enchilada sauce! (Gluten Free & Vegan)
PS – Don’t need this many servings? You can easily halve the recipe! Just use 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa and halve the rest of the ingredients!
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers (any color), sliced in half stem-to-tip, seeds removed
- 3/4 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
- 1/4tsp salt
- 1/4tsp pepper
- 1–2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 (15oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
- 1/2 cup diced Roma or grape tomatoes
- 1 (4oz) can mild green chiles (don’t drain)
- 1/4c cilantro, minced
- 1 recipe red enchilada sauce (or 1 (28oz) can)*
Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Cook quinoa according to package directions. Stir in salt, pepper, lime juice, and olive oil.
Stir in black beans, red onion, tomato, green chiles, and cilantro. Stir until well combined.
Pour enchilada sauce into the bottom of a 9×13″ baking dish. Place pepper halves cut side up in the pan on top of the enchilada sauce. Scoop quinoa filling into the bell pepper halves.
Cover the pan with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until peppers are tender. (See notes for how you can speed up the bake time!)
Serve peppers drizzled with enchilada sauce.
Notes
SPEED THINGS ALONG – If you want to speed the baking process along, you can pre-cook your peppers a bit. You can microwave them (seeded and halved) for a minute or two to soften, steam them for 1-2 minutes, or blanch them in boiling water for about a minute. If you pre-cook your peppers a bit, you’ll really only need about 20-25 minutes in the oven.
MIX THINGS UP – I love using flavored olive oils to give these an added boost–Mexican Lime, or even a bit of Jalapeño olive oil are really nice here, too! Or, you can switch up the filling, by mixing in some grilled corn, sliced black olives, or even some grilled chicken or taco-spiced turkey/ground beef (obviously the meat options are no longer vegan). You could also top these with shredded cheese if you’re not dairy free/vegan.
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS – To freeze these, you’ll want to put your assembled peppers in a freezer-safe baking dish (ceramic, glass, metal, or heavy-duty foil) and cover the baking dish with a layer of plastic wrap, then foil for extra insulation. You can bake them straight from frozen (add your enchilada sauce before freezing or right before baking–your choice!). Just follow the regular baking instructions and they should be ready to go! Just don’t forget to remove the plastic wrap before re-heating!!!
TOPPINGS – You can enjoy these as is with some enchilada sauce drizzled on top, or you can kick things up a notch with some guacamole, citrus avocado dip, or sliced avocado. Non-vegans folks can also easily do a dollop of sour cream or a sprinkle of cheese.
Nutrition
- Calories: 149kcal
- Sugar: 3g
- Sodium: 207mg
- Fat: 3g
- Saturated Fat: 0g
- Trans Fat: 0
- Carbohydrates: 25g
- Fiber: 7g
- Protein: 6g
- Cholesterol: 0
Would you be able to subsitute rice for the quinoa? not sure how my family would feel about that, and could you add meat or not reccomend it? I think this sounds amazaing, but my boyfriend is a meat man, so just curious. thank you
Brandi – Sure! Cooked rice is a great substitute. As for adding meat, I think some chorizo sausage would be awesome. Or, you could add cooked, shredded chicken or cooked ground beef, if you prefer.
I have never posted anything, but tonight I made these and they are great. This was my first time using Quinoa and will be using it again. My husband loves meat in everything, so I had some leftover taco turkey meat, and added it on top of them. It was wonderful. Will definitely be making these again. I didn’t have enough red enchilada sauce so added a little tomato sauce, which was totally fine.
I made these last week and they were a hit! We were a bit skeptical about trying quinoa – but I loved it! The enchilada sauce was also very yummy. I could eat the stuffing by itself…loved everything about this dish!
Wow, thank you for this amazing recipe. My whole family, 10 month old, 5 year old, and the husband loved it. First dish they have all loved, if you dont count spaghetti. It was delicious and easy. I agree with the others that the stuffing is even good just by itself. Sprinkled some daiya cheese on top but honestly preferred it without.
I made them for dinner tonight, loved them, actually had 2 because they were so good, will be making again.
Hello Emily, I love this recipe and wanted to prepare it for the family for Thanksgiving. Is there a way to prep the peppers and everything and then just bake the day of?
Nicolle – I’m SO SORRY I didn’t get this in time!!! Yes, you can prepare the peppers ahead of time and bake them the day of. I would only make them 1 day ahead.
This receipe was amazing! I will definitely be making this often. Very easy and packed with healthy stuff!
This sounds wonderful!!! I will for sure be trying this. Thanks for sharing.
I love this recipe! This is one of my favorites, I make it over and over. I’m nutritarian (whole foods, plant based diet) so I just omit the cheese and it is excellent! Thank you for the recipe!
So glad I found this recipe! What a great recipe to kick off my Mexican Monday tradition, thank you 🙂
Thanks for this awesome recipe!! I would love to know where you found your beautiful baking dish!!
Dee – Thank you! I’m so glad you liked it. The dish is Le Cruset brand. I bought it on sale at Sur la Table. LOVE IT!!!
I have done this recipe twice and these are amazing… They are one of my families favorites as well…. Thanks for your blog!
Jennifer – I’m so glad you like them! Thanks for the happy comment. Made my day!
Those peppers look delicious. I bought some green bell peppers to make them SOON. Could you make ahead and freeze. I love doing that with recipes I make so my hubby can ‘make’ dinner (and its not just mac and cheese and hot dogs and corn).
Just made these today after finding them on pinterest – wow – amazing! We already like quinoa, but I really enjoyed it in this dish especially!
i loved this recipe , made it twice, once meatless & once with ground turkey. I made extra filling added eggs & some more cheese & made tex mex meatballs. My 16 year old son gave both 5 stars. awesome recipe thanks