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
I didn’t have fresh cilantro (used dried) or tomato so Isubbed HOT Rotel tomatoes in the can. Use Poblano peppers. Added garlic and some squirts of tomatoe paste. Added al ittle cheese in the mix, too. Top with some plain Greek yougurt with a squeeze of lime and cumin! FABO!
What a terrific idea using rotels. Going to try your variations next time!
Just made these tonite and they were delicious! We have never had quinoa before but I have been wanting to try it. My family loves anything Mexican inspired and I’ve also been wanting to make a stuffed pepper lately, so this was a perfect fit! Thanks for the recipe! The whole family loved it… Even had seconds! 🙂
Delish and super filling!
Just wondering, do you serve anything along side this?
Sounds sooo good. Is there a way to get the nutrional info. on this? I mainly would like to know the calorie and fiber count.
This is a great recipe and so healthy! I used vegan cheese and it worked very well!
Made this for us & LOVED it! New staple. I’m not too familiar w/ gluten free diets. Would love to make this for a new mom who is G-Free. Is this recipe G-free, including the sauce?
If you use a gluten-free flour for the sauce, the recipe IS gluten-free. Glad you liked it!
This looks delicious! Sorry if you answered this already, but do the peppers freeze well? I am all about make-ahead meals and would love to add this to my rotation. Thanks!
Katie – they freeze great!
I made this tonight, it was really good! I’ve never tried quinoa before and wasn’t sure how to make it so this was really helpful. Thank you!
Was thinking about red quinoa, what do you think? Maybe some other herbs.
Craig- it would be great and even more colorful!
I used red quinoa and it turned out great! The red quinoa does take a few minutes longer to cook.
DELICIOUS!!!!!
I made this yesterday for lunch…..my husband and I both loved it! Can’t wait for the leftovers tonight! Will be making this again……..and again! Thanks for posting it!!!
Just finished these and was very pleasantly surprised at how filling and delicious they were!! I made the sauce from scratch which is very easy and I think made a big difference!! Thank you for the awesome recipe and I will be sharing with my weight watchers group on Saturday !!
I made this recently for my family and we all LOVED it. Ate the entire dish up in one sitting. I would really like to make them again with softer peppers…..do you think I should just microwave them for longer? Bake the entire dish for longer? Do you have any suggestions?
This was really wonderful and so tasty, thank you!
Kacey – that’s exactly what I’d recommend! I think if you microwave them a bit longer to soften them up more, you shouldn’t have any trouble. There’s also no harm in baking the dish a little longer. The worst that will happen is your cheese will brown a bit more 🙂 Glad you like them!
These peppers were delicious!!! Made them for the second time tonight. Very easy to prepare.