by Holly
Quick & easy to make, Stuffed Pepper Casserole is a dish the whole family will love!
Cheesy and meaty with a zesty flavor from homemade taco seasoning, this casserole has just the right balance of ground beef, peppers, rice, and cheese!
Why We Love This Recipe
Stuffed Peppers are a go-to for us and this great variation has a yummy tex-mex flavor!
This casserole is quick and easy to put together. Prep only takes minutes, and using instant rice means it cooks fast!
Extra ingredients (and veggies) can be added to stretch this dish even further. Corn, black beans or pinto beans, or zucchini (or even extra peppers) are all good choices.
Ingredients/Variations
Stuffed Pepper Casserole only uses a handful of ingredients!
MEAT This recipe uses ground beef with Homemade Taco Seasoning. Ground chicken, ground turkey or shredded rotisserie chicken would taste great too!
VEGGIES Fresh bell pepper, onion, and tomatoes are loaded into this casserole. Feel free to add corn, jalapenos or some beans to stretch this dish even further!
RICE Instant rice is the perfect addition to this casserole! Out of instant rice? To use long-grain white rice, cook the rice in broth on the stove according to package directions or use leftover rice. If using cooked rice, do not add broth to the casserole. Try tomato basil rice for a delicious twist!
CHEESE This casserole is topped with cheddar cheese, but any cheese will taste great. Use Tex-Mex or Monterey Jack for an extra kick!
VARIATIONS Want more spice? Add some chili powder or try swapping the tomato paste for homemade enchilada sauce!
How To Make Stuffed Pepper Casserole
This recipe is every bit as easy as the typical undone stuffed pepper casserole.
- Brown beef and combine all ingredients except cheese in a casserole dish.
- Cover and bake until bubbly (per recipe below).
- Top with cheese and broil!
Serve with a Mexican corn salad or black bean and corn salad.
Delicious Toppings
Once baked, set out an assortment of toppings for a fun taco casserole bar!
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- Sauces: Salsa or Pico de Gallo, sour cream, and guacamole
- Veggies: Cilantro, green onions, and diced tomatoes
- Chips: Crumbled corn chips or tortillas
Tips for Perfect Stuffed Pepper Casserole
- Want a little more sweetness and color? Balance the green pepper with red, yellow and orange!
- The instant rice called for in this recipe is also known as Minute Rice.
- Tomato sauce can be substituted for crushed tomatoes or even salsa if needed.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or freezer for up to 4 months!
- Reheat in a 350°F oven with a foil cover until heated through, or in the microwave on a covered plate. If reheating from frozen, thaw overnight in the fridge first.
More Bell Pepper Favorites
- Stuffed Pepper Casserole – hearty & comforting
- Mexican Stuffed Peppers – easy & cheesy
- Easy Pepper Steak – takeout at home
- Sausage and Peppers – Italian classic
- Stuffed Pepper Soup – warm and cozy
- Easy Chicken Fajitas – quick and fresh
- Unstuffed Peppers – a one-pot dish
- Tamale Pie – freezer-friendly
Did you love this Stuffed Pepper Casserole? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Taco Stuffed Pepper Casserole
Prep Time 15 minutes
Servings 6
Course Casserole, Main Course
Cuisine American, MexicanIngredients
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 package taco seasoning
- ⅓ cup water
- 3 bell peppers any color, diced
- 14 ounces diced tomato with juice
- 8 ounces tomato sauce
- 2 cups instant rice (Minute Rice)
- 1 ⅔ cups beef broth
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
- Add taco seasoning, water, and peppers. Stir to combine and simmer until most of the water has evaporated, about 3-5 minutes.
- Combine all remaining ingredients except cheese in a 9x13 pan. Cover and bake 30-35 minutes or until rice is tender.
- Uncover, top with cheese and broil 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Rest 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
To use long-grain white rice, cook the rice in broth on the stove according to package directions or use leftover rice. If using cooked rice, do not add broth to the casserole.
To make it spicy, add 1 finely diced jalapeno to the pepper mixture.
Nutrition Information
(Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.)
Delicious and ridiculously easy to make. I substituted chicken broth for the beef broth since that is what I had on hand, and we added a sprinkling of salt and dollop of plain Greek to top our bowls. Every recipe I try from you has been spot on!!
Thank you Jody! So glad to hear that!
I have not made any yet.hope to real soon.just found the recipe.they look amazing
Enjoy the recipes Minnie!
Do you think this can be made ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake?
Yes, this can be made ahead and baked later. If it is cold from the fridge you may need to increase bake time a little bit.
Hello!! Thinking of trying this, but had a question! If I do the 2nd and 3rd step ahead of time, then later dump the mixture along with pre-cooked rice all into a crockpot to finish cooking, would that work? My husband and I are going to stay for a week in our cabin, and I am looking for recipes I can make ahead of time and dump into the crockpot. Not sure if that would work with this recipe though.
While I haven’t tried it, I think that would work perfectly! Sounds relaxing!
Just edible
Turned out delicious!! I added a few of my own ingredients but still turned out amazing!
I just discovered your website and how through it is. I really like your website. Love your recipes.
We help with a homeless shelter, by cooking.
We service about 20-30 homeless every night, so your website is great help on expanding a recipe.
I like to watch your videos first then I print out recipe, it does a great job of condensing it to mostly one page printed out. I commend you on being customer savvy. You must have very competent people working with you, keep up the creative recipes and your media presentations.
Thanks Laurene! So happy we can provide you with delicious and easy recipes to share :)
This looks so good, I’m going to make this tonight.
I like quick and easy recipes like 30 minute recipes.
Looks like some good recipes.
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Didn’t care for this as a casserole but it goes great in burritos. Make as a casserole and let people make their own burritos at the table, just have the extra toppings available.
That’s a great idea Susan! Glad you enjoyed it :)
Would like to try this for dinner tonight.If I use cooked long grain rice do I add it to the casserole before I cook the casserole?
I’ve only made this with instant rice so I can’t say for sure how long grain would work. Long grain rice takes much longer to cook so would likely need to be pre-cooked or mostly cooked before adding to this recipe.
Let us know how it goes!
We made a mistake and made our long grain rice with water instead of beef broth,. so we added 1/2 bouillon cube to casserole, stirred it up to make sure it was dissolved, added our cooked rice, stirred it all up, covered it and put it in preheated oven for 20 minutes.
When done added shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions and topped it all off with taco chips. It was delicious!
Easy to make and was a big hit. Would also be great with sausage and shrimp.
Stuff worthwhile!!
This was so yummy!!!!
It was easy to fix. I actually had everything when I saw this recipe. I made it twice this week. I only needed more green peppers for the second batch. I took half of the first batch and put it in the freezer for later. I made a second batch today. It was so good!!! I am so glad that I found this recipe. It will certainly my be in my rotation.
I know my extended family will love this as well.
If you like stuffed peppers, you’ll love this casserole! Give it a try. There isn’t anything in here not to like.
So glad you enjoyed it Nicole!
Great my only problem was. I found I didn’t need the stock as there seams to be enough liquid wonderful taste
Glad you enjoyed it Kevin! We definitely need the broth in ours to fully cook the rice, but I am glad it worked out for you!
This recipe is really forgiving. I used ground turkey and only had one pepper on hand. Threw in a can of corn. Used a little less rice (precooked long grain) and it was still SOOO GOOD. Topped it with sour cream and salsa. I think I had like 4 servings. Awesome! Thanks Holly!
The homemade taco seasoning is awesome too ;)
Yay! So glad you loved it Sonya! Your swaps sound delish!!
Must try
I definitely agree with you Armegine! Enjoy!