Stuffed peppers in only 30 minutes? Totally possible! These Southwest Skillet Stuffed Peppers are part shepherd’s pie, part stuffed pepper and seasoned like a taco. Topped with a fluffy mound of mashed potatoes and melty cheese, you’ll have a delicious weeknight dinner on the table in no time.
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I remember making stuffed peppers as one of the first dishes I began cooking in high school. Blanching peppers, cooking rice, assembling everything and then putting it all into the oven. Talk about time consuming! Sure they tasted great, but they weren’t anything that you’d want to tackle on a weeknight. So of course I had to put my own spin on things and made these Southwest Skillet Stuffed Peppers which are perfect any night of the week.
My goal with this stuffed peppers recipe? Something that would still taste just as good but not take near as long to prepare. No baking involved. No rice to cook. You know all the stuff that takes so much time when all you really wanted was to be sitting down to dinner five minutes ago. These Southwest Skillet Stuffed Peppers definitely accomplished that mission.
The rice has been eliminated and instead these peppers are topped with a fluffy mound of mashed potatoes. And said potatoes are topped with melty cheese. Comfort food at it’s finest! Think of these as stuffed peppers meets shepherd’s pie with the seasoning of a taco. Sure, it sounds a little bizarre but it must be good as my husband requests this dish at least every other week for dinner. Taco seasoned beef, corn and tomatoes are nestled into a bell pepper before being topped with a cloud of mashed potatoes and a halo of cheddar cheese.
The next time these Southwest Skillet Stuffed Peppers are on our menu, I also want to try subbing my Mexican Beer Cheese Fondue for the shredded cheese that tops them. Talk about a flavor packed punch! Or if you wanted to try a meatless version, you could substitute the filling from my Slow Cooker Lentil and Brown Rice Tacos for the beef, which would allow you to make the filling in advance.
This is truly a one skillet meal with the assistance of your microwave. Have leftover mashed potatoes, like my Aunt Ruthie Mashed Potatoes, from dinner earlier in the week? This is the perfect use for them! Don’t want to make mashed potatoes for this meal? Give one of the refrigerated packages in the grocery store a try!
Southwest Skillet Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 6 large bell peppers halved lengthwise and seeded
- 2 pounds ground beef
- 1 cup water
- 4 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 1 cup frozen corn
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes halved
- 4 cups mashed potatoes
- 2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- In a microwave-safe dish, place pepper halves cut sides down and loosely cover. Microwave on high for 3 minutes or until peppers are crisp-tender. Let stand in microwave until ready to use.
- Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add beef to pan and cook until browned.
- Add water and taco seasoning and stir until combined. Stir in corn and tomatoes tomatoes.
- Preheat oven broiler.
- To prepare peppers, add each pepper half to large casserole dish. Spoon beef mixture into each pepper half and top each half evenly with mashed potatoes and cheese.
- Place casserole dish under broiler and allow cheese to melt completely.
Nutrition
If you enjoy these Southwest Skillet Stuffed Peppers, I have no doubt you’ll love the flavors in the this Southwest Chicken Skillet Dinner, this Southwest Spinach Salad or this Southwestern Turkey Rice Casserole Recipe.
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