This Chili Stuffed Peppers recipe make an easy and delicious meal! This recipe includes great make-ahead and freezer-friendly tips to make this dish even easier for busy weeknights!
All of my pepper plants in the garden have been producing like crazy lately. I really think they’ve enjoyed this long, hot Georgia summer! I’ve been using them in so many recipes, but have had a hard time keeping up with using them all there has been so much! Finally, I thought of making this chili stuffed version of stuffed peppers for our supper the other night. Let me just tell you, it is definitely one of my favorites now!
While I was making my stuffed peppers, I decided that I’d go ahead and make enough so that I could have supper for that night as well as put one pan back in the freezer for another night’s meal. It helped me in so many ways. I was able to use up that influx of peppers from the garden AND I made meals for two nights in no time flat!
To make them, I halved each of my fresh peppers and removed the seeds and membranes from the peppers. Then, I placed them into a baking dish with the open cavity facing up. Meanwhile, I prepared my chili for stuffing the peppers. For the chili, I used my Weeknight Black Bean Chili recipe and filled each of the peppers with it.
Then, I popped the peppers into the oven to bake until the peppers were fork tender, about 20 minutes. I then topped the peppers with freshly shredded cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses and returned the pan to the oven for about 5 minutes for the cheeses to melt.
For the pan that I placed in the freezer, I simply filled the pepper halves with the chili and wrapped the freezer pan tightly with plastic wrap followed by foil. Then, I labeled the pan with the contents and the date I prepared it and placed it into the freezer for up to 3 months. To serve the chili stuffed peppers from the freezer, I’ll remove it and allow it thaw overnight in the refrigerator and then bake as directed in the original recipe.
Here’s my Chili Stuffed Peppers recipe. I hope you love ’em!
Chili Stuffed Peppers Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 fresh green, red, or orange peppers
- 1 Weeknight Black Bean Chili
- 1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
- 1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Half peppers lengthwise and remove the seeds and membranes. Arrange in a baking dish and set aside.
- Prepare Weeknight Black Bean Chili recipe and fill each pepper half with chili. Bake stuffed peppers until the peppers are just fork tender, about 20 minutes.Remove the pan from the oven and top each pepper with cheeses. Return the pan to the oven and bake until the cheeses melt, about 5 more minutes.
Notes
Assemble stuffed peppers without baking or topping with cheese. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator up to two days. To serve, remove from the refrigerator and bake according to recipe instructions. You may have to increase baking time since the stuffed peppers will be cold.
!Freezer Instructions:
Assemble stuffed peppers without baking or cheese topping. Wrap freezer pan tightly with plastic wrap and foil. Label well for contents and date prepared and freezer for up to three months. To serve, allow to thaw in the refrigerator overnight and then bake according to directions.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Enjoy!
Robyn xo
I hate dealing with plastic wrap. I have found that I can purchase 8″ square baking pans without the plastic lids and bake small casseroles like this in them and, after the casserole cools down a bit, I can slide it right into a Glad 1 gal freezer bag (which bag I label before using) seal it and pop it in the freezer.
That’s a great tip, Clara!
During the winter months, I have a lot of chili and stuffed peppers stuffed with ground beef, but I never heard of stuffed chili peppers before. I think I’ll try them sometime!
I love stuffed peppers and tomatoes this looks like a fabulous recipe, i cannot wait to try it!