Slow Cooker Mexican Stuffed Peppers
These easy Slow Cooker Mexican Stuffed Peppers are filled with taco-seasoned ground turkey, rice, tomatoes, green chiles, taco sauce and cheese. Just 20 minutes of prep time is all you need, and then the slow cooker does the rest of the work!
Servings: 4
Estimated Calories: 484
Ingredients
- 4 medium to large bell peppers, any color or combination of colors
- 1 pound ground turkey, I use 93/7
- 1 cup diced onions
- 3 tablespoons taco seasoning, or to taste (I use my Homemade Taco Seasoning)
- 1 cup cooked white rice
- 1 (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chiles
- ½ cup taco sauce, I use my Homemade Taco Sauce
- 1½ cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
- salt, taste
- black pepper, to taste
For Topping (optional but highly recommended)
- additional taco sauce, mild, medium or hot
- thinly sliced green onions
- chopped fresh cilantro
Special Equipment
- Slow cooker (6-quart or larger; I use a 6-quart oval)
Instructions
- Cut the top and stem off of each pepper (cut as close as you can to the top so you have maximum stuffing space), and then remove the seeds and membranes/ribs. Set the peppers aside.Discard the stems, seeds and membranes/ribs, but don't throw away the tops; dice them up and save them to use in another recipe.
- In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the ground turkey and onions, stirring frequently and breaking up the meat into crumbles as you go, until the turkey is cooked through, about 6 minutes. Drain off any excess grease or liquid.
- Add the taco seasoning; stir to combine.
- Add the cooked rice, diced tomatoes with green chiles, taco sauce, 1 cup of the cheese, salt, and black pepper; stir until well combined. A note on the salt and pepper: The homemade taco seasoning that I use already contains 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. I then add an additional ½ teaspoon of kosher salt in this step plus ½ teaspoon of black pepper. You can adjust these amounts to suit your own tastes and depending on the amount of salt in your taco seasoning and the type of salt you use (kosher salt is not as salty as regular table salt).
- Pour ½ cup of water into the slow cooker. Stuff the peppers with the turkey mixture, gently packing it down as needed so you can fit all of the filling in the peppers, and place them standing upright in the slow cooker.
- Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 4 hours.The peppers should be soft, and the temperature of the filling should be at least 165°F (it will probably be higher than this).
- Remove the lid and top each stuffed pepper with 2 tablespoons of the shredded cheese. Replace the lid and allow the cheese to melt, about 5 minutes.
- Carefully remove the stuffed peppers from the slow cooker (I use a large slotted spoon and tongs for this).
- To serve: top each pepper with a drizzle of taco sauce, sliced green onions and chopped fresh cilantro, if desired. Enjoy!
Recipe Notes
- If you don't already have some cooked rice, you'll need do that first before starting the recipe (⅓ of uncooked rice will make 1 cup of cooked rice; cook according to the package directions). This will take about 20 minutes for white rice, but you can use the time to prep your other ingredients.
- If any of your peppers are a little wobbly, you can slice a very small amount off of the bottoms to make them flatter so they won't fall over (just be careful that you don't cut a hole in the bottom of the pepper).
- For both the diced tomatoes with green chiles and the taco sauce, I use mild versions. You can use medium or hot of either if you like more spicy heat.
- Don't remove the slow cooker lid during the cooking time. The slow cooker loses heat when you do, and it will take time to come back up to temperature (which means you'll have to extend the cooking time). You'll also lose moisture, which can dry out your food.
- Please see the post for more info and tips, information of substitutions and variations, storing and reheating leftovers, and serving suggestions.
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