Cheesy Stuffed Peppers
Today it’s about cheese and a whole lot of it, with these cheesy stuffed bell peppers – Mexican style!
To start off I like to use a variety of bell peppers, for color. Slice the tops off and core them out well. Then we’re going to soften them a tad before we actually get to cooking them. This will make them tender without overcooking the rest of our ingredients.
Soften the Peppers
Cook the peppers in some chicken broth to soften them up.
Add a little chicken broth in the dish you’re cooking the peppers in. If you’re in the house, cook them at 350 for about 15 minutes or until they begin to soften.
Stuff the Peppers
Stuff the peppers starting with Cheddar.
When you take them out, the peppers are going to have a little liquid in there from the condensation, so make sure you drain them out.
I like to start it with a layer of cheese. Now, you can use whatever cheese you’d like, but today I’m using a mix of cheddar and Mozzarella.
Add the next layers – meat, more cheese – and be sure to pack them down tight.
Now comes time to add the star of the show – some Certified Angus Beef. We browned this up with half a yellow onion and a little Red River Ranch Mesquite, oregano and cumin, for some traditional Mexican spice.
A tip here, when you’re layering in these peppers, be sure you lightly pack each layer so you can get all this goodness to fit.
Now another layer of cheese!
Add Roasted Chilies
I got my hands on some good Hatch green chilies that I have roasted. After you’ve roasted them a trick to make them peel easier is to stick them in a sack with a little cold water for several minutes. That steam will help that outer skin peel right off.
Add a layer of green chilies – roasted, peeled and finely chopped.
Now, cut them open and take the seeds out. But, if you want to leave the seeds in you sure can depending on what kind of heat you want. Now give them a good dicing, and add a good spoonful of them in each pepper.
Just keep a-layering there folks until you get to the top and finish it off with, of course, cheese!
Cook the Peppers
When you have all the peppers stuffed, return them to the pan you cooked them in (check out our video below for Dutch oven cooking). Leave any remaining chicken broth in the dish, or add about 2 to 3 tablespoons if it had cooked out. Slide this in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes, or until those peppers soften and the tops brown up slightly.
Light coal load on the bottom and on top -just to let it blend together.
If you’re doing this outside in a Dutch oven, you can use lighter coals around the bottom and an even layer on top. This is a pretty easy dish to do, because all our ingredients are pretty much cooked, we just want those peppers to soften and all that good cheese to melt.
You might even end up taking that oven off the bottom heat when it’s nearly down and let it finish up on the top until you get a light browning on that cheese.
Enjoy cheesy stuffed peppers!
That’s what you call a done deal folks! So get a good bite of that layered goodness and don’t forget to share the recipe and the food with your friends and neighbors!
Cheesy Stuffed Peppers - Cowboy Kent Rollins
Ingredients
- 4 bell peppers
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 lb. ground beef
- ½ yellow onion diced
- Red River Ranch Mesquite or salt and pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground oregano
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 4 Anaheim peppers (green chile) blistered, peeled and diced
- 1 ½ cups shredded Mozzarella cheese
- 1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Cut the tops off the bell peppers and core. Place in a baking dish with ¼ cup chicken broth and bake at 350 degrees F. for about 15 minutes, or until they begin to soften.
- Meanwhile, add the beef to a medium skillet and cook over medium-high heat. When the meat begins to brown, stir in the onion. Stir in the seasonings and continue cooking until the meat has completely browned.
- Remove the peppers from the oven and drain any liquid. Stuff with about 1 tablespoon of cheddar cheese to the bottom of each pepper followed by meat, Mozzarella cheese, Anaheim chilis, meat, cheese, chilis, meat and finish with both cheeses. Be sure to pack each layer down with the spoon.
- Place the peppers back in the baking dish, and make sure there is at least 3 tablespoons of chicken broth left in the dish for steam. Bake at 375 degrees F for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted and peppers have softened. Remove from the oven and top with 1 to 2 tablespoons of mixed cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese melts.