Slow Cooker Southwestern Stuffed Peppers
Looking for a fun way to mix up the dinner routine? Pull out the slow cooker! These Slow Cooker Southwestern Stuffed Peppers are a favorite in our house!
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Stuffed peppers are amazing! They’re essentially a blank canvas for whatever flavors you happen to be in the mood for at the time. (For us, that’s often Italian.) However, I was craving southwestern flavors recently, so I decided to make stuffed peppers with a southwestern flare. Cumin, chili powder, corn, black beans, salsa…yum! These Slow Cooker Southwestern Stuffed Peppers were delicious, and this recipe is definitely on our list of favorites now!
Many slow cooker recipes are ‘dump it and forget it’ types of recipes. This Slow Cooker Southwestern Stuffed Peppers recipe is not one of those. Don’t get me wrong – I love a ‘dump it and forget it’ recipe! However, this recipe uses the slow cooker as a kitchen tool.
Stuffed peppers typically go into the oven for quite a bit of time. It takes a while for those peppers to soften up! That’s when it hit me that a slow cooker is the perfect tool for making stuffed peppers. You essentially cook the filling and mix it together in a large bowl. From there, you stuff the peppers and send ’em off to the slow cooker for a few hours.
While this recipe does require a bit of work at the beginning, the work at the end is minimal. That means dinner can get on the table quickly on a busy weeknight. And clean up at the end of the night is a breeze…especially if you use a slow cooker liner!
Slow Cooker Southwestern Stuffed Peppers
Slow cooker recipes almost always call for a liquid of some sort. For soups and stews, that is often chicken or beef stock. For shredded meat recipes, that can be something as easy as a bottle of BBQ sauce or Italian dressing. For these Slow Cooker Southwestern Stuffed Peppers? Salsa. Yup, a large jar of salsa provides the necessary liquid for this recipe.
After these peppers slow cook for several hours, that salsa turns into a sauce of sorts that is absolutely delicious. Make sure to spoon some of the sauce over the peppers before serving!
Oh, and I recommend using a rotisserie chicken to keep this recipe nice and easy. I bet this would be a great recipe for leftover turkey, too – it’s worth stashing this idea aside for a fun way to mix up leftover turkey after Thanksgiving.
This recipe is now a favorite here in our house, and I hope it becomes a favorite in your house, too! Enjoy!
Did you make these Slow Cooker Southwestern Stuffed Peppers at home? Leave a comment or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!
Slow Cooker Southwestern Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
For the Rice
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 Tbsp lime juice
- 1 cup basmati rice
- 2 cups hot water
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
For the Peppers
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 1 poblano pepper seeded and diced
- 1 rotisserie chicken meat removed and chopped (see note)
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 1 10-oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
- 1 15-oz. can corn, rinsed and drained
- 1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
- 2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro plus more for garnishing
- 1 15-oz. jar salsa
- 6 large bell peppers
- ½ cup shredded Pepper jack cheese
Instructions
For the Rice
- Using a medium saucepan, add butter and place over medium-low heat.
- Once butter has melted, add lime juice and rice. Sauté, stirring often, for 1 minute.
- Add water and salt; stir gently. Increase heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, cover pot and remove from heat. Let rice rest for 18-20 minutes before uncovering and fluffing with a fork.
- Stir chopped cilantro into rice.
For the Peppers
- Meanwhile, using a medium skillet, add the olive oil and place over medium heat. One hot, add the diced onions and poblano pepper. Sauté stirring occasionally, for 5-6 minutes, or until pepper has softened.
- Transfer cooked onions and peppers into a large bowl. Add cooked rice (from above), chicken, cumin, chili powder, salt, diced tomatoes, corn, black beans, cilantro and ~⅓ of the jar of salsa; stir until well combined.
- Pour another ~⅓ of the salsa into a slow cooker.
- Slice a thin layer off the top of each bell pepper. Remove seeds and inner membranes.
- Stuff peppers with the chicken and rice mixture. Place peppers upright in slow cooker. Spoon remaining salsa on top of the peppers.
- Cover and cook on high for 3-3½ hours, or until peppers are tender.
- Sprinkle tops of peppers with shredded cheese. Cover and continue cooking for 5-10 more minutes, or until cheese has fully melted.
- Before serving, spoon sauce from dish over peppers and garnish with additional chopped cilantro.
Notes
Looking for more tasty slow cooker recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Cant wait to make this soon for me can i use tofu i never had slow cooker southwestern stuffed peppers before perfect for my after office meals love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
Yes! Give the tofu a try in this one, Ramya. The flavors are fantastic, and this is an easy meal to make. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
My kind of food, except the peppers. They don’t get along with my belly.
I’m thinking of making this, leaving out the peppers. Then make soft tacos with the filling. What do you think.
Thanks for the inspiration.
Ah I think that could work, Ron. You could omit the peppers and either use this as a filling for flour tacos or maybe even layer it back and forth with corn tortillas in a casserole-style meal. You can’t go wrong when you combine the right flavors together! Let me know if you try it out? Hope you have a great weekend ahead!
Yum. Some of my favorite ingredients all in one place! Great cheesiness, too!
Yes! I’m with ya on the ingredients, Mimi – you can’t go wrong when you combine some of these favorites all in one! 🙂
A great method to cook stuffed peppers instead of baking them! Delicious!
The slow cooker certainly does help when it comes to making easy dinners! Thanks, Michelle!!
We love stuffed peppers, but usually bake them. Such a great idea to use the slow cooker! Love the flavours. Perfect comfort food right there, my friend! 🙂
I hear ya, Dawn – we usually bake stuffed peppers, too. But then it hit me…the slow cooker would be great for recipes like this that take longer to bake! Nice and easy. 🙂
I like the sound of this David. I used to make stuffed roasted capsicums years ago, but with Italian flavourings – anchovies etc. but I like the flavours here – beans and chicken etc…
The beans and chicken help bulk up these stuffed peppers (capsicums) so they are a meal in and of themselves! Thanks, Sherry!!
What a great idea to cook stuffed peppers in the slow cooker! Somehow it never occurred to me, but I can’t wait to try this.
Slow cookers are great for recipes that cook for a long time…like stuffed peppers! Nice and easy. 🙂