Our Stuffed Poblano Peppers is the TASTIEST stuffed peppers recipe you can ever taste! That’s our promise. We stuff fresh poblano peppers with a mixture of beans, corn, cooked rice, cooked chicken, cheese, seasoning and salsa. Plus the whole recipe needs just 20 minutes in the oven. Read along for how to and video to make this easy tasty stuffed poblano peppers below!
We absolutely LOVE poblano peppers. Like they’re the perfect balance of flavor and mild heat. It’s ideal especially for those who love some spice without an overwhelm of it. We love the depth of flavor this pepper has so much and use it to make the best sauces too.
This Air Fryer Lamb Chops with Poblano Sauce shows how to make the BEST Poblano sauce. So Poblano peppers are not just for stuffing, they make great sauces, salsas, salads, side dishes and more. You can turn them into a Mediterranean dream using this Feta Stuffed Peppers. If you’re a spice fanatic, you’re gonna need this Jalapeño Poppers recipe.
Our Love and inspiration to create Mexican food at home is endless. It’s one of our favorite cuisines and we love their flavor profile so much! These southwest stuffed poblano peppers are jus another inspiration based on a recipe we had in California.
Why You’ll LOVE Stuffed Poblano Peppers
- The TASTE is everything! The flavors of the pepper and filling are so rich, so robust and tasty!
- The peppers are the perfect balance of spice, but not too spicy or overwhelmingly hot. So you do taste the peppers with some kick.
- Since the filling is already cooked, this recipe takes just a few minutes to assemble and bake.
- It’s a great way to use leftover rice , rotisserie chicken or cooked chicken, or ground beef. We have made this with ground lamb too, because we HAVE to lol and it was amazing! Similar to our Jalapeño Poppers.
- Since the peppers are large in size, you’ll be cutting them in half. So you don’t need plenty to serve a crowd.
- This is a great dish to make in advance!
- You have so much flexibility with the swapping ingredients in the filling to make endless variations of it! Or use what you have on hand.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Rice. Cooked rice is a must! If you have leftover rice use it, and BEST if you have Cilantro Lime Rice! OMG the flavors here are impeccable with the filling! So use leftover rice that’s cooked and at room temperature .
- Black beans. So hearty and filling, the black beans are creamy, soft and perfect in the filling. Use canned or cooked.
- Corn. Ideally use fresh corn kernels, however we settled for frozen organic corn which is amazing! Corn adds a sweet component to the spice.
- Spices. A blend of chilli powder, garlic powder, cumin, Mexican oregano and chili flakes along with salt and pepper.
- Cilantro. Lots of fresh zesty cilantro is used here, and you can substitute parsley if cilantro is not your thing.
- Cheese. Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses are the best, and grating your cheese is better than buying pre-shredded, however if you’re tight on time, feel free to use pre shredded.
- Tomatoes. Canned cherry tomatoes is what we used here as they are sweet and rich. Fresh sweet cherry tomatoes are a great substitute.
- Poblano Peppers. The star, the hero of the show. Use an estimate of 1 pepper per person for a side dish, or two for a main dish.
- Cooked Chicken/Meat. You can skip this and make the dish entirely vegetarian. We used leftover cooked rotisserie chicken, we also use any leftover from our Air Fryer Whole Chicken. Often we make it with cooked ground beef similar to the one we use in our Ground Beef Tacos.
How to Make Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Prepare the Peppers
- Begin by cutting up each poblano pepper in half, and remove any seeds.
- On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, place the cut peppers with the cut side facing up.
- Wile you may bake the peppers for 10 minutes to soften it, we prefer baking it once stuffed. This way the peppers will soften but still have some texture.
Make The Filing
- In a large bowl, add all the filling ingredients together.
- Mix all the seasoning blend of spices in a small bowl. We used salt and pepper along with garlic powder, Mexican oregano and chilli powder. Also some cumin and chilli flakes. Feel free to adjust the level of spice to your taste, keeping in mind the peppers have some spice as well.
- Once the spices and filling ingredients have beeb mixed in, it’s time to add the cheese. We prefer adding the cheese as the final ingredient to make sue all the spices and filling are well blended first.
Stuff & Bake The Poblano Peppers
- Take a spoon and stuff the poblano pepper halves with the filling generously. Since the rice and all ingredients all are all precooked already, the filling will not be expanding in the oven. For that you can fill the peppers all the way.
- Bake the peppers until they have softened and the filling is hot.
- Now sprinkle some more cheese on top and return to the oven to bake for another 5 minutes.
- Remove when the cheese has melted.
- Garnish the stuffed poblanos with more cilantro on top and enjoy right away!
Stuffed Poblano Peppers Tips
- Chose poblano peppers that are about the same size so the cook evenly.
- If you prefer soft and melt in your mouth stuffed peppers, then pre-bake the peppers before stuffing them for 10 minutes. And when they bake again with the filling, they will reach that texture.
- Today’s recipe has pepper that offer a soft bite as that’s our preference.
- When it comes to the filing, feel free to make it entirely vegetarian by skipping the cooked chicken. We love adding protein and using leftovers here.
- It’s best of you can shred your cheese at home for this recipe, and almost every recipe.
- Use a combo or your favorite cheese.
- This recipe is best served with dollops of sour cream!
Stuffed Poblano Pepper Variations / What Can I stuff Poblano Peppers With?
- Use cooked meat like those Ground Beef Nachos or even cooked lamb from those Lamb Tacos.
- Make it entirely vegetarian!
- Use a variety of cheese or use cotija for a salty and different variation.
- Change the seasoning blend to a chipotle spice, or add chipotle peppers to the filling.
- When ready, feel free to drizzle sauces over the peppers! Chipotle sauce, Poblano Sauce, Avocado crema, Sour cream, Nacho Cheese Sauce Recipe, Hot Pepper Sauce and more!
How hot are Poblano Peppers?
They are definitely not classified as one of the hot peppers, however they do still have a level of heat. If you know the Scoville heat unit scale where bell peppers are a zero. The poblanos are 1000-1500, while jalapeños are about 3,000-8,000.
Are Poblanos Good For you?
We actually feel that all food especially veggies are always good for you! These peppers have about 15 calories each and no fat, so with the hearty stuffing they’re nutritious and filling!
Can you Freeze Poblano Peppers?
You can absolutely freeze them! There are two ways to go about it. 1. Freeze the uncooked peppers with the stuffing, ready to bake. Seal well before freezing and then that, bake as usual. 2. Freeze the cooked and cooled poblanos, seal well and reheat when thawed.
How to reheat Stuffed Poblano Peppers?
Best to reheat them in an oven safe dish at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes with a teaspoon of water. You can otherwise reheat it in the microwave too.
Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Ingredients
Poblano Peppers
- 4 poblano peppers
Stuffing
- 1 cup rice cooked
- 1 cup black beans
- 2/3 cup corn frozen or fresh
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 1 cup canned tomatoes cherry tomatoes
- 1 1/2 cups rotisserie chicken
- 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon Oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 1/2 teaspoon chilli powder
- 2 cups Cheddar cheese shredded
Instructions
-
Begin by cutting up each poblano pepper in half, and remove any seeds.
-
On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, place the cut peppers with the cut side facing up.
-
Wile you may bake the peppers for 10 minutes to soften it, we prefer baking it once stuffed. This way the peppers will soften but still have some texture.
-
In a large bowl, add all the filling ingredients together.
-
Mix all the seasoning blend of spices in a small bowl. We used salt and pepper along with garlic powder, Mexican oregano and chilli powder. Also some cumin and chilli flakes. Feel free to adjust the level of spice to your taste, keeping in mind the peppers have some spice as well.
-
Once the spices and filling ingredients have beeb mixed in, it's time to add the cheese. We prefer adding the cheese as the final ingredient to make sue all the spices and filling are well blended first.
-
Take a spoon and stuff the poblano pepper halves with the filling generously. Since the rice and all ingredients all are all precooked already, the filling will not be expanding in the oven. For that you can fill the peppers all the way.
-
Bake the peppers until they have softened and the filling is hot.
-
Now sprinkle some more cheese on top and return to the oven to bake for another 5 minutes.
-
Remove when the cheese has melted.
-
Garnish the stuffed poblanos with more cilantro on top and enjoy right away!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Stuffed Poblano Peppers Tips
- Chose poblano peppers that are about the same size so the cook evenly.
- If you prefer soft and melt in your mouth stuffed peppers, then pre-bake the peppers before stuffing them for 10 minutes. And when they bake again with the filling, they will reach that texture.
- Today's recipe has pepper that offer a soft bite as that's our preference.
- When it comes to the filing, feel free to make it entirely vegetarian by skipping the cooked chicken. We love adding protein and using leftovers here.
- It's best of you can shred your cheese at home for this recipe, and almost every recipe.
- Use a combo or your favorite cheese.
- This recipe is best served with dollops of sour cream!
Stuffed Poblano Pepper Variations / What Can I stuff Poblano Peppers With?
- Use cooked meat like those Ground Beef Nachos or even cooked lamb from those Lamb Tacos.
- Make it entirely vegetarian!
- Use a variety of cheese or use cotija for a salty and different variation.
- Change the seasoning blend to a chipotle spice, or add chipotle peppers to the filling.
- When ready, feel free to drizzle sauces over the peppers! Chipotle sauce, Poblano Sauce, Avocado crema, Sour cream, Nacho Cheese Sauce Recipe, Hot Pepper Sauce and more!
How hot are Poblano Peppers?
They are definitely not classified as one of the hot peppers, however they do still have a level of heat. If you know the Scoville heat unit scale where bell peppers are a zero. The poblanos are 1000-1500, while jalapeños are about 3,000-8,000.
Are Poblanos Good For you?
We actually feel that all food especially veggies are always good for you! These peppers have about 15 calories each and no fat, so with the hearty stuffing they're nutritious and filling!
Can you Freeze Poblano Peppers?
You can absolutely freeze them! There are two ways to go about it. 1. Freeze the uncooked peppers with the stuffing, ready to bake. Seal well before freezing and then that, bake as usual. 2. Freeze the cooked and cooled poblanos, seal well and reheat when thawed.
How to reheat Stuffed Poblano Peppers?
Best to reheat them in an oven safe dish at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes with a teaspoon of water. You can otherwise reheat it in the microwave too.
These Stuffed Poblano Peppers were amazing! They were easy to prepare and the entire family loved them…YUM!!!
These stuffed peppers are so flavorful. The recipe is written so detailed making it easy to make. The photos are incredibly helpful too.
YUM! I love this spicy take on stuffed peppers. I can’t wait to make them again.
These were so delicious! The poblanos had just the right amount of spice, and the filling was super flavorful!