We’re in love with stuffed bell peppers here at the Budget Bytes kitchen, so I decided to make a new variation just so I could have an excuse to eat stuffed bell peppers again. These Chorizo Stuffed Bell Peppers are full of super flavorful Mexican chorizo, hearty rice, and a rich sauce, then topped with melty mozzarella cheese. They’re SO filling, perfectly portioned for meal prep or freezer cooking, and quite flexible if you want to change up the ingredients to make them even more budget-friendly! Put this one one your to-cook list because I know you’re going to love them!
Ingredients for Chorizo Stuffed Bell Peppers
These stuffed bell peppers are packed with flavorful herbs and spices and a rich tomato-y sauce so that every bite is deee-licious. Here are the ingredients for chorizo stuffed bell peppers:
- Bell Peppers: You’ll need three bell peppers to make six servings for this recipe. We used a mix of colors to make it more festive, but you can use any color pepper that fits your budget.
- Mexican Chorizo: Mexican chorizo is a fresh (not cured) sausage that is packed with spices. You can usually either buy this loose or in links. If you buy them in links, simply squeeze the meat out of the casing into the skillet. I like Johnsonville brand, but many larger grocery stores also make their own generic version.
- Garlic & Onion: A little fresh onion and garlic add flavor and texture to the bell pepper stuffing.
- Rice: Long grain white rice bulks up this meal to make it filling while keeping the cost low. We cook the rice right in the pot with the chorizo, spices, and broth for maximum flavor.
- Chicken Broth: The rice is cooked in chicken broth to ensure that every bite is super flavorful. We use Better Than Bouillon to make our broth because it’s budget-friendly and has great flavor.
- Tomato Paste: Tomato paste is added to the broth to help create an enchilada sauce-like flavor in the rice mixture.
- Diced Green Chiles: Green chiles add even more flavor, color, and texture to the filling. If you prefer a milder stuffed pepper, you can leave out the green chiles or look for a mild green chile.
- Spices: We packed this bell pepper stuffing with even more spices including chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt.
- Mozzarella: The stuffed bell peppers are topped with mozzarella cheese for a rich finish, but you can substitute with a different type of cheese if preferred, like Monterey jack, pepper jack, cheddar, or a Mexican blend.
- Green Onion: A few sliced green onions sprinkled over top of the stuffed bell peppers add a fresh finish, but are entirely optional!
What Else Can I Add?
This recipe is pretty flexible, so if you want to change it up or make it more budget-friendly, here are some other ingredients you can add:
- Beans: Try swapping half of the chorizo with a can of black beans or pinto beans for more fiber and less cost.
- Diced Tomatoes: If you want more color and texture in your bell pepper filling, try adding a drained can of petite diced tomatoes, or diced tomatoes with chiles (Rotel).
- Sweet Potato: Chorizo and sweet potato are a perfect flavor pair. Replace half of the chorizo with one small finely diced sweet potato for a spicy-sweet flavor profile (add it with the rice so it can simmer and soften with the rice).
Mexican Chorizo vs. Spanish Chorizo
It’s really important to use the correct type of chorizo for this recipe. You’ll need Mexican chorizo, which is a fresh (uncooked & uncured) sausage. You’ll find Mexican chorizo in the fresh meat department, usually near bratwurst and other fresh sausages. Spanish chorizo is a cured, sliceable sausage that you’ll usually find near cheese, pepperoni, or other charcuterie-type foods.
What to Serve with Chorizo Stuffed Bell Peppers
These southwest-inspired peppers are really filling on their own, but if you want to serve something on the side they pair really well with Cumin Lime Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Cowboy Caviar, Sweet Potato Cornbread, or Warm Corn and Avocado Salad.
How To Store Leftovers
I love making stuffed bell peppers for meal prep, so this is how I store and reheat them. The cooked bell peppers can be stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. I like to reheat them quickly in the microwave (about 2 minutes each).
Or, once chilled in the refrigerator, you can transfer them to the freezer. I suggest packaging them individually in a freezer-safe, air-tight container, so you can reheat one at a time as needed. Frozen stuffed bell peppers can be thawed in the refrigerator overnight and then reheated the next day in the microwave, or thawed straight from the freezer in the microwave using the defrost function, then heated through on full power.
Chorizo Stuffed Bell Peppers
Servings 6Ingredients
- 3 bell peppers ($4.07)
- 1 lb. Mexican chorizo ($4.99)
- 1 yellow onion ($0.37)
- 2 cloves garlic ($0.16)
- 1 4oz. can diced green chiles ($0.99)
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste ($0.20)
- 2 tsp chili powder ($0.20)
- 1/2 tsp cumin ($0.05)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper ($0.02)
- 1/4 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/2 cup long grain white rice (uncooked) ($0.13)
- 1 cup chicken broth ($0.19)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella ($1.25)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cut each bell pepper in half so there is a top and bottom portion, then remove the seeds and ribs. You can either carefully cut the stem out of the center of the top half, or eat around it later. Place the halved bell peppers in a baking dish, cut sides up. Par-bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.
- Add the chorizo to a large deep skillet and cook over medium heat until browned. While the chorizo is cooking, dice the onion and mince the garlic. Add the onion and garlic to the chorizo and continue to cook until the onions are softened.
- Add the diced green chiles, tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, and salt to the skillet and stir until combined.
- Add the uncooked rice and chicken broth to the skillet and stir until combined again. Place a lid on the skillet, turn the heat up to medium-high, and allow the broth to come up to a boil.
- As soon as the broth begins to boil, turn the heat down to low and let the rice simmer over, low without lifting the lid or stirring, for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn off the heat and let it rest for five more minutes.
- Finally, remove the lid and gently stir the rice and chorizo mixture. All of the broth should be absorbed and the rice tender.
- Divide the rice and chorizo mixture between the six bell pepper halves, then top with shredded cheese. Cover the baking dish and return it to the 350ºF oven and bake for 20 minutes more. Finally, top with sliced green onions and serve!
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Nutrition
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How to Make Chorizo Stuffed Bell Peppers – Step by Step Photos
Begin by preheating the oven to 350ºF. Cut three bell peppers in half to create a top and bottom piece for each pepper. Scoop out the seeds and ribs. You can either cut out the stem from the top half of the peppers, or eat around them later. Place the halved peppers in a baking dish and par-bake them for 15 minutes in the fully preheated 350ºF oven.
Meanwhile, cook 1 lb. of Mexican chorizo in a large deep skillet over medium heat until browned. The chorizo has plenty of fat, so you likely won’t need to add any additional to the skillet. Dice one yellow onion and mince 2 cloves of garlic. Add the onion and garlic to the skillet with the chorizo, and continue to cook until the onions are softened.
Add one 4oz. can of diced green chiles, 2 Tbsp tomato paste, 2 tsp chili powder, ½ tsp cumin, ½ tsp garlic powder, ¼ tsp cayenne pepper, and ¼ tsp salt to the meat and onions. Stir to combine.
Add ½ cup of uncooked long grain white rice and 1 cup of chicken broth to the skillet. Stir well to combine, then place a lid on top, and turn the heat up to medium-high. When the broth reaches a full boil, turn the heat down to low and allow it to continue to simmer over low (without removing the lid or stirring) for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, turn the heat off and let it rest for 5 more minutes.
After simmering for 20 minutes the broth should be absorbed and the rice should be tender. Gently stir the rice and chorizo mixture with a spoon.
Divide the rice and chorizo mixture between the six par-baked bell pepper halves, then top with shredded mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup). Cover the dish and bake in the 350ºF oven for 20 minutes.
Top the chorizo stuffed bell peppers with sliced green onions and serve!
Enjoy the cheesy chorizo-y goodness!!
They were so good. Will definitely make again
Could you make these with the mini sweet peppers and serve them as an app? How do you think that would impact the baking time and water added to the pan?
Hmm, that’s tough to say. There are so many variables there that I’d really need to test it before offering advice.
This was SOOOOOOOOO good! I could have just eaten the pepper stuffing by itself, but stuffed in a pepper covered in cheese (chef’s kiss). I substituted quinoa for rice because that’s what we had on hand and it turned out amazing.
way too bland but otherwise good
Do you think these would freeze well after baking? Or would you recommend freezing them assembled but before baking? Thanks!
I suppose it depends on how you plan on reheating. If you’re going to reheat one at a time in the microwave, I’d probably just bake it before freezing. If you plan on thawing the entire meal then baking, I’d assemble and then freeze without baking first.
We made these with Trader Joe’s Soyrizo and tossed in a bag of steamed riced cauliflower instead of using rice. Also, I just put a little bit of cheese on top of each stuffed green pepper (I used what I had on hand: a Mexican blend) – probably a TB or so if I had to guess. (trying to keep it low carb
We easily had enough filling for another 9 green pepper halves (granted, our green peppers were fairly small but I grabbed what they had at Aldi).
I love how far the recipe goes, how quick it goes together, and how it can be modified, like we did, to make it super healthy and vegetarian (or vegan if you use soy cheese).
We enjoyed it. LOTS of leftovers. Thanks for a great meal!
These were great. I substituted in finely chopped cabbage for the rice and only used half the black beans to make it low carb!! I would recommend to anyone! This will be a go to!
This recipe was SO GOOD. I hate green bell peppers, but we had several on hand from our CSA and were looking for a way to use them up. I made the recipe vegetarian by using Trader Joe’s Soyrizo (vegan chorizo), as my husband and I do not eat meat, and it worked really well. This recipe could easily be made vegan by using a chorizo meat substitute like the Trader Joe’s Soyrizo and omitting the cheese or using vegan cheese. This is definitely going in our regular rotation!
I felt the Chorizo might have been too fatty so I cut it in half with ground turkey…It was AMAZING, steamed it with the Cowboy Caviar and sliced avocados. New Favorite!!!
Don’t get me wrong, these were delicious and made a beautiful presentation but they were really spicy! I don’t know if it was the chorizo since I’m not used to cooking with it or if it was the Rotel. I think next time I will try just regular diced tomatoes or use half ground beef? Also, I like my peppers with a little crunch but my husband doesn’t. I will pre-bake them next time. I will definitely make again.
I made these last night and it was the first time I have ever made stuffed bell peppers. They were very good, except I felt like I would have enjoyed eating just the filling more than the complete dish. The cooked green peppers were kind of flavorless. I know I’ve had stuffed green peppers before that didn’t really have this issue. Is there something I potentially did wrong, or something I can do to improve the pepper itself apart from using a yellow/orange/red pepper (although I really have no problem trying that)?
Sounds delicious. This way of cutting the peppers in half lengthwise is new to me! Love it!
Can this be made with rice and beans instead of chorizo?
Sure, I think that would be a delicious filling. You may need to add quite a few extra spices to make up for all the seasoning that is in chorizo, though.
Another winner! Served with some sweet potato fries tossed with cumin and lime juice (because I was too lazy to chop up my own sweet potatoes). The peppers were a little al dente for my taste, so next time I might put them in the oven as it heats up as someone else mentioned. But the flavors were great!
Also, I noticed that in the step-by-step section with photos, you forgot to mention adding the chili powder and salt. They’re in the photo but not in the caption underneath.
Thank you for catching that!
I made these a few weeks ago and they were amazing! And the leftovers were fantastic. Thanks so much!