Stuffed vegetables are a wonderful meatless main dish, and these peppers were no disappointment! We’ve been on a bit of a Latin-inspired kick lately, so this idea fit the bill for a meal with friends, as well as a few weeknight meals.
The recipe below is a result of several attempts and a fair amount of research (thank you, Google). The main idea is simple, and offers a lot of flexibility – you can choose any grain, veggies, and spices for the stuffing (I think next time I’ll try quinoa and maybe goat cheese or gouda, just to be fancy). Many recipes call for baking the peppers, but since I hate to wait, I’ve included the broiler method below. It makes it a bit quicker – you also can make the grain ahead of time to speed things up.
The result tasted great and was fun to serve; we especially liked the earthy taste of the poblano peppers as an alternative a bell pepper. Enjoy!
- 4 poblano peppers
- 1 cup uncooked brown rice (or 4 cups of any cooked grain)
- 1½ cups salsa
- 1 15 oz. can of black beans
- 1½ cups frozen or canned corn kernels
- 3 green onions (optional)
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- Cayenne to taste
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- Shredded cheese (we used a Mexican blend)
- Chopped cilantro for serving (optional)
- Combine 1 cup uncooked rice with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil, then simmer according to package instructions. (Or, prepare the rice or grain ahead of time.)
- While the rice cooks, prepare the peppers: slice them in half and remove the seeds and ribs. Make sure to wear gloves!
- Place the peppers in a baking dish skin side up. Broil on high for about 7 minutes, then flip the peppers and broil 7 minutes more.
- Chop the 3 green onions (if using), and drain and rinse the black beans.
- In a large microwave safe bowl, combine: beans, onions, 1½ cups salsa, 1½ cups corn, a bit of the shredded cheese, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon chili powder, a couple dashes of cayenne (if you like it spicy!). Season with salt and pepper to taste. When the rice is finished, combine with the filling.
- Note: Remember that quantities and ingredients are all to taste, so feel free to adjust as needed!
- Heat the filling a few minutes in the microwave (or on the stove) until warm, depending on the heat of the rice.
- Place the pepper halves skin side down in a baking dish, and spoon the filling into each half. Top with shredded cheese and broil until the cheese is melted, for about 1½ to 2 minutes.
- If desired, garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with sour cream.
68 Comments
Erin
September 22, 2010 at 9:10 amSometimes it’s like you two are reading my mind. We have stuffed poblano peppers on the meal plan FOR TONIGHT! Might have to try your recipe instead of the one we have…
Sonja
September 22, 2010 at 9:13 amThat’s hilarious! What recipe were you planning to use?
Erin
September 22, 2010 at 10:05 amProbably this one: http://www.chow.com/recipes/10921-stuffed-poblanos-with-black-beans-and-cheese
May Ling Wu
September 22, 2010 at 12:40 pmWhat a great way to use the peppers that are in season now. I love how healthy this is.
suchitra
September 22, 2010 at 3:49 pmlooks amazing- great presentation! will try it out for sure
Tiffany
September 22, 2010 at 4:06 pmThe picture caught my eye and the recipe made me run to the kitchen to see if I have what is needed to make this tonight! I have to go to the store, but my mind is made up, I MUST have Stuffed Poblano Peppers!!! Thanks for another great recipe!
Sonja
September 22, 2010 at 4:34 pmHaha, wow! I’m flattered you would be so inspired! Let us know how it turns out :)
Karen
September 22, 2010 at 9:12 pmLove your twist on stuffed peppers. All the flavors sound fantastic together!
Jazz Rules
September 23, 2010 at 12:48 pmWow! That looks like a tasty slice of pepper pizza!
kari beth
September 23, 2010 at 2:53 pmon the menu for next week! and i will be sharing this recipe on my tasty tuesday blog hop! thanks again for your blog. love all your recipes.
Jenny Nguyen
September 24, 2010 at 4:44 amGreat photo! Wish I was there to have a nibble of this dish! :)
Debby
September 24, 2010 at 10:46 amcongratulations on your top 9!
Friday Delights
September 24, 2010 at 7:24 pmCongrats and those peppers r looking good,yum!
Pam @ Cooking world
September 25, 2010 at 4:59 amI love stuffed vegetables, I have tried something similar with red, yellow and green bell peppers and tomatoes and even once in small pumpkin!
However, I have yet to make it with Poblano Pepper, I like combination of brown rice, corn and beans, healthy and delicious.
Sonja
September 26, 2010 at 9:56 amThanks for all the nice comments, everyone! It’s great to hear everyone excited about healthy and natural recipes! Thank you all for your support! :)
judy
September 26, 2010 at 9:28 pmwhat a great idea! this is one of those days I’m kicking myself wondering where to get poblanos. they’re not so commonly found here, so it takes a bit of legwork. still, this would be my first thought when i DO find them! and that brown rice – sweet! a gorgeous take on something that most recipes would use cous cous or quinoa (although you’d be trying that next; still good stuff!)
Beverly
September 30, 2010 at 6:53 pmHope it was okay but shared this recipe on my blog and also provided the link back. This was the most delicious dish it is definitely a keeper!
Anna-in-N.
October 11, 2010 at 3:22 pmSonja,
I love poblano and have made similar dishes, but have one question:
did you really NOT
…. “de-skin” the pepper?
……. This is the worst part for me.
If not, do you eat the skin later or does is just peel off?
Anna
Sonja
October 11, 2010 at 6:50 pmAnna — no, we did not peel the skin from the peppers! Several of the recipes I consulted said to peel the peppers but many did not, so we skipped that step. They tasted great to us with the skin on! However, you could definitely peel the skin after broiling the peppers if you don’t like the taste.
Anna-in-N.
October 11, 2010 at 7:08 pmOhh it is very appealing to me
… that poblano peppers do
…… not have to be peeled.
I will try it your way soon and I never peeled the normal green peppers, but thought with poblanos this step is a must.
Thank you so very much for streamlining my cooking.
-Anna
Laurel @ Lolly's Sweet Treats
October 3, 2011 at 8:49 pmI made these peppers last night and they were delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe. We officially added it to our rotation of meals :)
Sonja
October 5, 2011 at 2:59 pmWonderful – I’m so glad you enjoyed it! And we must be on the same page — I just posted a new stuffed pepper recipe today :)
Leslie
October 27, 2011 at 11:00 pmMade this dish for dinner tonight…YUM!! I used couscous and skipped the corn and onions. This recipe is my new fall favorite dish!! The stuffing is also amazing if you don’t have any peppers!! Thanks Sonja!
Sonja
October 31, 2011 at 5:17 pmWonderful – so glad you enjoyed it! :)
Laura P
November 7, 2011 at 3:27 pmWe made these last night using quinoa and half of a small onion rather than green onions – SO GOOD! Our peppers were a little smaller than store bought, so we had a lot of leftover stuffing, but it’s so good by itself that my husband took it to work for lunch and there was still some for me!
My husband and I love cooking together, too, so I’m really glad I stumbled upon your blog and will definitely check back for new recipes :)
Sonja
November 7, 2011 at 11:04 pmWonderful – so glad that you enjoyed it, and that you are a fellow cooking couple! Let us know if you try other recipes, or have other ideas of things you’d like to see! :)
Jennie
November 22, 2011 at 5:17 pmThis was the second meal from your website that I’ve made in two days and once again it was an absolute hit! We can’t get poblano peppers here in London so we had to opt for the long red ones and we used grated parmesan cheese, but it still tasted really good. My Italian hubby was uber impressed and was shocked how much he liked it even though it didn’t have any meat in it (he’s from Central Italy where pork is a religion). We will keep checking your site and plan to make your meals part of our rotation. Thank you for your excellent work!
Sonja
November 23, 2011 at 2:21 pmOoo, awesome! I’m excited to hear that this passed the meat-lovers test as a satisfying dish – yay!
And keep the feedback coming – we love hearing what people enjoy, as well as dishes that might need some improvement :)
Thanks again for writing!
Miranda
November 27, 2011 at 12:52 pmIs this a full meal? Do the four peppers fill you up? It’s just me and my husband and we weren’t sure if we needed side dishes and stuff. What would you recommend?
Alex
November 28, 2011 at 10:02 amThe two of us like to eat a whole bunch of whatever we are making – so it is always hard to judge. I would say that this would be a filling main course for two, but that maybe you’d want a salad to go with it. Hope you enjoy it!
Libby
January 9, 2012 at 8:36 pmTried your recipe tonight, what a winner!! Very easy, and super tasty, we really enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing!
Courtney @ NHN
January 25, 2012 at 5:32 pmJust picked three poblano peppers from my garden and decided to stuff them tonight. You’ve inspired me!
Alex
January 26, 2012 at 9:50 amI’m officially jealous of your garden! Hope you enjoyed them :)
lizzybob
March 22, 2012 at 10:44 pmThis is awesome! Loved it!
lizzybob
March 28, 2012 at 6:05 pmThe photo caught my eye and I knew your peppers would be good. I was wrong – they are the bomb! Have shared your recipe with some of my friends and they’ve commented on how great they are too. Thanks so much for sharing your recipe.
Sonja
March 28, 2012 at 8:48 pmOh, so glad you enjoyed them!
Zoomcat
April 8, 2012 at 5:44 pmThese were outstanding! I actually used quinoa instead of rice, and we loved it. I peeled off the most blackened blisters on the pepper skins, but I think next time I might not skin them at all. Definitely a keeper recipe — my husband and I are drawing straws to see who gets to take the leftovers for lunch tomorrow :)
Sabrina
April 19, 2012 at 10:51 amthese look absolutely amazing. Quick question, I’m in the UK and poblanos are very difficult to get a hold of. What would you recommend as an alternative? Other than bell peppers. Any advice is much appreciated.
.)
Alex
April 19, 2012 at 11:45 amI’m not really sure! Poblanos are very similar to bell peppers — they just have a little bit of spice to them. Any pepper that is large enough to stuff would work!
kellypea
May 1, 2012 at 2:58 pmMmm…love stuffed poblanos — or any roasted chili for that matter. This recipe sounds perfect.
Dana
June 18, 2012 at 7:57 pmThese were delicious!! As a college student home for the summer and looking for new adventures to try, I’m going to be revisiting your blog quite often. I even decided I want to grow some herbs after watching your awesome video. Thanks!
Alex
June 18, 2012 at 7:58 pmSo glad you enjoyed them. You should definitely grow some herbs! They make everything taste better :)
Joyce Owens
October 6, 2012 at 11:04 pmHad to convince my husband to try this. I grow Anaheim Peppers that he is making Chile Rellenos out of. But, I also have a new business, Joyous Herbs out of Elgin, AZ & I have been begging him to use the Poblanos that I grow. Thanks for your recipe. I will use it with my fresh herbs, basil & Asian cilantro.
Sonja
January 9, 2013 at 11:12 pmThat sounds delicious! How did the herb filling work out?
Martin V
November 21, 2012 at 6:58 pmThanks to Michael Natkin at Herbivoracious.com I just discovered the ancient wheat called Farro. Would be a great stuffing alternative to rice or quinoa.
Julia
January 6, 2013 at 2:55 amLove, love love this recipe! I adapted it to suit our low carb diet and used lean ground beef for the brown rice. It was delicious!!
Tender, spicy but not harsh and very easy to make!
Being empty nesters now we love to cook together and for each other and have the time and money (finally) to enjoy experimenting! Your blog is an inspiration keep up the good work!
Sonja
January 9, 2013 at 11:14 pmSo glad you enjoyed it! It’s fun to hear about your new found time for experimenting in the kitchen — let us know if you try anything else from this site, or have any ideas on recipes you’d like to see!
Lisa
January 12, 2013 at 6:38 pmSimply delicious! I am new to eating healthy, but I can tell that my body craves whole foods. I found your recipe and website via the Internet. Now, I think I am hooked. So many of your recipes appear to be the types of things that I’d like to be eating. Thank you for doing such an exquisite job of making your website and the fare offered here an experience.
Alex
January 13, 2013 at 1:35 pmYou’re welcome! Hopefully you get a chance to try out some more of our recipes. Glad you enjoyed!
Sonja
January 13, 2013 at 8:45 pmWhy, thank you! We just made a recipe similar to this one, but with squash — if you were interested in this one, you might like it as well! We’ll post it in the next week or two. I love that you are in tune with your body’s craving whole and natural foods — that is wonderful! That started for us too within the first few months of changing our diet. We hope you find it just as satisfying and delicious!
Kayla
April 5, 2013 at 9:39 pmI made this tonight and it was delicious! Thanks!
Sonja
April 5, 2013 at 9:40 pmSo glad you enjoyed them, Kayla! Thanks for writing!
Gail
June 10, 2013 at 7:21 pmI made the recipe exactly as written. The filling was delicious! My only comment is that your poblanos must have been HUGE to use all this filling. I started with four as the recipe stated, then added two more, and still I had more than half the filling left over. Not a huge problem, as I can use it to stuff bell peppers some other night. But I’m just wondering: was that a mistake?
Sonja
June 10, 2013 at 7:44 pmInteresting! I believe we did have some extra filling left over when we made them, but not to the amount you described here. Perhaps we filled them more than you may have? I guess I’ll have to defer to other commenters — anyone else have this issue?
Gail
June 25, 2013 at 4:49 pmI grew my own poblanos, so admittedly they may not have been as gigantic as the ones in the store that come from Mexico. As I said, not really a problem. I froze the remainder and I’m using it to stuff green bell peppers (also home grown) for dinner tonite. I’ve never had this bounty of peppers before (also grew jalapeños) and it’s been a challenge to find recipes for them!
Ed
September 6, 2013 at 7:00 pmPretty good stuff! Would recommend.
Amanda Jones
October 6, 2013 at 11:35 am:) SO Making this RIGHT NOW!
Lisa Fetty
March 26, 2014 at 5:47 pmI’m using refried beans instead of black!
Barbie
June 2, 2014 at 10:32 pmThis was delicious. And so simple! Please post the nutritional information!
Alex
August 23, 2014 at 2:39 pmHi! Any time you are interested in the info about one of our recipes, you can just copy and paste the ingredient list and number of servings into the calculator on this website: http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php.
kim evans
June 21, 2014 at 7:01 pmyum
Jess
September 4, 2014 at 12:24 pmDelish as always. Love the idea of broiling the peppers to speed up the process.
Instead of using the microwave, I sauteed a white onion, then added a clove of garlic + a tiny poblano (that I didn’t have another use for) and a jalapeno. Then I added the beans, corn, and spices. Mixed with the rice and added cheese and salsa. Yummmmmmm
Anna @ UTHFA
October 24, 2016 at 10:40 pmFollowed the recipe to the T and it was a success! Everyone loved it, but unfortunately there are no leftovers. Will definitely make this again and again. Thanks for sharing!
Joanna
February 17, 2017 at 10:59 pmThank you Thank you Thank you for NOT peeling the peppers! I made a similar dish by broiling the halved peppers on both sides for 5-6 minutes, then stuffing them with refried beans, chopped kumato tomatoes, and cubed pepper jack. I baked them at 350 for 15 minutes–at which time the jack cheese had melted. I then put the oven back on broil–and let the cheese turn golden brown (3 minutes, maybe). Once the peppers cooled on a platter for 5 minutes they were still firm enough to use as a finger food for my little party–and were a huge success!
I’m making your recipe next!
kirsten
June 19, 2017 at 6:52 pmI’m looking for a fun camping main course. Curious…do you think it would work to individually wrap the stuffed peppers and warm/bake them over the fire? Also, what do you think about adding butternut squash?
Sonja
June 21, 2017 at 2:32 pmVery interesting idea! I think this is a possibility — but I’ve never tried it myself so can’t fully endorse it. I think adding butternut squash could work, but it would have to be chopped and pre-roasted — were you thinking of adding it into the rice in chunks?
Suzanne
September 24, 2017 at 12:09 pmAt what temperature did you broil the poblano peppers at?
Sonja
September 25, 2017 at 2:27 pmBroil on high! I’ve updated the recipe.