Mexican Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed pepper anyone?? This is was an extremely large stuffed pepper, Dave and I found the two largest ones we could find. :)

I didn't realize how much I enjoyed stuffed peppers until I had one at Dave's brother Kelly's house for dinner one evening. Thank you Kelly for introducing me to some delicious food!

 I really love the stuffed peppers I posted about a while ago. I also really enjoyed the Mexican twist in this new stuffed pepper recipe.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

1 lb. ground beef

1 onion, chopped

3 Tbsp. (about 1/2 of 1 1/4 oz. pkg) taco seasoning mix

2 cups water

2 small tomatoes

1 cup instant white rice, uncooked

4 large red or green bell peppers

1/2 cup thick and chunky salsa

1 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, divided

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Brown meat with onions in skillet on medium heat. Stir in taco seasoning mix and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil; simmer on low heat 5 min., stirring occasionally. 

Stir 1 cup of the remaining water into seasoned meat in skillet. Add tomatoes; mix well. Bring to a boil. Stir in rice; cover. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Meanwhile, cut tops off peppers; discard tops and seeds or dice up remaining pepper and throw into meat mixture. Mix salsa and remaining 1/2 cup water in bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Stand peppers in baking dish.

Add 1 cup of cheese to meat mixture; stir. Spoon into peppers; top with remaining cheese. Cover.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes or until peppers are tender. Serve with sauce from baking dish.