Inside: An easier version of taco stuffed peppers with fewer steps AND pantry, freezer and fridge stable ingredients you can always keep on hand (so you don’t grab take out, instead).

The more dinners I cook, the more I long for EASY. I want recipes with a handful of ingredients that don’t require a bajillion extra steps.

Although for Damn Delicious’s copycat Starbucks pumpkin scones, I’m willing to cope with more than ten ingredients. They’re just so “damn delicious”.

A couple years ago, I discovered a Mexican-style stuffed peppers recipe that we enjoyed…but there were too many extra steps.

I would always forget to tenderize the meat before I roasted the peppers (or my meat wasn’t defrosted enough to tenderize). One million steps later, dinner would be ready.

So I set out to make my own version of taco stuffed peppers that was somewhat simpler, made up of pantry, freezer and fridge foods that can handle hanging out for a couple weeks or more.

Here’s what I came up with.

Taco Stuffed Peppers

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We’re always looking for ways to use more peppers, since they are oh, so cheap at Costco. We also grab Costco’s individually packaged ground turkey and grass fed ground beef for even more “easy”.

Next time I make this dish, I am planning to use ground turkey. I’m thinking it will make it less heavy and more of a regular dinner option.

Final important note: the flavor of this dish will noticeably change based on the brand of salsa or taco seasoning you use, so if you love substitutions, beware, I guess?

Ingredients include in no particular order…

Ground Beef or Ground Turkey

I made this with ground beef, but next time, I’m going to try ground turkey, instead.

For either ground beef or turkey, you’ll want to use a 1.3(ish) pound package.

drained and rinsed pinto beans in light blue colander.

Black or Pinto Beans

I used one can of pinto beans, drained and rinsed, but black beans would also be great!

You’ll want to simmer the entire mixture with the lid of the skillet on for at least 10 minutes to give the beans time to cook.

halved orange, red and yellow peppers on cutting board.

Bell Peppers

We get a big bag of six bell peppers with red, yellow and orange peppers every single Costco trip.

You could try it with green peppers. It would definitely counter the strength of the salsa.

Jarred Salsa

Normally, I advocate for fresh salsa, but in this case, jarred salsa is what makes this dish easy – it’s made with foods that can be kept in the pantry or in the freezer or fridge for a couple weeks.

I also think the taste would be significantly different with fresh salsa. If you try it with fresh salsa, let me know how it turned out?

filling for stuffed peppers cooking on stovetop with yellow and white striped dish towel in background.

Taco Seasoning

I used El Paso, but you could substitute your favorite seasoning.

I wouldn’t increase the seasoning amount, but you could always decrease it.

Mexican Cheese

I used pre-shredded Mexican cheese because again, “easy”.

But in the future, I might test out shredding block cheese – Monterey Jack or Colby Jack or Extra Sharp Cheddar.

PHEW. Okay, with all of the clarification and exceptions out of the way, here’s the recipe.