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Mexican-style Overstuffed Peppers

Heavily stuffed bell peppers filled with seasoned ground beef, onions, chilies, corn, cornmeal, tomato sauce, and cheddar cheese.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Tomato and cumin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,272 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

Mexican-style Overstuffed Peppers

Oven375°F
Time35 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.

  2. Heat a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot.

  3. Cook beef until browned.

  4. Remove skillet from heat and drain beef on paper towels.

  5. Return beef to skillet.

  6. Add onion, chilies, corn, cornmeal, ¼ cup tomato sauce, cumin and salt. Mix well.

Stuff and bake

  1. Arrange peppers, cut side up, in a 12 x 8-inch baking pan.

  2. Spoon equal amounts of the beef mixture into each pepper half.

  3. Spoon remaining ¼ cup tomato sauce evenly over each pepper half. Pepper halves will be very full.

  4. Bake, uncovered, 35 minutes or until peppers are tender.

  5. Sprinkle each pepper half with equal amounts of the cheese (cheese does not have to melt).

Serve or freeze

  1. Serve immediately or cool and freeze.

  2. To freeze, place each pepper half in 1-quart freezer resealable plastic food storage bags. Release any excess air from bags and seal. Freeze bags flat for easier storage and faster thawing.

  3. To reheat, open the food storage bag and place on a microwave-safe plate. Cook on high for 3 to 3½ minutes or until hot. Remove from bag and place on plate.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

545Calories
40 gProtein
26 gFat
39 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Cheddar Cheese1 oz (28g)113
Corn1/2 cup kernels (82g)77
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Green Bell Pepper1 medium (119g)31
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Cumin1 tsp ground (2.1g)8
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Seednot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Tomato + cumintop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,272 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  2. Onion + cumintop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,498 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Corn + cumintop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together798 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Corn + tomatotop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,099 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Cumin + peppertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together4,382 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Extra-lean ground beef
Provides the savory, meaty body of the filling.
Cornmeal
Absorbs liquid from the filling, helping it hold together and thicken.
Tomato sauce
Adds moisture and acidity, keeping the filling and pepper halves from drying out while baking.
Green bell peppers
Act as the edible shell, softening as they bake until tender.
Reduced-fat sharp cheddar cheese
Adds savory flavor and browning on top of the baked filling.

The step that matters

Filling the pepper halves. The halves are packed very full, so spooning evenly matters. Overfilling one half can spill sauce and leave others dry, and uneven filling bakes unevenly.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, corn, tomato, sauce, cumin, pepper, cheddar cheese):

  1. Capsicumfits better
  2. Potatofits better
  3. Carrotfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, corn, tomato, sauce, cumin, pepper, cheddar cheese. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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