Stuffed Anaheim Peppers with ground beef and cheese are a Mexican flavoured dish with just a little hint of heat.
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About Anaheim Peppers
Anaheim Peppers are a large, mild chile pepper with a low heat level that's tolerable for most people, even when eaten raw. And yes, these peppers get their name from the city of Anaheim, California, where they were first grown commercially.
However, Anaheim peppers actually originated in New Mexico, where they are a little hotter and are called Hatch peppers, after a city in that state.
The canned, green chiles that you can buy are usually Anaheims.
Stuffing Peppers
Peppers are the perfect stuffing vessel for any type of food for a few reasons. First, you can find stuffed peppers in almost all cuisines and diets. Secondly, there's really no limit to what you can stuff a pepper with. They're perfect for meat, chicken, cheese, grains, seafood, as well as any kind of veggie. And lastly, although they are delicious in their raw, fresh state, peppers hold up well to all kinds of cooking methods. They can be baked, roasted, grilled or cooked in a slow cooker.
I love to stuff peppers. For instance, check out a few of my favourites (besides these stuffed Anaheim peppers: Moroccan Chicken Stuffed Peppers, or these Sausage Stuffed Mini Peppers.
Pepper Nutrition
Because we consume most hot peppers as seasonings, we don't usually eat enough of them for any real nutritional benefit. The larger chile peppers, however, such as Anaheims, and Poblano peppers, have the same nutritional benefits as sweet peppers. Therefore, they are very high in Vitamin C, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin E, Folate, antioxidants, and fibre.
Fun Facts About Chile Peppers
- All peppers start out green, and many have several colour changes as they ripen, from green to yellow, to red, and some even to purple or black.
- The seeds are not the hottest part of the pepper. The part with the highest concentration of capsaicin (heat) is the white membrane which attaches the seeds to the fruit.
- Birds are immune to chile pepper's heat. So they can happily eat and spread the seeds.
- November is National Pepper Month
- The Scoville Index is a scale for measuring the amount of heat for different chile peppers. It goes from 0 to 15,000,000,000. Bell peppers are zero, and Habaneros are 150,000 on the scale. Can you imagine the heat level of the peppers above the Habanero? Hint: they have names like "Trinidad Scorpion" and "Carolina Reaper" Check it out here: Peppers ranked by scoville heat units.
Recipe
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Stuffed Anaheim Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 Anaheim peppers halved lengthwise, cored and seeded
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- ½ cup chunky salsa mild
- 2 tablespoon chilli powder mild
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup cheddar cheese grated
- cilantro or parsley chopped
- lime wedges for serving
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, or, lightly spray with cooking spray. Arrange pepper halves, cut side up, on baking sheet.
- In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat.
- Add onion and garlic, and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add ground beef and brown, stirring until no longer pink.
- Stir in salsa, chilli powder, cumin, salt, and pepper, combining well.
- Fill each pepper half with the meat mixture, dividing evenly.
- Distribute cheese evenly over each pepper.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, or until peppers are softened
- Garnish with cilantro or parsley and serve with lime wedges
Notes
Nutrition
Barbara
Delicious! I charred the peppers over an open flame on my gas stove, scraped the seeds out and then followed the recipe instructions.
Colleen
Hi Barbara! Thanks so much for sharing this. Charring the peppers is perfect if you have a gas stove, so this is helpful to everyone. We love this recipe and I'm happy that you did, too.
Howie Feltersnatch
The Scoville scale tops out at 16 million, not 15 billion.
Clara
While these are very good tasting leaving the skins on the peppers isn't. It doesn't cook soft like bell peppers and you end up having to scrape the inside out of the pepper or try to eat the tough skin.
Colleen
Hi Clara, I'm sorry that you had that experience with this recipe. It's one that many readers love and one that I make often, and haven't ever had this problem. I'm wondering if you had peppers that were unusably thick skinned? Also, oven temperatures can vary and aren't always accurate. You may have needed to bake them longer. Thanks for your feedback.
Shelly
What about Grilling the pepper to charbroil the skin like one does with Pablano's.
Colleen
Hi Shelly, you could definitely do char the peppers by grilling them first or putting them under the broiler.
Jim Kaku
results......yummy!!!
Colleen
So great to hear this, Jim! Thanks for taking the time to comment.
Amanda
Just made these tonight. Followed recipe exactly and was delicious. Will definitely make them again! Thanks for sharing!
Colleen
You're welcome, Amanda! I'm glad to hear that you loved these stuffed peppers. Thanks for your feedback!
Monica
This recipe is delish! Thanks for sharing, it has become a staple at our house. 🙂
Colleen
Hi Monica, I'm so happy to hear this! And I really appreciate you coming by to leave your feedback. Enjoy those stuffed peppers!
Susan
Can these be frozen? If so cooked or uncooked?
Colleen
Hi Susan, thanks for this question. Yes, stuffed peppers are perfect for freezing. I recommend cooking them first to be on the safe side, and the cooked peppers make a convenient quick meal. Enjoy!
Josie
I filled w/ham, spinach, and cheese. So good. Yumm.
Colleen
Your variation sounds delicious, Josie! We look forward to trying it. Thanks for sharing.
Lori
Substituted corn, chopped black olives and 1 can organic mixed black, pinto, kidney beans in place of meat, chopping slightly while cooking. It was wonderful!
Colleen
Hi Lori, This sounds like an absolutely delicious vegetarian version of this recipe. Thanks so much for sharing!
Bear Graves
A fiesta of flavor (sorry) in a recipe that is ridiculously easy to make. I added a few chopped Serrano out of my garden (the Anaheim peppers were from the garden as well) for a bit more kick.
Cook fearlessly
Colleen
Bear, I'm super happy that you loved it! Thanks for letting me know.