Mexican Stuffed Peppers | Vegan

This is a paid collaboration with Bute Island Foods.

I'm a sucker for Mexican food. I could eat fajitas, burritos, tacos, enchiladas, nachos etc every day, no joke. So, taking a bit of inspiration from some of my favourite foods, I thought it would be a great idea to put my own little spin on classic stuffed peppers, rather than using beef, I used rice and beans, but with a fajita flavour! It worked so well and I'll definitely be making these vegan stuffed peppers all the time from now on as even my non vegan family love them too!

I've worked with Bute Island Foods in the past and I'm honoured to be working with them again. Their vegan cheese is seriously next level, it melts so perfectly and they have a huge range of products to choose from. This recipe calls for their mature chedder shreds, but their mature / mild cheddar block would work also!

This recipe is nice and easy and doesn't take too much preparation before letting the peppers do their thing for 20 minutes while you sit back and relax.

Check out some of my other cheeeeesy recipes:
- Simple Vegan Mac & Cheese
- Easy Vegan Nachos
- Spicy Mediterranean Vegetable Pizza

- VEGAN MEXICAN STUFFED PEPPERS - 

Serves: 6    Prep Time: 10 mins    Cook Time: 40 minutes

You will need:

- 6 large bell peppers (any colour, but I used red and yellow)
- 1 1/2 cups of white rice
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 small onions, diced
- 1 tin of mixed Mexican beans (or just black beans), drained and rinsed
- 1/2 tin or 1/2 cup of chopped tomatoes
- 1 sachet / 4 tbsp of fajita seasoning
- 1/2 cup Bute Island Mature Cheddar Shreds
- 1 tsp chopped parsley for garnish

Method - 

1. Preheat the oven to 200C.

2. Prepare the bell peppers by cutting off the tops and scooping out the remaining seeds inside. Stand them in a large dish and place them in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes while you begin cooking the rice.

3. Cook the rice as the packet suggests. I added 1 1/2 cups of white rice to a large saucepan and poured in enough boiling water to only just cover the rice. Use a fork / wooden spoon to stir the rice so it doesn't stick before placing on the hob on low - medium heat. Cook until all the water has absorbed, this should take 10 - 15 minutes.

4. Once the rice has finished cooking, grab a large pan / wok and pour in 1 tbsp of olive oil. Throw in the diced onion and cook for 2 - 3 minutes, allowing the onions to become fragrant before adding all of the mixed Mexican beans / black beans. Cook for a further 4 - 5 minutes. Sprinkle 2 tbsp worth of the fajita seasoning onto the beans and onions and stir until everything is coated.

5. Add the chopped tomatoes to the pan with the beans and onions and stir. In the same pan, add the cooked rice and the remaining 2 tbsp of fajita seasoning. Stir well until everything is combined, cooking on medium heat for a further 3 minutes until everything has warmed up enough.

6. Remove the peppers from the oven. If you notice that the peppers have a little bit of water in the bottom (from the moisture of the peppers), pour it out of each one before placing them back in the dish. Scoop out the rice and bean mix and fill up each bell pepper.

7. Grab your Bute Island grated mature cheddar and sprinkle a generous amount on the top of each pepper, this will probably be equivalent to 1/2 cup, but feel free to use more if you want them extra cheesy!

8. Place the peppers back in the oven for a further 20 - 25 minutes so that the cheese melts and the peppers become a bit softer.

9. Once the peppers have finished cooking, remove from the oven and finally garnish with a little bit of fresh chopped parsley!

A lot of people believe that vegan cheese never melts, but I can promise you, Bute Island's entire range melts like a dream and is so yummy! I can't wait to try out so many more recipes using their products as they are by far one of my favourite vegan cheese brands out there.

What's your favourite vegan cheese?

Love Always,

Shannon x