Slow cooker stuffed peppers with chicken, rice, black beans, corn and southwest seasonings are an easy, hands-off dinner with big flavor!

Six multi colored stuffed peppers in a slow cooker insert after being cooked with some melted cheese on one

Today, I’m excited to be sharing a revamp of these slow cooker stuffed bell peppers.

It’s one of the very early recipes I published here on Family Food on the Table. I’m talking way back, a month into me learning how to publish recipes online. Back before I had told anyone that I even had the site.

The photos were atrocious. (I kept one at the very bottom of this post, under the recipe card, so you can laugh at me.) And I never shared it on social, it just sorta existed on this site.

But it’s actually very delicious so I had to finally show it a little love, dust it off and get it ready to share at last.

Six cooked multi colored stuffed peppers in a slow cooker insert with some melted cheese on some

Cooking stuffed peppers in the crock pot instead of the oven ensures that you get perfectly cooked peppers that are soft and tender all over.

(I’ve made several oven versions where the peppers are still a bit crunchy. Not my favorite.)

And we’ve got a fun southwestern filling for these peppers with rice, chicken, black beans, corn, cheese and just the right mix of seasonings.

It’s all on-hand ingredients and some familiar flavors that combine to create a dinner everyone will cheer for!

They’re cheesy, soft, hearty and so yummy!

Plus, after they are prepped, they go into the slow cooker and you can go about your life. Gotta love that!

(Oh, and you can even prep them ahead. Details on that below so keep reading.)

OK, let’s get to cooking.

A glass bowl with chicken, black beans, corn, rice and seasonings layered in

Six hollowed out bell peppers in a crock pot insert before being stuffed and cooked

2 red, 2 green and 2 orange bell peppers stuffed with a chicken, rice and black bean mixture and placed in a crock pot insert before cooking

Six cooked multi colored southwestern stuffed bell peppers in a slow cooker insert with some melted cheese on some

Now, I’ve got some notes and substitutions coming up below on how to make slow cooker stuffed peppers. Just tryin’ to be helpful.

If you want to jump on down to the recipe, simply scroll right on through the rest of the text. The recipe card is near the bottom of the page, above the comments section.

Ingredient Notes:

Peppers: Feel free to use any color bell pepper you would like, or use a variety like I did here. The red are my favorite because of their sweetness, but any will work. It does help to make sure you get some large, fat peppers that are evenly sized and sit up well on their own.
Rice: Brown or white rice will work fine here. You could even try substituting some quinoa or another grain if you prefer.
Chicken: You need 1 ½ cups of cooked, chopped chicken for the recipe. That can be a rotisserie chicken from the store or some leftover grilled or roasted chicken. It’s also fine to use Instant Pot shredded chicken or crock pot shredded chicken if you have some on hand.
Beans: The recipe calls for black beans, but you could substitute pinto beans if you prefer.
Cheese: White cheddar cheese is our favorite, but you could use regular cheddar or substitute Monterey Jack or a Mexican blend cheese if you prefer.
Spicy: Like it spicy? Feel free to add some cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to the filling mixture. You can also serve these peppers with hot sauce.

Lots of ways to mix and match here, depending on your preferences.

Three stuffed bell peppers on a white plate with melted cheese over the top

Oh, and as I mentioned, you can definitely prep these ahead if needed.

You can prep the peppers - get the tops cut off and the insides cleaned out - and store those in a covered container in the refrigerator. They should be good for a day or two.

You can also mix and prep the filling - cook the rice and combine it with the chicken, beans, corn, cheese and seasonings. That’ll store in the refrigerator for several days too.

And in fact, you can stuff the peppers as well and have them ready to just plop into your slow cooker when you’re ready. Just store them upright in a covered container in the refrigerator. (Or place them on a plate and cover tightly in plastic wrap.)

It can be such a help to have these ready to just stick in the crock pot on a busy day.

OK, let’s get ready to serve these up. I’m getting hungry!

A fork scooping up a cheesy rice mixture from a stuffed pepper on a white plate with a trio of peppers

The southwestern filling mixture for these peppers is flavorful and filling all on its own.

But of course, I’ve just got to give you some ideas for toppings.

Pick and choose your favorites and really take these stuffed peppers over the top!

Topping Ideas:

Extra shredded cheese
Greek yogurt or sour cream
Salsa or pico de gallo
Sliced avocado
Guacamole
Chopped fresh cilantro
Fresh lime juice

A halved crock pot stuffed bell pepper with rice, beans and chicken served on a white plate with toppings nearby

A halved stuffed red bell pepper served on a white plate with avocado, sour cream and cilantro as toppings

Last thing, let’s talk about what to do with any leftovers.

Leftovers will keep, in a covered container, in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days.

As you might imagine though, the stuffed peppers don’t really stand up to reheating as is. After they’ve cooked and cooled, they are soft and will start to sorta slump.

However, all the amazing flavors are still there, just waiting to be heated and revived.

So what I do is just dump the filling out onto my plate or in my bowl, then slice up the pepper and mix it all together. Reheat in the microwave, add your toppings and dig in!

Sure, it’s more of a deconstructed stuffed pepper bowl, but I promise it’s delicious. Makes a great lunch later in the week!

And if you like these flavors and need a super fast dinner, check out this 15-minute southwestern chicken skillet. Easy and so good!

I hope you give these southwestern slow cooker stuffed peppers a try for a fun flavor twist and a family dinner everyone will want to dig into!

Enjoy!

XO,

Kathryn

Close up of a stuffed bell pepper in a crock pot filled with a mixture of chicken, rice, beans and corn and topped with melted white cheddar cheese.

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4.67 from 3 votes

Slow Cooker Stuffed Peppers

Slow cooker stuffed peppers with chicken, rice, black beans, corn and southwest seasonings are an easy, hands-off dinner with big flavor!

Prep Time30

Cook Time3 30

Total Time4 10

Yield: 4 -6 servings

Ingredients

1 cup brown or white rice
6 bell peppers, assorted colors or all one
1 ½ cups diced, cooked chicken breast (rotisserie chicken or grilled/roasted chicken)
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup corn, frozen, thawed or fresh or from a can, drained
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt

Optional toppings:

Shredded cheese, Greek yogurt (or sour cream), salsa, chopped fresh cilantro, sliced avocado, guacamole, fresh lime juice

Instructions

Cook rice according to package directions.
Prep the peppers. Slice the very top off of each of the peppers. Clean out the seeds and ribs from inside the peppers and discard. If yours aren’t standing pretty and upright, also slice a very thin layer off the bottom to get them straight.
In a small bowl, combine the chicken, beans, corn, 1 cup of cheese and the seasonings.
Stuff all of the peppers and place in the insert of the slow cooker. Cook on high for 3-4 hours.
Add the remaining cheese to the top of each pepper then cover the slow cooker and let sit on warm for another 5-7 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
Serve with desired toppings and enjoy!

Notes

Peppers: Feel free to use any color bell pepper you would like, or use a variety like I did here. The red are my favorite because of their sweetness, but any will work. It does help to make sure you get some large, fat peppers that are evenly sized and sit up well on their own.

Rice: Brown or white rice will work fine here. You could even try substituting some quinoa or another grain if you prefer.

Chicken: You need 1 ½ cups of cooked, chopped chicken for the recipe. That can be a rotisserie chicken from the store or some leftover grilled or roasted chicken. It’s also fine to use leftover shredded chicken if you have some on hand.

Beans: The recipe calls for black beans, but you could substitute pinto beans if you prefer.

Cheese: White cheddar cheese is our favorite, but you could use regular cheddar or substitute Monterey Jack or a Mexican blend cheese if you prefer.

Spicy: Like it spicy? Feel free to add some cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes to the filling mixture. You can also serve these peppers with hot sauce.

Make ahead: You can prep the peppers - get the tops cut off and the insides cleaned out - and store those in a covered container in the refrigerator. They should be good for a day or two. You can also mix and prep the filling - cook the rice and combine it with the chicken, beans, corn, cheese and seasonings. That’ll store in the refrigerator for several days too. And in fact, you can stuff the peppers as well and have them ready to just plop into your slow cooker when you’re ready. Store them upright in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Leftovers: Leftovers will keep, in a covered container, in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. The stuffed peppers don’t really stand up to reheating as is (they are soft and will slump over). What I do is dump the filling out onto my plate or in my bowl, then slice up the pepper and mix it all together. Reheat in the microwave, add your toppings and dig in! More like a deconstructed stuffed pepper.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Leave a comment below or follow me on Instagram @familyfoodonthetable and tag me in your photo!

This recipe was originally published in February 2015. It has been updated with new photos, expanded text and a revamped recipe for more deliciousness.

Here is one of the original photos so you can see why this was needed. (Feel free to laugh, it was a horrible picture!)