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These Mexican inspired stuffed bell peppers are not only delicious they are vegetarian and gluten-free!  Pre-cooking the pepper halves while preparing the filling really cuts down on the overall time it takes to makes these.  You will have them on the table in a snap.

Red bell peppers are especially sweet and boast larger amounts of vitamins and minerals than other color bell peppers.  They are especially high in Vitamin C & Beta-carotene.

These make a great main course or side dish and re-heat well if you happen to have any left-over.

AND YES!! You can absolutely freeze these stuffed peppers. Peppers freeze and re-heat really well.  They will keep their texture, form and most importantly, their taste!    And, since the filling is vegetarian and we don’t have to worry about raw meat, you have a couple of options:

Option #1. Prepare the recipe all the way through cooking them, leaving off the last sprinkle of cheese on top (save that step for when you are re-heating them).   Let them cool completely.  Wrap each stuffed pepper individually in two layers of plastic wrap (making sure they are completely wrapped and tight to avoid air and freezer burn).  Put them in a freezer safe zip-lock bag.

Option #2.  Pre-cook the pepper shells (as per the recipe), make your filling and stuff the peppers but do not bake them.  Let them cool completely, double wrap in plastic wrap and freeze in a freezer safe zip-lock bag.

Option #3.  Make and freeze just the filling.

Notes:  The individually wrapped peppers will keep for 6 months in the freezer (probably even longer).  You can also freeze them in a freezer safe casserole dish but they won’t keep as long as the individually wrapped ones will.  Plus, wrapping them individually makes it SO convenient to take out just what you need.  Perfect for those of us cooking for just two most of the time.

RE-HEATING:

FROM THAWED:  Thaw in the fridge over-night. Remove all plastic wrap and bake at 350° until heated through.  Sprinkle with your cheese topping at the end.

FROM FROZEN:  Remove all plastic wrap and bake at 350° until heated through.  Sprinkle with your cheese topping at the end.  This will likely take about 30 min. longer than if thawed first.