Give This Easy Weeknight Dinner A Mexican-Inspired Lift With A Single Ingredient

Stuffed peppers are an amazing meal, whether basic or fancy, making them a major crowd pleaser. In fact, Princess Diana's favorite meal was stuffed peppers. They can be especially fun to experiment with when it comes to fillings and spice combos. However, one easy way to step up your stuffed pepper game has to do with what's on the outside, not inside. By cooking stuffed peppers with enchilada sauce, you'll get a Mexican-inspired dinner that's sumptuous and savory.

For this trick, prep your stuffed peppers like usual. Choose and cook a protein such as ground beef, turkey, or beans and pair it with something like a taco seasoning blend. Add your grains, such as cooked rice, and stir everything in a pan until it's all combined. Cut open and hollow out the bell peppers, then stuff them full. At this point, rather than just putting them in a pan in the oven, fill the bottom of a pan with the enchilada sauce of your choosing. Place the peppers in the sauce so they're partially submerged and cook everything at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes. You can top them with cheese and put them back into the oven until melted if you want to up that enchilada vibe.

What you end up with is basically a lower-carb enchilada alternative. Spoon some sauce over the top of each pepper to serve or place them in bowls so they're still drowning in sauce. You can serve them upright, on their sides, or sliced in half like little boats. You can also substitute poblanos or other peppers for bell peppers to change up the flavor.

Speaking of changing things up, the type of enchilada sauce you pick can really alter dish's flavor profile. Green enchilada sauce tends to use roasted green chilis and tomatillos, so you're likely to get a sharp, bright bite. Red sauce uses dried chilis, which gives it a powerful kick with plenty of savory umami to complement the protein and cheese. Mole is smoky and vaguely sweet which brings out nutty, earthy spices with a subtle heat. If you pick a can and it tastes off to you, don't worry, because there are easy ways to save bitter enchilada sauce. You can even make your own sauce from scratch so you can tweak the flavors to your liking.

Tangy, salty sauce boosts flavor, but it also makes your peppers end up softer and more tender. When cooked in liquid, the flesh of the pepper is effectively boiled, making it easy to slice into when you're done. The longer cooking time mellows pepper flavors and heat as well, letting your filling truly shine.

You can also add enchilada sauce to the filling for extra flavor. Just a few tablespoons is best, but even a whole can will work so long as you add it with the protein and grains while they cook. Enchilada sauce works well with a variety of fillings, absorbing into rice or quinoa easily while giving shredded chicken and beans a boost of flavor. So, don't be afraid to get creative with more unexpected fillings in your next batch of stuffed peppers as long as you finish it all with enchilada sauce.