Sweet Potato–Black Bean Stuffed Peppers

These delicious Sweet Potato-Black Bean Stuffed Peppers are more than just a tasty recipe—they’re an anti-inflammatory–friendly dinner! These colorful bell peppers hold a warm blend of sweet potatoes, beans and brown rice. Sweet potatoes are great for inflammation because they’re loaded with beta carotene, while fiber-rich beans help support gut health. Keep reading for our top tips, tricks and creative variations to help you whip up these stuffed peppers for dinner tonight!

Tips from the EatingWell Test Kitchen

These are the key tips we learned while developing and testing this recipe in our Test Kitchen to make sure it works, tastes great and is good for you too! 

• Make sure the peppers are all about the same size so that they cook evenly and hold the same amount of filling. They should be on the smaller side, about 6 ounces each. If your peppers are large, you may not have enough filling to stuff the peppers fully.
• The baking pan should be full to help keep the peppers upright. If they’re tipping over in the pan, use a smaller pan or keep them upright with a small piece of balled-up foil as support.
• We like the fun and festive look of different-colored peppers, but all one color will work too! Red, orange and yellow peppers tend to be sweeter than green peppers, but all will work well.

Nutrition Notes

• Sweet potatoes may be best known for their inflammation-fighting vitamin A. But they’re also loaded with soluble fiber, which keeps your heart healthy by sweeping cholesterol out of your body. 
• Black beans contain a unique fiber called resistant starch that travels to your gut to produce compounds that vanquish inflammation body-wide. Did we mention they’re also rich in heart-healthy plant protein?
• Bell peppers are more than just the colorful serving vessel in this recipe. These vitamin C powerhouses may also fight illness and infection. One bell pepper packs three times as much immune-enhancing vitamin C as an orange!