Taco 'bout a healthy dinner! If you're craving tacos but want to lighten it up a bit, this Taco Stuffed Peppers recipe is for you. It's packed with veggies, low carb, and more than satisfies that taco craving. The peppers are turned into little boats of big deliciousness stuffed with a flavorful, meaty, cheesy filling. Top it off with quick and fresh guac and pico and you've got yourself a healthy feast. It's everything you love about tacos in a little roasted pepper package. You can easily substitute the beef for chicken or turkey. If you're vegetarian or vegan swap out the meat for just rice and beans. Get creative by adding corn, olives - whatever you like on your tacos. A great weeknight dinner option that's ready in just about 30 minutes and guaranteed to please everyone!
How to Make Great Stuffed Peppers
The key to this recipe (and really any stuffed pepper recipe) is baking the peppers just a little bit before you fill them. Bell peppers have a high water content pre baking them ensures that your filling doesn't come out watery. When you bake them you will notice a little pool of water that accumulates in the center. Dump that out before you stuff the peppers for the best result. Have fun with this recipe and don't worry too much about precision here. Mix and match the ingredients to your liking. Throw some jalapeños or cilantro in there. I promise you can't mess this combination of ingredients up!
This recipe makes enough filling to stuff about 4 large peppers but easily doubles for a bigger crowd. If you're cooking for two, like I usually am, I use two large peppers and save the leftover filling for nachos, quesadillas, taco salad...or just eat it with a spoon ; )
Join me in my kitchen for a full recipe demo!
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Taco Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 4 large bell peppers any color you like
- 1 lb ground beef
- ½ onion
- 2 cloves minced garlic
- 2 tbsp taco seasoning
- 1 can black beans rinsed and drained
- 1 cup shredded cheese
For the quick and easy guacamole and pico de gallo
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro
- 2 to matoes
- 1 jalapeño diced
- ½ onion the other half leftover from the filling
- juice of 1 lime
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut bell peppers in half lengthwise and carefully remove seeds and stem. Place peppers like little boats on baking sheet with the well facing up and bake for 10 minutes. This will get the excess water out of your peppers so your taco filling will not be watery.
- While your peppers are in the oven, prep the rest of your veggies, dice up a whole onion and set aside half for the quick pico and guac and half for your filling. Mince garlic, dice tomatoes, jalapeño and cilantro. Remove peppers from the oven and carefully empty any water that has pooled in the bottom. Let stand while you prepare the filling as you might have a bit more water as they cool down.
- Heat up a large skillet on medium high heat with oil and add in half of diced onion. Cook for a few minutes until the onions are translucent and then add in the minced garlic. Stir for about a minute until the garlic becomes fragrant but be careful not to let it burn. Add a pinch of salt to the onions and garlic. Add in ground beef and break it up into crumbles with a wooden spoon until it's evenly browned.
- Once the meat is brown, add in taco seasoning and just a few tablespoons of water. The water will help evenly distribute the seasoning and make it simmer a bit so the meat soaks up all of that goodness. Simmer for about 5 minutes and then turn off the heat and let stand.
- Prep your quick and easy guac and pico de gallo. Open the avocado and mash in a bowl, and stir in 2 tablespoons or so of the diced tomato and onion, cilantro, jalapeño, juice of half a lime and a few pinches of salt. To the diced tomatoes, stir in a handful of the diced onion, a tablespoon (or two) of chopped cilantro and jalapeño to taste, juice of half a lime and a few pinches of salt. Adjust the seasonings to your liking.
- Transfer taco meat to a large bowl then stir in black beans and ¾ of the shredded cheese. Spoon heaping amounts of the filling into the baked and emptied peppers and return to the baking sheet. Top with remaining cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes or so until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
- Top with guac and pico, sour cream, crumbled tortilla chips and enjoy!
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