low carb mexican stuffed peppers

Why We Love These Healthy Stuffed Mexican Peppers

We love how fast this 20-minute recipe is for busy weeknight dinners. It is such a breeze to make them! Simply sautee the vegetables and meat to make the filling.

If you are following a low carb or Keto diet, then you will be so psyched that one of these has only 5 grams net carbs!

The peppers are cooked in the microwave which makes this super fast! And what is not to love with melted cheese on top! Serve with our Simple Skillet Green Beans or Mashed Cauliflower for a low carb meal the whole family will love.

Ingredients For This Recipe

• 3 large bell peppers
• 2 teaspoons coconut oil or avocado oil
• 1 pound grass fed beef
• 1 cup chopped red onion
• 1 cup chopped white or crimini mushrooms
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon ground chipotle chili
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ cup canned tomato puree
• 4 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• chopped fresh cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)

Step One: Cut and Par Cook The Peppers

Cut the bell peppers in half right through the stem. This will give you two even sides that lay flat. They’re perfect for filling! Next using a kitchen spoon and paring knife, scoop out the core, seeds and ribs from the inside of the pepper. Leave the stem intact though so the filling won’t fall out the sides! 

Indeed they can be cooked in only 20 minutes and it’s not magic, I just used the microwave! This gives them a head start. That way, they will already be par-cooked when you fill them and top them with cheese they only need another minute or so to melt the cheese. I used this same technique for my Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers and it worked like a charm! 

I don’t know if you’ve ever had a stuffed pepper and wondered why the pepper was undercooked, but the reason is that they probably skipped this step of pre-cooking the pepper!

• Microwave: Take the peppers halves and set them in a microwave safe baking dish. Place them cut side down so they cook evenly. Add some water so they will steam. (PHOTO 1)
• Cover: To microwave veggies and trap the steam use plastic wrap, but make sure to put a layer of parchment (or wax paper works in a pinch) over the food so the plastic doesn’t touch the food.
• Precook The peppers: Microwave the peppers until they’re tender. Note the times in this recipe are based on a 1200 watt microwave, so you’ll need to adjust depending on the model you have. 

Step 2: Brown The Beef:

The filling is made with ground beef, in a style that resembles taco meat. To cook it, just heat some oil in a large heavy skillet and add the beef. Break it up in the skillet as it browns the same way you would for chili or American Chop Suey.

Step 3: Onions and Mushrooms for Bulk:

Next, add in onions for flavor and finely chopped mushrooms to add more bulk to the servings but very little calories or carbs.

Step 4: Bloom the Spices:

Once the veggies are softened, add in the spices to bloom them in the hot pan. They’ll smell amazing!!

Step 5: Make it Saucy:

Then just add tomato puree to make them saucy!

• Top with cheddar cheese: I like to use sharp cheddar cheese because it has the strongest cheesy flavor, so you get the most cheesy flavor per serving! 

• Without covering them again (which would stick to the cheese) pop the dish back into the microwave and microwave them until they are nice and soft and the cheese is completely melted. This takes about two or three minutes! 
• Note, they’ll be really hot when they come out of the microwave, so let them sit for a moment so you don’t burn your mouth. (You can browse on Zappos while you wait. I won’t judge.) 

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