Taco Stuffed Mini Peppers are the perfect low carb snack, appetizer or light meal! This healthy recipe takes just 30 minutes to make and is the perfect finger food!
We are gearing up for Cinco de Mayo here and I am excited to share this recipe with you today! It’s not only delicious but its healthy and low carb too! Oh, and a good amount of cheese makes these an absolute hit with the whole family! Take it from me- if my pepper-hating husband will eat them, they must be good!
This recipe uses sweet mini peppers as its base. They are the perfect vessel for taco seasoned beef! They’re so easy to eat with your hands (who doesn’t love finger food?) and their size makes them perfect as a healthy snack or light meal.
I used sweet mini peppers to make these Taco Stuffed Mini Peppers which makes them pretty friendly for kiddos and spice-sensitive peeps alike. I am definitely not one to handle much spice in my foods, so these are perfect for me! If spice is your thing, you can add some in by using a hot salsa or adding more spice to your seasoned taco meat!
How to make Taco Stuffed Mini Peppers
Did I mention how easy these are to make? No? Well they sure are! To make this recipe, you will need:
- 1 lb sweet mini peppers
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 3 tablespoons salsa
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, shredded
- cilantro or green onion, to garnish
Optional to serve
- sour cream
- extra salsa
Directions
First, slice the sweet mini peppers in half, lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. with the cut side facing up.
Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Heat a skillet and add the ground beef. Brown the beef, stirring and breaking up the pieces until it is cooked. Once it is cooked through, sprinkle it with the taco seasoning and add the salsa. Stir to coat it evenly. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed [some taco seasonings include salt so be sure to taste and use only if needed].
Add 1/2 cup of shredded cheese to the ground beef and stir. Scoop the mixture into the sliced mini peppers.
Top them with the remaining shredded cheese.
Bake them for 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Sprinkle with cilantro and/or green onion. Serve with sour cream and extra salsa (optional).
Easy peasy and so delicious!
Tips for making Taco Stuffed Mini Peppers
This snack is super easy to make but there are a few things you can do to:
- a) make these even easier and quicker to put together on the day you serve them
- b) adjust the seasonings to suit your taste and
- c) make these even lighter and healthier
Quicker prep time/cook time
While this recipe only takes 30 minutes from start to finish (and that time is being generous I think), if you are planning to serve these at a get-together, there are a few options that you can do to make it even easier and quicker on the day of the event. You can:
- pre-cook the ground beef and so it is ready to go!
- use pre-shredded cheese so you don’t have to grate it yourself! or
- assemble the mini peppers completely the day before or earlier that day. Just refrigerate them until you are ready to heat them. Because the meat is already cooked, all you have to do is heat them in the oven at 350F until the cheese is all melty and they are heated through!
Switch things up to suit your taste!
While I love these just as they are, I totally get that many of you may want some more spice. You can add more spice to this recipe by adding in a smidge of cayenne pepper to the ground beef mixture or opting for a spicy salsa. You can also add some jalapeno!
Adding more veggies to this dish is another option! Diced tomatoes are awesome in this and can be added to the ground beef mixture! Corn is another good choice!
Making these already healthy bites even healthier!
While these are already pretty healthy and low carb, there are a few things you can do to make them healthier!
As mentioned above, you can add more veggies to the ground beef mixture like diced tomatoes and corn. You can also add more protein by adding black beans!
Finally, opt for a leaner ground beef or swap in ground turkey instead!
I hope you enjoy these bite sized delights!
-Cathy
You may also like:
Chili Lime Shrimp Tacos with Mexican Street Corn Salsa
Queso Blanco Dip
Baked Chicken Taquitos
Healthy Tuna Melt Stuffed Peppers Recipe
Taco Stuffed Mini Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 lb sweet mini peppers
- 1 lb ground beef
- 2 tablespoons taco seasoning
- 3 tablespoons salsa
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar or Monterey jack cheese, shredded
- cilantro or green onion, to garnish
Optional to serve
- sour cream
- extra salsa
Instructions
- Slice the sweet mini peppers in half, lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. with the cut side facing up.
- Preheat oven to 350F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Heat a skillet and add the ground beef. Brown the beef, stirring and breaking up the pieces until it is cooked. Once it is cooked through, sprinkle it with the taco seasoning and add the salsa. Stir to coat it evenly. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed [some taco seasonings include salt so be sure to taste and use only if needed].
- Add 1/2 cup of shredded cheese to the ground beef and stir. Scoop the mixture into the sliced mini peppers.
- Top them with the remaining shredded cheese and bake them for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
- Sprinkle with cilantro and/or green onion. Serve with sour cream and extra salsa (optional).
Note: Metric ingredient measurements are provided as a courtesy using a third-party calculator and are rounded to the nearest unit. The recipes provided on this site have not been tested with metric measurements and their accuracy cannot be verified.
Nutrition
The nutritional information provided is based on third-party calculations and is an estimate only. Accurate nutritional facts will vary based on the particular brands used, portion sizes, measurement accuracy and more.
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Why does it say “Cook time” 20min and in the actual recipe it says 10 min ? Which one is it ?
Hi Carol. The cook time is 20 minutes. While you bake the stuffed peppers for 10 minutes, in step 3 you need to cook the taco meat. That is why the cook time is 20 minutes total to account for both of these cooking steps.