Isn’t dinner just better when served in a pepper? These Keto Taco Stuffed Peppers are a meaty, cheesy, and flavorful dish that brings the taste of tacos to a healthy and hearty meal. This recipe is keto-friendly, gluten-free, and low in carbs, making it a perfect option for those watching their carbohydrate intake. Mexican Stuffed Peppers taste just like a crunchy taco, but are super healthy and hearty.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
There are many reasons to fall in love with this keto stuffed bell peppers recipe:
- Simple and Delicious: This Keto Stuffed Peppers recipe is simple, delicious, and keto-friendly.
- Keto-Friendly: One of the biggest reasons to love these stuffed peppers without rice is its simple keto-friendly recipe but still insanely delicious.
- Flavorful: No matter how healthy a recipe is, it should also have a ton of flavor and texture. Mexican seasoning gives this dish incredible flavor! The bell peppers, beef/riced cauliflower mixture, and taco seasoning have a rich, savory flavor. We loved the bold, hearty flavor the keto taco seasoning added.
- Customizable: This recipe can easily be customized to your liking with your choice of colorful peppers and taco toppings.
- Quick to Prepare: Start-to-finish keto stuffed bell peppers take less than an hour to prepare. It is such a breeze to make them! Simply sautee the vegetables and meat to make the filling.
- Family-Friendly: This Keto Stuffed Peppers recipe will become a family favorite in your home! Enjoy this low carb stuffed peppers recipe for any family-friendly dinner. These taco stuffed peppers are an absolutely delicious weeknight dinner the whole family will love.
- Make-Ahead Friendly: Another perfect make-ahead stuffed pepper recipe. Make them ahead and let them sit in the fridge, ready for baking a few days later. You can also make them ahead of time and grab one to reheat for lunch.
Ingredients You'll Need
Here's what you'll need to make these delicious keto taco stuffed peppers:
- Bell Peppers - Any color is fine - green, red, orange, or yellow peppers are all delicious.
- Ground Beef - The base of the taco filling. Don’t want to use ground beef?
- Onion and minced garlic - Add ground beef, chopped onion, and minced garlic to a skillet and cook until ground beef is browned.
- Taco Seasoning Mix - Of course, this is my favorite! 🙂 It's easy to make and much healthier. You can also use 1 store-bought packet for each pound of ground beef.
- Rotel - Adds a zesty tomato flavor.
- Shredded Cheddar Cheese - Fresh grated is best.
- Butter - Add the butter and onions.
- Beef broth - Add one portion of homemade taco seasoning, along with tomato paste and beef broth.
- Tomato paste - Add one portion of homemade taco seasoning, along with tomato paste and beef broth.
- Olive oil - Add the olive oil and heat until it shimmers.
- Cauliflower rice - You could add more, but my kids didn’t notice it was in the ground beef with this amount.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Follow these simple steps to create your own keto Mexican stuffed peppers:
- Prep the Peppers: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (or 350°F). Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and membrane (or horizontally and clean out the inside). Place the pepper halves, cut side up, in a rimmed baking dish (or face up on a greased 9x13 casserole dish). To reduce the baking time, you can boil peppers before stuffing them or steam in the microwave for 5 to 6 minutes. In a baking dish, pop the bell peppers in the microwave for 5 minutes before adding the ground beef mixture to soften the peppers.
- Sauté Aromatics: Set a large skillet over medium heat. Add the butter and onions. Sauté for 2-3 minutes to soften the onions (or Saute the onion for about a minute until soft and fragrant. Add the garlic and sauté another 40 seconds).
- Brown the Beef: Then add in the ground beef. Break the meat apart with a wooden spoon and brown for 4-5 minutes.
- Season the Filling: Mix in the taco seasoning, Rotel, and 1 ¼ cups shredded cheese (or Add the tomatoes and chilis, stir, and bring to a simmer). Stir well.
- Stuff the Peppers: Scoop the meat filling into the empty bell pepper halves. Spoon the taco meat mixture into the peppers to slightly overfill.
- Bake: Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until the peppers are soft. Bake peppers at 350 ° F for 20-30 minutes, or until peppers are heated through and cheese is melted. When the Mexican stuffed peppers are done the cheese on top should be totally melted to ooey-gooey perfection.
- Microwave Version: Cut bell peppers in half horizontally and clean out the inside. Place face up on a greased 9x13 casserole dish and microwave for 5 minutes.
Tips and Variations
- Customize Your Cheese: You can use any cheese that you prefer.
- Add Veggies: Anytime you can add more veggies to a low-carb recipe and make it more healthy, I’m 100% game. I love how this low-carb stuffed peppers recipe has cauliflower as an added veggie. Feel free to play around with the amount you use, as you may enjoy more riced cauliflower.
- Spice It Up: Chopped jalapenos can be added at the same time.
- Lower the Fat: Lower the fat content and use fat-free sour cream, less cheese, and a lower fat ground beef.
- Get Creative with Toppings: Top with your favorite taco toppings such as salsa, sour cream, guacamole, hot sauce, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and sliced olives.
- Cauliflower Rice: The cauliflower rice gives the keto-stuffed peppers the texture and flavor of Mexican rice without all the carbs. Adding salt, pepper, onions, and garlic to the riced cauliflower helps it to taste much better (just being honest here).
- Make it Paleo: These Paleo Taco Stuffed Peppers are super easy to make and packed with goodies! Bell peppers are filled with the best taco meat and topped with vegan cheese, baked, and topped with all your favorites like fresh pico de Gallo, avocado and dairy free sour cream.
Serving Suggestions
These hearty Keto Stuffed Peppers can be enjoyed by themselves, or go great with nearly any side dish.
Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
- Adding a garden salad with an olive oil-based dressing (or your favorite alternative) to the already hearty meal will give you an easy, delicious, well-rounded keto dinner.
- Serve with a side salad topped with avocado dressing.
- Serve with our Simple Skillet Green Beans or Mashed Cauliflower for a low carb meal the whole family will love.
- While these Keto stuffed peppers don’t have any rice in them, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t a great side dish to serve alongside this low carb dish. Riced cauliflower is another fantastic option. Here are some more great side dish recipes that would pair wonderfully with these stuffed peppers.
Storage and Reheating
- Storage: Place cooled leftovers in a container with a lid and keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Let the stuffed peppers cool completely then transfer to an airtight container.
- Reheating: Reheat individual stuffed peppers in the microwave. Place each pepper on a microwave safe plate or bowl. To reheat the leftover stuffed peppers place them on a microwave safe plate and reheat for about 2 minutes. You can reheat your peppers in the oven by covering them with foil and baking at 350° F until warm inside. To reheat them in the oven place them in an ovenproof baking dish and bake loosely covered with foil for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees.
- Freezing: Yes, stuffed peppers can be frozen! Place the peppers in an air-tight freezer safe container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Freeze them individually for the perfect make-ahead lunch or single-serving dinner! My preferred method is to make the recipe first - stuffing and baking the peppers, then freezing them in airtight containers. Thaw and bake until heated through at 350° F. Frozen and defrosted peppers will cook more quickly, closer to 20-25 minutes.
Common Questions
- Should I boil my peppers before stuffing them? To reduce the baking time, you can boil peppers before stuffing them or steam in the microwave for 5 to 6 minutes. Make sure to slice your peppers in half and take the seeds out, per the recipe instructions. Steaming in the microwave because it is quicker and hands-off, which makes my life easier.
- Can you freeze stuffed peppers? You can freeze stuffed peppers. Freeze them individually for the perfect make-ahead lunch or single-serving dinner! My preferred method is to make the recipe first - stuffing and baking the peppers, then freezing them in airtight containers. Thaw and bake until heated through at 350° F.
- How long will stuffed peppers keep in the fridge? Stuffed peppers can be kept in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
- How long can you freeze peppers? Peppers can be frozen for up to 6 months, but I prefer to use stuffed peppers within 3 to 4 months.
- How long do stuffed peppers take to cook? This Mexican stuffed pepper recipe takes anywhere from 20 to 30 minutes to bake, but the bell peppers are steamed in advance to give them a head start. Do this while preparing the filling.
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