Quick Taco Stuffed Peppers {Paleo + Keto}
*This recipe is sponsored by Kevin’s Natural Foods. All opinions are my own.
These Quick Taco Stuffed Peppers are inspired by a meal that was going to become part of our Seriously Simple recipe series. Instead, we kicked it up a notch with a special addition from Kevin’s Natural Foods.
Of course we also kept to our promise to provide you with simple real food. Because eating real foods should be easy and fun! There are only 8 ingredients in this entire recipe folks. Yes, 8. How is that for simple?
Check out our Seriously Simple Recipes, all have minimal ingredients + prep
There’s a few other important things to note about this meal, too. Let’s dig in and learn about what makes it unique.
I can’t wait another minute to talk about this gorgeous color (insert all the heart eye emojis). Look at how beautiful and vibrant this meal is. I just love it. Eating the rainbow, and aiming to incorporate every color group at each meal, is one of the simplest ways to boost nutrients. The more color the more unique phytochemicals you benefit from.
Next up, let’s talk about the cooking method. We switched things up with these stuffed peppers. Many families (mine included) stuff the peppers with the filling and bake everything together. While this also works wonderfully, it yields a different result.
When you bake everything together the peppers often stay more firm and don’t cook evenly. The filling can dry out in the oven, and you miss the opportunity to brown the peppers. This provides lots of extra flavor and texture. Plus, cooking the peppers and filling separately speeds things up, and makes for a quicker meal.
Speaking of flavor, because we are using the super flavorful Kevin’s Natural Foods Classic Taco Sauce, we don’t need a lot of other ingredients. The sauce takes some work off our plates (literally), and allows us to enjoy a full-flavored meal with little effort. Now that is my kind of dinner.
Oh, and I can’t let you go before I let you in on a hot tip. This recipe makes wonderful leftovers. The flavor is honestly better on day two, and the peppers get even more tender as they soften overnight. We just started freezing portions of the filling as well, that way can simply roast some peppers and dinner is served in 20 minutes.
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Quick Taco Stuffed Peppers {Paleo + Keto}
Ingredients
- 4 medium bell peppers in a variety of colors
- 1 teaspoon Avocado oil or oil of choice
- Sea salt and pepper to taste
- 16 ounces grass-fed ground beef can also sub turkey or chicken
- 2 tablespoons Avocado oil or oil of choice
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
- 12 ounces fresh riced cauliflower see notes to sub frozen
- 1 package Kevin’s Natural Foods Classic Taco Sauce
- 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves and thin stems lightly chopped
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Prepare a sheet pan and set aside.
- Cut the top off of each pepper, remove the seeds and thick white pith, then slice them in half lengthwise. Add to your sheet pan, open side up.
- Drizzle each pepper lightly with oil, and season with sea salt and pepper to taste.
- Roast the peppers for 15 minutes until the bottoms have a nice brown base and are mostly tender. Then flip and roast another 5 minutes or so, until the edges soften and start to brown. You want them to hold their shape but not be stiff.
- Remove from the oven and set aside.
- While your peppers are roasting, make your filling.
- Preheat a large skillet over medium heat. Add avocado oil, then ground beef, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up the chunks, 5-8 minutes or until the beef is about halfway cooked through.
- Add riced cauliflower to your pan and stir to combine. If you used low fat beef or the mixture looks dry, add another tablespoon of oil. Cook 2-5 more minutes until the cauliflower starts to soften and turn translucent.
- Add the entire packet of Kevin’s Natural Foods Classic Taco Sauce and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium low, and cook 3-5 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender but still has a slight bite. Remove the pan from from the heat and set aside.
- Plate your pepper halves and begin scooping filling into each piece. You may have extra filling depending on the size of your peppers. See our notes for leftover ideas.
- Top with chopped cilantro and enjoy immediately.
Notes
- To use frozen cauliflower rice in this recipe, defrost it before adding it to the beef mixture. There will be more water and the rice will be partially softened already, so reduce your cooking time
- If you prefer more veggies or don't eat meat, you could easily substitute mushroom, carrot, and onion in the mixture
- If you have leftover filling, we love to use it for tacos, or stuffed into sweet potato or squash
