Stuffed Peppers – Both Low Carb & Keto Friendly

Hi Everyone!  Some of you had reached out and requested this recipe after watching my Instagram Story (RPTrainer425 for those of you looking to tune in).  So Here it is…

Ingredients:

1 lb. of Ground Beef, Turkey, Chicken or Bison  (Note:  I used 80% Ground Beef in my peppers because I am on a ketogenic diet – high fat, low carb, moderate protein.  If you are on a high protein, moderate carb/fat diet, you may want to choose a leaner meat such as Chicken, Bison or Turkey, or even a leaner ground beef.  All of these work, but it really just depends on your diet.)

1 – 14.5oz. Can of diced tomatoes (Note:  The ones I used in my Insta-story were Diced Tomatoes with Jalapeno and Habanero these are spicy/hot peppers.  You could do a plain diced tomatoes, or diced tomatoes with green chiles also work well and are more mild.)

1 Small can of diced chiles  (Optional)

1/2 Small Yellow Onion – Chopped (Optional)

Seasoning of Choice (Not: I used Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Ground Cumin, Ground Cayenne Pepper, Ground Chili Powder, Salt & Pepper.  Lazy route?… Use a packet of Taco Seasoning)

Shredded Cheese of Choice (Optional) – (Note: I used shredded cheddar and a little shredded Mozzarella on top.)

4-5 Good sized, round-ish peppers.  (If doing standing up peppers like shown in the image, they need to have a fairly flat bottom to balance upright in the oven.  If cutting into halves prior to cooking- it doesn’t matter so much.)

Directions:

Step One:  Brown the ground meat in a frying pan.  (Note: You do not need to add cooking spray or oil if you are using a high fat meat like I did.  Lower fat meats will require a little oil in the pan to keep it moist and prevent sticking.

Step Two:  Chop the onion while the ground beef is cooking- You can add your onion cooked or raw to this dish.  If you prefer it cooked, saute the onion in a small frying pan while the ground beef is cooking or zap in the microwave for a minute.

Step Three: Once the ground beef is cooked, add the can of diced tomatoes, the chopped onion if you are using it, and the green chiles if you are using them.

Step Four: Stir ingredients together in the frying pan until well combined, and simmer for 3 minutes or so.

Mind the photo, it’s a screen shot from a video

Step Five: Turn the oven on to 425 degrees -Bake setting.  Rack should be second to lowest probably in the oven.  Or one below the middle.  If that makes more sense.

Step Six:  Add the seasonings of your choice to the Meat mixture and simmer for another 3-5 minutes on low, stirring occasionally to really bring all of the flavors together.

Step Seven:  Turn off the meat mixture, and leave on stove for now.

Step Eight:  Wash and cut 4-5 Peppers (Note:  Either cut the tops off and hollow them out, or cut them in halves and hollow them out.)

Another option for this recipe, cut into halves

Step Nine:  Line a baking sheet with foil and place the peppers open side down on the foil- spray lightly with cooking spray.

Step Ten:  Place in over- for 8-10 minutes.

Step Eleven:  Carefully flip and transfer the peppers to a pie dish or square/rectangular baking pan- (Note: I just transferred the foil with the peppers on it then flipped them to re-use the same foil and make for easy clean up.  A pie plate is easier for upright/standing peppers if you chose the hollow out method.  A baking pan that is square or rectangular is fine for open-faced pepper halves, not too deep on the pans which ever you choose.  Also- Be CAREFUL flipping the peppers, they are upside down and most likely full of hot steam underneath use a fork or tongs to flip- NOT your hands.)

Step Twelve:  Transfer meat mixture into the peppers (Note: I did upright, hollowed out peppers as shown in the photo here… I filled them about halfway with meat mixture, then sprinkled about an 1/8 a cup of cheese, then filled them the rest of the way with meat mixture, then another 1/8 cup of cheese.  You don’t need to use cheese if you don’t want to- and you don’t have to do it this way- completely up to you on this step.)

Sorry these photos are a little grainy they are a screen shot from a video, because I didn’t think to take pics during the process.  My bad 🙂

Step Thirteen:  Place Stuffed Peppers in the oven- cook for another 8-10 minutes or until cheese is melted but not burnt of course.  🙂

Step Fourteen: Remove from oven and turn the oven off.

Serve warm or let cool and package for an easy meal prep 🙂

Note:  You can serve these with a little plain greek yogurt or sour cream if you liked them spicy and want to balance them out.

Enjoy! 🙂  Follow me at RPTrainer425 for more recipes.

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