Bell Pepper Nachos

These bell pepper, keto/low carb, nachos are your perfect addition to taco Tuesday. This recipe is a healthy version of nachos made with ground beef and loaded with all your favorite taco toppings. The ground beef is cooked to a seasoned perfection, the topped on these sweet bell peppers and loaded with all your favorite toppings such as greek yogurt, lettuce, salsa, cheese and more!

These adorable little bell pepper nachos have been on my must try list for the longest time. While I am not keto or low carb, I do dabble with the occasional no carb meal, especially when they look and taste this good. Plus, when these are so easy to make, and healthy, why not.

This healthy nacho recipe is quite simple. Get the peppers going in the oven, then cook the meat. Finally, add everything together. I know I put it pretty basically, but it really is that simple.

What You Need To Make These Low Carb Nachos

Bell pepper nachos with ground beef call for, well, nachos and ground beef. I am telling you, it is that simple.

You are going to need an oven; however, my husband does not like his bell peppers soft. He prefers them straight off the grocery store shelf, therefore, you can skip the oven, and the oven step, if desired. I like my peppers to fall apart they are so soft but it is really up to your personal preference.

Ingredients List:

• Bell peppers
• Onion
• Garlic
• Ground beef
• Seasonings
• Sauce
• Toppings

Ingredient Suggestions and Substitutions

Fun fact, before we get into our bell pepper nachos, green bell peppers are just unripe red bell peppers. WHAT?! Yeah, you heard me. Peppers take about 2-3 months to mature, and during that time, they turn from green, to yellow, to orange, to red. Honestly isn't that so cool. But anyways, as they grow and mature, they get more nutritional value to them. Therefore, red peppers have the most nutritional value to them. However, they do take much longer to grow than green peppers, therefore, green peppers are cheaper.

Grab some bell peppers, any color you want. I love using the mini sweet bell peppers, as well. They come in a little clear package near the normal bell peppers.

Ground beef is my classic, go-to, taco meat. There is nothing like a ground beef taco. Typically, I go for the highest percentage, a 96% lean ground beef. However, you can choose any beef that you like. In fact, if you do not want beef, choose any meat, chicken, venison, turkey, any meat that you want. If these are keto nachos, be mindful of which meat you choose. If this is for a healthy nacho recipe, go with a leaner meat. You can also try my taco ground chicken instead.

Seasonings are obviously required for these bell pepper nachos. You can make your own taco seasonings, following my recipe, or buy it pre-made. It does not matter.

For the taco sauce, I typically go with a Taco Bell one or Old El Paso, again, it doesn't matter.

Toppings

Then, grab your favorite taco toppings. Here are some ideas.

• Shredded cheese
• Beans
• Shredded lettuce
• Sour cream or plain, nonfat greek yogurt
• Salsa
• Guacamole
• Corn
• Rice (either instant pot rice or stovetop rice)
• Anything else you want!

How to Make Bell Pepper Nachos Healthier

To make bell pepper nachos healthier, my biggest suggestion is to use ground chicken breast, or 99% fat-free ground turkey, as your meat. That will save you tons of fat and calories. Another suggestion is just to be mindful of the toppings that you choose. If this is for low carb nachos stay away from the rice that I suggested.

How To Make These Low Carb Keto Nachos

To make keto bell pepper nachos, start with the bell peppers. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and slice open the bell peppers as the oven is preheating. Remove the core, and the seeds if you wish, then place on a greased baking sheet, cut side up. Bake those until your desired wellness, I typically do 20-25 minutes for a full sized pepper. However, as mentioned, I like mine very well done. You can not bake them at all, which is how my husband eats them, for a crispy, 'chip' like actual nacho, or bake them for less time. If using the sweet mini bell peppers, they only need about 5-7 minutes, they cook quick.

While the bell peppers are cooking, start on the meat for the bell pepper nachos. Heat a large pan over medium/high heat. Grease with cooking spray. Dice onion then place onion and minced garlic on the heated pan. Sauté until slightly soft, about 3 minutes.

Add ground beef, as a whole piece, to the pan and cook for 2 minutes to allow it to brown. Do not begin to break up yet. Flip over and brown the other side for 1 minute. Once browned on both sides, begin to break up. I like to use this meat chopper. Add all the seasonings and continue to break up while cooking. Once almost cooked, add the Taco Bell sauce and bring to a simmer until chicken is completely cooked, all the pink is gone.

When the peppers are ready, remove them from the oven and assemble the bell pepper nachos. Top with peppers the cooked ground beef. Then, add any taco toppings that you picked.

What To Do With Leftovers

If you have leftover beef and peppers, make some more bell pepper nachos. If you have leftover beef, try it out in my copycat chipotle bowls. Did you grab too many peppers? Then you have to try my pepper alla vodka pasta. The meat should be good in the fridge for 3-4 days if this is for a meal prep.