Anyone else buy a lot of fruits of veggies with great ambitions of eating super healthy? But then you fast forward a week and you’ve got a fridge full of food that’s about to turn. Ya, me too. Well thanks to my mother I have a really hard time throwing food away so I try to be creative with what is left in my fridge at the end of the week.
I originally created this dish as a way to use of a bag of mini peppers I found hiding in the back of my veggie crisper one Friday evening. Whoops, forgot about you little fellas. I don’t know about ya’ll, but at the end of a long week I am not craving a bunch of sweet peppers as my Friday night dinner. Blahh. Fridays are for pizza, nachos, burgers, and beer. Duh. So with a pound of ground beef, a bag of quickly aging mini peppers, and a strong craving for a “snacky-type” food these mini pepper nachos were born.
Making Mini Pepper Nachos
Simply start with browning your ground beef with diced onion and garlic in a large pan. Drain excess fat and add taco seasoning. Simmer the meat according to the taco seasoning package directions.
Meanwhile slice your peppers. I won’t lie to you, slicing and de-seeding the mini peppers is fairly tedious. But pour yourself a glass of wine, turn on some good tunes and it becomes somewhat therapeutic to de-seed 20 mini peppers. And trust me it’s worth it. I mean look how pretty they are.
Once your mini peppers are cut and laid out nicely on a sheet pan you can spread on your refried beans.
Next add the taco meat mixture.
Top with 2/3rds of the cheese.
Pop it into the oven at 425 degrees and cook about 15 minutes, give or take. You want your peppers to be slightly softened and your cheese a little browned.
Removed the peppers from the oven and top with remaining cheese, tomatoes, green onion, jalapenos, Greek yogurt, and avocado, cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice as desired.
These mini nacho peppers are delicious. They are cooked just long enough that the peppers become slightly soft but still have a little snap when you give ’em a bite. Not to mention they are the perfect guilt free vehicle to bring cheesy, taco meat goodness into your mouth.
I like to cook up a whole pan that my husband and I can munch on while catching up on our trashy Netflix shows. These mini pepper nachos would also make a great appetizer for any get together. Plus if you use gluten free taco seasoning this dish is easily gluten free. Omit the cheese and Greek yogurt and boom…it’s dairy free. And I know there are many meat substitutes out there these days so I’m guessing it would be fairly simple to make this vegetarian as well. And I think that covers most of the common dietary restrictions, yay.
If you make this dish I would love to see it.
Be sure to tag @movinglikeamother!
Check out more of my favorite weeknight meals below:
–Monica
| Servings |
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- 2 bags (16 oz) Mini Sweet Peppers
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 1 small Yellow Onion Diced
- 2 tsp minced garlic
- 1 packet Taco Seasoning
- 1/2 cup Black Refried Beans
- 1 8 oz bag Shredded Mexican Cheese
- 1 Roma Tomato diced
- Green Onion sliced
- Jalepano sliced
- Greek Yogurt
- Avacado
- Cilantro
- Lime Juice
Ingredients
Optional Toppings
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- Heat oven to 425 degrees and line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or foil.
- Add diced onion and ground beef to a large pan. Cook over medium heat. Brown meat until no longer pink. Add garlic and cook 1-2 more minutes or until fragrant. Drain the fat. Return meat mixture to pan and add taco seasoning packet and required amount of water and simmer accordioning to packet directions.
- Meanwhile cut mini peppers length wise and remove seeds. Line sheet pan with halved peppers. Spread or drop a dollop of refried black beans on the inside of most peppers. Spread cooked taco meat mixture over peppers. Sprinkle on 2/3rds of the cheese. Put into oven for 15-20 minutes or until peppers have softened and cheese is lightly browned.
- Remove peppers from oven. Sprinkle on remaining cheese. Top with diced tomatoes, sliced jalapenos, green onions, Greek yogurt, cilantro (as desired) and squeeze of lime juice. Enjoy!