Semi-Healthy, Cheesy Mini Pepper Nacho Recipe

Whenever I’m feeling a bit too glutinous after all the bloody maries and cinnamon rolls for brunch, I try to cut back on junk food. I’m not a health expert, but I will tell you that my philosophy is to pick your poison. If you want to maintain your weight, choose wine or chocolate, or both in moderation, just don’t go hogwild. Anyway, I’ve been baking a lot and needed a recipe that focused on vegetables, so here we are – delicious nachos.

Yes, you read that right – nachos. I could eat loaded nachos every single day with this recipe. I went light on the toppings, but you all know you can make nachos a thousand different ways. Skinny Taste makes a similar recipe with Turkey and other toppings, and there’s another great mini bell pepper beef recipe on Hungry Girl’s site. If you end up making this recipe for brunch, happy hour, dinner, whatever, let me know how the recipe turned out and how you might’ve changed it!

What You’ll Need for the Nachos

Pre-oven Nacho Ingredients

• 20-24 sweet mini bell peppers
• 1 lb ground beef (I used 80% lean, 20% fat)
• 1 tsp. taco seasoning
• 16 oz can refried beans
• 1/2 cup shredded colby jack cheese (Or whatever cheese you like!)
• 1/4 cup salsa

Nacho Toppings

• 4 tbsp. greek yogurt
• 1 white onion chopped
• 1 chopped avocado
• 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes

Healthy Nacho Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.
2. Bring a skillet to medium-high heat, add the beef and taco seasoning. Cook until it’s fully browned, mixing occasionally to evenly cook.
3. While the beef is cooking, prep your mini peppers. Remove the stem, slice the peppers in half lengthwise, and trash the seeds. ,Slice off and discard the stem end of each pepper. Remove and discard seeds. As you go, evenly place the pepper with the exterior side on the sheet. (Don’t forget your beef cooking while you’re prepping the peppers!)
4. Once the beef is fully browned, add in the can of refried beans and salsa. Mix until combined. Cook for about five minutes.
5. Onto the peppers! Spoon about a tablespoon of the beef/bean combo to the peppers. (If you want your peppers to have more, go crazy and make it 2 tablespoons per pepper. It’s your choice!) Add as much cheese as you want to cover the nachos.
6. Now melt the cheese. Put the sheet in the oven for 3-5 minutes.
7. Finally, add all the toppings! Toss the chopped onions, tomatoes, onion, and salsa evenly throughout the sheet. Add a tablespoon of greek yogurt with your plate and enjoy!