Taco Stuffed Peppers with Avocado Lime Sauce

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Taco Stuffed Peppers are super satisfying, flavorful, and are a Mexican twist on a traditional stuffed pepper recipe. They’re loaded with hearty quinoa and black beans, fresh corn, bright cilantro, gooey cheddar cheese, and are topped with an avocado lime sauce that will rock your world. A perfect Taco Tuesday recipe that the whole family will enjoy!

I love stuffed peppers! And these taco stuffed peppers are a great variation on the original recipe that’s easy to make and tastes amazing! Peppers hold their shape fairly well even when they are cooked, so stuffing them is no problem at all.

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The black beans, quinoa, veggies and cheese give the filling a wonderful texture, and the creamy avocado lime sauce adds a satisfying decadence when you dig into these peppers.

My favorite part: the nutritional information for this dish is so great! You can enjoy one delicious taco stuffed pepper for under 500 calories! It’s an easy weeknight dinner, and is so tasty, you won’t believe it’s actually good for you.

How To Make The Best Taco Stuffed Peppers

Recipe Ingredients and Notes

This recipe calls for just a few simple ingredients that can easily be added to your grocery list!

For the Healthy Taco Stuffed Peppers

• Colorful Bell Peppers: I chose green, red, yellow and orange bell peppers so that we got a variety of colors on our dinner table! You also will want to make sure the size of your peppers is large enough to hold the filling – I used the largest bell peppers I could find.
• Cooked Quinoa: But any grain would work – try cauliflower rice or even brown rice here.
• Black beans: A great alternative for meat in this recipe! You can also use pinto beans or even kidney beans.
• Corn, Tomatoes, Cilantro: These fresh veggies give the filling a brightness and acidity.
• Cheese: I used cheddar cheese, but any shredded cheese would work well.
• Taco seasoning mix or chili powder: You can add this to your filling (as much as you’d like to taste!) Feel free to use a pre-made or homemade taco seasoning! For a homemade version, try this Old El Paso taco seasoning recipe!
• Sour Cream: Used in both the filling and the avocado lime sauce!
• Salt and Black Pepper: Critical for seasoning – don’t skimp on this!
• Red Onion: Optional, diced, as a topping.

For the Avocado Lime Sauce

• Avocado: To make this creamy sauce without any cream, avocados are key!
• Lime Juice: For acidity and flavor.

Tools and Equipment You’ll Need

• Chopping Knife
• Mixing Bowls
• Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Cutting Board
• Baking Sheet

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1: Roast bell peppers: you can roast them on the grill or in the oven. I roasted mine in my oven under the broiler. To roast in the broiler: Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Broil the peppers on high for a few minutes until the skin is blistery/starting to blacken. Then turn the peppers over and broil them on high for about 3 additional minutes until the other side is done. Cut off the top of the pepper (save for garnish) and scoop out the insides. Discard seeds and inside of the pepper.

Step 2: Combine all of the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Spoon into bell peppers. If you have any extra filling left over, store it in an airtight container in the fridge. You can use it as a topping for nachos or a filling for burritos later in the week!

Step 3: Place peppers on a baking sheet or in a large baking dish. Bake in oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest 3 minutes. Note: You can also combine the filling ingredients in a large skillet with 1 tsp olive oil and cook them over medium heat for 10 minutes before adding them to the peppers. If you do that, reduce your baking time for the pepper halves to about 10-15 minutes.

Avocado Lime Sauce: Chop Avocado, juice limes: combine all ingredients in blender or food processor and puree until smooth. If you want to skip this step, you can also use a pre-made taco sauce as a topping.

Drizzle the sauce over the peppers.

Serve warm!

What Makes These Taco Stuffed Peppers Healthy?

• Protein and Fiber: Each serving is packed with 20 grams of plant protein and almost 18 grams of heart healthy fiber!
• Vitamins and Minerals: These stuffed peppers are packed with nutrients. Folate, iron, potassium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, and manganese are just a few of the nutrients found in this recipe.

Will Kids Enjoy These Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers?

While kids will typically enjoy the flavors in these stuffed peppers, it can be a challenge for smaller children to cut and eat themselves. For younger kids, I recommend dumping out the filling, chopping up the bell pepper super small and adding it to the filling – and then serving it more like a “burrito bowl” with some tortilla chips and extra cheese crumbled on top. My kids love eating it that way!

Recipe FAQs

Recipe Variations

• Add your favorite cooked taco meat to add more protein. Shredded or ground chicken, ground turkey, ground beef, or even bacon would all be great options. For a plant based meat, you could also try this vegan walnut taco meat recipe!
• Try additional spices in the filling mix — taco seasoning, garlic powder, or chili powder would all work well.
• Swap out the sour cream for Greek yogurt for more vegetarian friendly protein. Or you can use my vegan taco sauce to drizzle on top!
• Feel free to use a different cheese: mozzarella, pepper jack, colby jack, or even provolone would all work!

Top Tips For Making This Stuffed Pepper Recipe

• If you are having trouble keeping the peppers upright when you’re filling them, try placing them in a large muffin tin. This will make them easier to fill. You could even bake them in the muffin tin too. 
• To save time, pre-roast the peppers! You can even roast the peppers the day before and stuff them/bake them the day of.
• This is a great recipe for meal prep – these keep really well in the fridge and are easy to reheat throughout the week!
• Serve with your favorite taco toppings or tortilla chips on the side!

Try All Of These Incredible Dinner Recipes!

• Healthy Stuffed Vegetarian Peppers
• Hearty, Healthy Vegetable Lasagna
• Vegetarian Taco Lasana
• Barbecue Black Bean, Corn, and Red Pepper Pizza 
• Vegetarian Stuffed Poblano Peppers
• Vegetarian Mexican Recipes

If you have tried this Taco Stuffed Peppers recipe or any other recipe on my blog, then please rate it and let me know how it turned out in the comments below! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious, healthy, family friendly food!