For people on a ketogenic diet, changing meals up is crucial. The same boring hamburgers without the bun just don’t do it for some of us over time. Adding in some meals that are out of the ordinary, while still using the same ingredients helps us to thrive, survive, and prosper.
Stuffed bell peppers are a fantastic way to try something new. While the ingredients aren’t all that new, the taste will be. The fat of the beef and bacon gets to completely slather and run through the beef, giving it a deep and rich flavor that you’ll be loving on!
The soy sauce adds that hint of umami and salt that we all crave every now and again. Liquid smoke is key here, adding a smoked element to the beef that brings a whole new flavor profile to the entire dish. I use this brand of liquid smoke.
The rest? Well the rest is interchangeable and you can pick and choose what you want, what you want to change, or what you want to add.
Adding cheese on the top isn’t necessary, and in fact while I love cheese, I preferred these without cheese on them when testing both options. The char that the pepper gets from broiling it at the end deepens the flavor of the pepper as you know if you’ve had charred peppers before. It might LOOK like it’s burnt, but trust me – it really adds a flavor that you can’t get anywhere else.
Give these a try and let me know what you think!
Yields 4 servings of Bacon and Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers
The Preparation
- 24 ounces ground beef
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons low-carb ketchup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce, or coconut aminos
- 1 1/2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 medium green bell pepper, or color of choice
- 4 ounces bacon
The Execution
1. Put your 1 ½ pounds of ground beef inside of a Ziploc bag.
2. Add all of the spices to the mixture, including the oil.
3. Mix all the meat and spices well together, so everything is thoroughly combined.
4. Let the mixture marinate in the fridge for 3 hours.
5. Once you are ready to cook, remove the meat mixture from the fridge. Take out the cores of 4 bell peppers. Be careful with this as you can cut the side of the peppers open and the juice won’t stay inside from the meat.
6. Dice up some bacon into thin strips.
7. Fry the bacon until it is partially cooked – you don’t want it too crispy, but you don’t want it raw either. This is so that the bacon has enough time to cook in the oven while the beef is cooking.
8. Start to boil a pot of water that’s heavily salted. Also, preheat your oven to 350°F.
9. Add your peppers to the water, fill the inside of them with water so that they sink to the bottom.
10. Boil the peppers for 3 minutes – you should notice that their skin becomes more vibrant.
11. Once the 3 minutes is up, remove the bell peppers from the boiling water and drain them completely – letting them dry off on some paper towels.
12. While the peppers are cooling, add your bacon and bacon fat to the beef. Mix everything up well so that it’s all combined evenly.
13. Put your bell peppers onto a foiled tray. The foil will help with cleanup because they will leak some of their juices out. Stuff the peppers with the meat mixture until it’s partially coming out of the top. You can place balls of foil in between all the peppers to make them stand upright properly if needed.
14. Put the peppers in your oven for 50 minutes. This will allow the beef to take on a medium-well center.
15. Once you take out the peppers, you can add some cheese to the top or keep them naked to get a char.
16. Add the peppers under the broiler for about 2-3 minutes. If you leave some of the peppers naked, they should have a nice dark char on the top.
17. Let the peppers cool for about 5 minutes before you serve.
This makes a total of 4 servings of Bacon & Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers. Each serving comes out to be 689 calories, 57.2g fats, 5.6g net carbs, and 34g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 24 ounce ground beef | 1728 | 136.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 116.8 |
| 1 tablespoon fresh garlic | 13 | 0 | 2.8 | 0.2 | 2.6 | 0.5 |
| 2 teaspoon dried oregano | 7 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| 1/2 teaspoon black pepper | 3 | 0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| 2 tablespoon low-carb ketchup | 18 | 0 | 1.9 | 0 | 1.9 | 0 |
| 1 tablespoon soy sauce | 8 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 1.3 |
| 1 1/2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce | 7 | 0 | 1.7 | 0 | 1.7 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon liquid smoke | 0 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 |
| 1 teaspoon hot sauce | 1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 | 0.1 | 0 |
| 3 tablespoon olive oil | 358 | 40.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 medium green bell pepper | 92 | 0.8 | 21.5 | 7.8 | 13.7 | 4 |
| 4 ounce bacon | 604 | 52.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30.2 |
| Totals | 2839 | 230.6 | 31.4 | 9.6 | 21.8 | 153.2 |
| Per Serving (/4) | 710 | 57.7 | 7.8 | 2.4 | 5.4 | 38.3 |
Bacon & Beef Stuffed Bell Peppers
Ingredients
- 24 ounce ground beef
- 1 tablespoon fresh garlic minced
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoon low-carb ketchup
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce or coconut aminos
- 1 ½ teaspoon worcestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 teaspoon hot sauce
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 medium green bell pepper or color of choice
- 4 ounce bacon
Instructions
- Place the ground beef inside a Ziploc bag.
- Add the garlic, oregano, black pepper, ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, liquid smoke, hot sauce, and olive oil. Mix together until well combined.
- Let the mixture marinate in the fridge for 3 hours.
- Once ready to cook, remove the meat mixture from the fridge. Remove the tops, then carefully remove the ribs and seeds from the bell peppers, taking care not to cut the sides of the peppers to keep the juices from the meat from leaking out.
- Slice the bacon into thin strips and fry until only partially cooked — this is so the bacon has enough time to cook in the oven along with the beef.
- Preheat oven to 350F. Boil a pot of water with a large pinch of salt. Add the peppers to the water, filling the insides with water so that they sink to the bottom. Boil for 3 minutes — the color of the skins will become more vibrant.
- After 3 minutes, remove the peppers and leave to drain completely on some paper towels.
- Meanwhile, add the bacon and bacon fat to the beef mixture and mix until well combined.
- Place the bell peppers on a foil-lined tray for easy cleanup. Stuff the peppers all the way full with the meat mixture, using balls of foil in between the peppers to help them stand upright if needed.
- Place in the oven for 50 minutes for medium-well ground beef.
- Place the peppers under the broiler for about 2–3 minutes or until nicely charred. Let cool for about 5 minutes before serving.
