Dinner

Bacon Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Is quinoa still cool?

I hopped on the quinoa train four or five years ago when it was still pretty trendy, and I found myself prepping a big batch of quinoa salad (something akin to my Quinoa & Lentil Salad) to pack as lunches nearly every week. I’m not sure if quinoa is still cool or not, but I don’t see why we need to worry about that today.

I took this quinoa recipe the Mexican/Southwestern direction, as I tend to do with a lot of recipes. My mom grew up in Phoenix and then raised us on Mexican food at least once a week, so it just feels right to fling salsa, beans, and cilantro at all my food now.

To make things a little more interesting, we’re going to turn this quinoa dish into stuffed peppers and then add some bacon and avocado for extra fun.

We’ll be cutting three bell peppers in half to create six little quinoa-stuffed boats, so I’ll let you decide what a serving size looks like. For us, eating two each made a pretty good meal on its own, but I could see one boat working as a great side dish to go with grilled chicken.

Oh, and definitely bring out the chips and salsa. I don’t see why we wouldn’t want that.

If you try these Bacon Quinoa Stuffed Peppers at home, I’d love to hear what you think! Share pictures with me on social media by tagging @thesavvyplate on Instagram or Twitter or by mentioning my page The Savvy Plate on Facebook!

Bacon Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Course Dinner, Main Course, Side Dish
Cuisine American, Mexican, Southwestern
Servings 6
Author Savannah

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1/2 an onion diced
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 3/4 tsp chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 6 slices bacon
  • 15 oz canned pinto beans (drained & rinsed)
  • 1-2 tbsp hot sauce (or less if you don't like spice)

toppings

  • salsa
  • avocado
  • cilantro
  • extra bacon

Instructions

  1. Cook the diced onion with olive oil in a small pot over medium heat until soft. Add the water, quinoa, chili powder, cumin, cayenne, and salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, and leave the lid on to rest for 5 minutes.

  2. Meanwhile, cut bacon into 1-inch pieces, and cook thoroughly in a separate pan. (I like cast iron for this.) Preheat your oven to 350.

  3. Remove the stem, seeds, and white flesh from the bell peppers. Cut each pepper in half, forming six "boats."

  4. Stir hot sauce and pinto beans into the cooked quinoa, along with about 2/3 of the cooked bacon. Reserve the extra 1/3 for topping. Place the bell pepper boats back in the cast iron skillet or in another baking dish, and stuff them with the quinoa filling.

  5. Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes. I like the peppers to still be somewhat crisp and sturdy, but if you want them to be very soft, bake them for a little longer.

  6. Serve topped with salsa, avocado, and the extra bacon bits.

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