Meatless Stuffed Peppers with Corn Chips and Cheese

My husband and our daughters looked at me crosseyed when I said I was going to top stuffed peppers with fritos. One of our daughters was like, "Have you ever bought a bag of fritos in your life?"

Which, of course I have. But, she's exaggerating a true point: I don't buy a lot of packaged, prepared foods, and chips are generally not something I've kept in the house. (When our kids were teenagers they definitely held this against me. They probably still do.)

Lest you misunderstand, dear reader, not having chips in the pantry is just a matter of choices because we almost always have ice cream in the freezer alongside a variety of really good chocolate bars.

You have to prioritize your junk food choices and, for me at least, chips don't usually make the cut. (Also, I consider ice cream and chocolate essential food groups, not junk food.)

But, I wanted my stuffed peppers to include a blanket of crunchy corn chips under melted cheese. And wowowow, was I ever onto something because these meatless stuffed peppers are so satisfyingly delicious.

Not only are they layered up with plenty of smoky chili flavor, the combination of textures - tender crisp peppers, creamy black beans and rice, crunchy corn chips, and melted cheese - is killer. In a good way.

Also, these meatless stuffed peppers are my ideal combo of pantry items and fresh produce.

I almost always have a can or two of black beans and chopped green chilies in the cupboard, a bag of rice in the drawer, and some cheese and Better Than Bouillon in the refrigerator.

That means, all I have to do is pick up a few bell peppers, a jalapeño and a bag of fritos and stuffed peppers are less than an hour away.

All that and they won't break the bank. Take your wins where you can, and these peppers are a triumph on every level.

xo

-Rebecca

Cost of ingredients: $21 total/ $5.25 per serving

I purchased these ingredients at a Meijer's grocery store in Michigan. The cost will vary depending on where you are and where you shop.

How to make stuffed peppers even cheaper and easier

How to make meatless stuffed peppers even more affordable:

• Omit the cheese and the chips to drop the cost of these stuffed peppers by up to $6 or $7 dollars!
• Black beans are less expensive than chopped green chilies, so save another dollar or two by omitting the green chilies and using additional black beans instead.
• If you don't already have all of the spices for these peppers, use a Mexican spice blend or taco seasoning. Purchasing one container of a spice blend will be much less expensive than purchasing the spices individually.
• Cook dried black beans instead of using a can. A pound of dried black beans costs about as much as one can of black beans and will give you 4 times the amount of beans. (1 pound of cooked black beans = four 15-ounce cans) Here's how to cook dried black beans in a slow cooker or on the stovetop, and here's how to cook beans in an instant pot.

Get two meals for the price of one!

• Make a large pot of this vegetarian chili and use the leftovers as the filling for these stuffed peppers!
• Or, make enough vegan taco meat for tacos one night and save the leftovers for these stuffed peppers later in the week!
• Or, prepare a big pot of Costa Rican beans and rice. Use some for tacos and the rest for stuffed peppers!

More time saving short cuts:

• Purchase pre-shredded cheese so you don't have to grate the cheese yourself.
• Grab a container of pre-chopped onions in the produce section of your supermarket.
• Look for tubes of tomato paste instead of canned tomato paste. The tubes keep tomato paste fresh for much, much longer, and you can just squeeze out the amount you need when you need it.