This recipe for Healthy Chilli Taco Bake with Popchips is extremely easy to prepare and cook, and makes a delicious midweek family supper dish, especially when served with fresh salad. The minced beef and pepper mixture can be cooked beforehand, making the dish even easier to assemble before you want to cook it. NB: Popchips are vegetarian, gluten-free and have no artificial flavours; they also contain no trans fats or added preservatives, making them a healthy alternative to other fried crisps and vegetable snacks.

A Fabulous Midweek Family Supper Dish

Today’s recipe for Healthy Chilli Taco Bake with Popchips is a really fabulous idea for a family midweek supper dish, and is made all the better by the fact that is easily made and is a healthy alternative to many Mexican inspired meals. By using Popchips, which are potatoes that have been popped, and are therefore not baked or fried in oil, you have a natural ingredient that adds texture, taste and flavour to a baked chilli and taco type meal, and, you can prepare the meat element before you need to assemble the recipe, which is a boon for working parents and busy people. The recipe is designed so you and your family can enjoy more time together as well as enjoying this delicious and spicy dish with the minimum of fuss and preparation. Although I have suggested this would make a wonderful tea time or supper dish, it is also brilliant for weekend lunch, specially if you are all busy and there are lots of activities and sports events to attend, so you can all enjoy more time as well as enjoy more from lunch.

I have suggested using two quite spicy flavours of Popchips in this recipe, Crazy Hot and Buffalo Ranch, they blend and marry so well with the taco seasoning, minced beef and kidney beans, adding some real zip to the recipe. If you have little ones who are a bit wary about hot flavours, then I would suggest using a cooling Sour Cream and Onion instead, which will also work well with the Tex-Mex style of cooking. I served our meal of Healthy Chilli Taco Bake with Popchips with loads of fresh salad, comprising baby gem lettuce and cherry tomatoes, with no dressing, as we all added a wee dollop of the chipotle chilli sour cream to the leaves……you can do as I did, and make a little extra. My recipe for Healthy Chilli Taco Bake with Popchips is shared below, and for vegetarians, you can omit the minced beef and substitute it with minced Quorn or lentils…….or even oven-roasted vegetables. I hope that you enjoy this dish as much as we did if and when you make it, and do let me know what you think! Karen 

Healthy Chilli Taco Bake with Popchips

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Serves	4 to 6
Prep time	15 minutes
Cook time	45 minutes
Total time	1 hour
Meal type	Lunch, Main Dish, Snack
Misc	Child Friendly, Serve Hot
Occasion	Birthday Party, Casual Party, Halloween
Region	Mexican
By author	Karen Burns-Booth

This recipe for Healthy Chilli Taco Bake with Popchips is extremely easy to prepare and cook, and makes a delicious midweek family supper dish, especially when served with fresh salad. The minced beef and pepper mixture can be cooked beforehand, making the dish even easier to assemble before you want to cook it. NB: Popchips are vegetarian, gluten free and have no artificial flavours; they also contain no trans fats or added preservatives, making them them a healthy alternative to other fried crisps and vegetable snacks.

Ingredients

• 1 x 85g packet of Crazy Hot Popchips
• Low-fat spray (such as Fry Light)
• 450g minced beef (5% fat content)
• 1/2 red pepper, trimmed and diced
• 1 x sachet taco seasoning (or 1/2 teaspoon each ground cumin, ground coriander and ground chilli powder)
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 x 400g tin kidney beans (drained)
• 100g low-fat grated Cheddar cheese
• 1 x fresh red chilli, finely chopped
• 100g low-fat sour cream (blended with 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chilli powder)
• chopped spring onions and fresh coriander leaves (to serve)
• 1 x 85g packet Buffalo Ranch Popchips (to serve)

Note

This recipe for Healthy Chilli Taco Bake with Popchips is extremely easy to prepare and cook, and makes a delicious midweek family supper dish, especially when served with fresh salad. The minced beef and pepper mixture can be cooked beforehand, making the dish even easier to assemble before you want to cook it. NB: Popchips are vegetarian, gluten free and have no artificial flavours; they also contain no trans fats or added preservatives, making them them a healthy alternative to other fried crisps and vegetable snacks.

Directions

Step 1	Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6.
Step 2	Spray some low-fat spray into a large frying pan or wok, and gently fry the minced beef with the chopped red pepper until the meat is cooked, brown and crumbly.
Step 3	Add the taco seasoning, stir to mix and then add the chopped tomatoes, mix to blend well again.
Step 4	Scatter the packet of Crazy Hot Popchips over the bottom of a large oven-proof gratin dish, spoon the meat and tomato mixture over the top, then add the drained kidney beans.
Step 5	Scatter the grated cheese over the top and then add the chopped red chilli; bake in pre-heated oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the dish is bubbling hot. Whilst the dish is cooking, blend the sour cream with the chilli powder and set to one side.
Step 6	Once cooked, remove the Healthy Chilli Taco Bake with Popchips from the oven and spoon over the sour cream mixture, before scattering half a bag of the Buffalo Ranch Popchips, the chopped spring onions and coriander leaves over the the top.
Step 7	Spoon into bowls, and serve with fresh salad and the remaining Buffalo Ranch Popchips.

As seen on Instragram:

Lavender and Lovage

My other Popchips recipe on Lavender and Lovage:

Popping the Weight Loss with Smoky Low Calorie Cheese & Pimento Dip and Chips!

*Disclaimer: Paid content in collaboration with Popchips; all views and opinions are mine and are not representative of the company*