Simple, practical, and full of everyday flavour, Jalapeno Popper Skillet Dinner is a vegan, vegetarian Tex Mex main course made with oil, thinly sliced onion, and thinly sliced bell pepper in about 20 minutes. The recipe lays out the ingredients and each cooking step clearly, so you can adjust seasoning, texture, and serving size for your own kitchen.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 15 minutes
  • Total time: 20 minutes
  • Yield: 2
  • Category: Main Course
  • Cuisine: Tex Mex

Ingredients

  • 2 tsp oil
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced bell pepper (red, green or both)
  • 1 cup veggie crumbles (or cooked lentils)
  • 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp chili powder blend
  • 2-3 tortillas (sliced into triangles or use tortilla chips)
  • 2 tbsp chopped pickled jalapeno

For the Jalapeno popper cream-

  • 1/4 cup cashews (soaked for 15 minutes in hot water, see notes for Nutfree)
  • 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 4 or 5 slices pickled jalapeno
  • 3-4 tbsp water

For toppings

  • Sliced Avocado
  • Cilantro
  • Pickled Jalapeno

Method

  1. Heat a cast iron, or regular skillet over medium high heat, add oil.
  2. Add the onion and peppers, cook for 2 minutes, then add in the veggie crumbles, salt, and chili powder blend, and mix in. Cook until the onion is golden.
  3. Add in the tomatoes, and two tbsp of water and mix in. Cook until the tomatoes are somewhat tender. Mash some of them.
  4. Add in the tortillas and the pickled jalapenos and mix in
  5. Reduce heat to medium.Top with the jalapeno popper cream sauce, pickled jalapenos, and 1/4 cup of vegan cheese shreds, if using. The cover the skillet with a lid, and continue to cook until the cheese melts, 4-5 minutes.
  6. Remove from the heat, top with avocado and cilantro and serve.

To make the jalapeno popper cream sauce-

  1. Blend all of the ingredients until smooth and creamy,
  2. Taste and ajust flavor by adjusting salt, adding more tang with the brine from the pickled jalapeno as needed.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.