Spicy baked stuffed chayote can be a light and healthy lunch or a great side dish. Crack open the chayote and cook inside the shell before scooping out the cooked flesh. Top the shells with cheese and baked until the cheese is melted.
Chayote is a popular vegetable in Saint Lucia and I've been making sweet and savoury low carb and gluten-free recipes with it when it's in season. For this tasty vegetarian recipe, it's stuffed and baked which is a popular way of serving this in our neighboring island, Martinique.
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What is Chayote?
Chayotes are popular in Mexican, Caribbean and South American kitchens. In Saint Lucia and Martinique, they are also called Christophine . Chayote is a fruit in the same family as cucumbers and squash but is often prepared like a vegetable.
Although chayote belongs to the gourd family, it is not bitter. In fact, chayote is only mildly flavored and has a very nice aroma.
Is Chayote Low Carb?
Chayote is a great low carb vegetable and has just 2.8g net carbohydrates per 100g serving. A cup of chayote is about 160 grams. In addition to being low in carbs, chayote is low in calories, fat and full of nutrients. High in fiber, vitamin C and full of antioxidants it's a great vegetable for a low carb diet.
Ingredients
Play around with the spices or add hot sauce!
- Chayote - We use green chayotes (they can also be pale in colour)
- Onion
- Garlic
- Cheddar cheese
- Turmeric
- Ginger
- Chili
- Salt & Pepper
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make keto stuffed chayote
Chayote is cooked twice in this easy keto vegetarian recipe. It needs to be boiled or even steamed first to soften the flesh. Then, much like a double baked potato, the filling is scooped out, seasons, stuffed back in and baked.
Slice Chayote in half lengthways and remove the central seeds.
Boil and simmer the chayote for 20 minutes.
Scoop out the chayote flesh.
Add the spices.
Cook the mixture.
Fry the chopped onion.
Add the chopped chayote.
Stuff the chayote skins with the filling, top with grated cheese and bake.
Recipe Tips
Increase the volume of the chili powder for extra heat.
Swap the Cheddar cheese with Mozzarella .
Variations
We added spices to the chayote filling which can be varied to your own taste. A few filling flavour suggestions are.
- Chopped jalapenos
- Curry powder
- Chopped chayote peppers
- Mix in some of our walnut mushroom taco meat
- Chopped bell pepper and onion
Storage
The stuffed chayote squash can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator before baking. If you have any baked chayote left over, store them in a sealed container in the fridge. They should last 2 - 3 days.
Frequently Asked Questions
This stuffed chayote recipe is easy to make vegan by omitting the cheese and either using a vegan cheese or leave it out.
Once baked, and cooled the stuffed chayotes can be frozen. Store them in zip locked bags or an air tight container. They will last up to 2 months in the freezer.
Defrost them in the refrigerator.
More stuffed keto vegetarian recipes
Stuffed Whole Roasted Celeriac
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Spicy Baked Stuffed Chayote
Ingredients
- 1 medium chayote, green
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ medium onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- ¼ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ginger, ground
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Topping
- ½ cup Cheddar cheese grated
Instructions
- Slice the chayote in half lengthways and remove the center seed.
- Place the chayote halves in a saucepan of simmering water and cook for 20 minutes until the chayote is soft and tender.
- Remove the chayotes from the saucepan, drain and allow to cool slightly so you can handle them.
- Remove the insides, leaving a small skin, with a spoon and chop.
- In a small skillet, heat the olive oil on a medium heat and add the onion. Cook for 5-8 minutes until soft.
- Add the minced garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Stir in the spices and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the cooked chayote and cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring to ensure that all the ingredients are mixed well.
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F degrees.
- Spoon the spicy chayote mixture into the chayote shells and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle the cheese over the top of the filled chayotes and place them in a baking dish.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cheese is golden.
Notes
YOUR OWN NOTES
