Name: Keto Italian Sub Bell Pepper Sandwich
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 1
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 1 bell pepper, cut in half and cleaned; 2 slices of provolone cheese; 1 slice of ham; 1 slice of salami; 1 slice of pepperoni; 1 slice of capicola

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If you love the flavors of an Italian sub, check out this keto bell pepper sandwich. Using all the sub fillings and toppings but in a roasted bell pepper as the bun. Each pepper sandwich has 6.9g net carbs and you can make it in the air fryer in 15 minutes!

You might also like this keto Italian Sub Salad recipe!

closeup of a keto bell pepper sub sandwich on white plate — This post contains affiliate links. For more information visit our policies page.

I love hot Italian sub sandwiches but I don’t care for the bun. So I thought I would try this keto Italian sub bell pepper sandwich as a substitute. It was so good!

And since I’ve had such great success with stuffed pepper recipes in the air fryer, I used it to cook my sub in only 15 minutes. The soft cooked pepper and tasty Italian meats and cheeses worked perfectly together for a gluten free version of an Italian sub with only 6.9g net carbs.

white plates with bell pepper halves cooked with meat and cheese and sub toppings surrounding

Ingredients I used.

Below you can see the main ingredients I used for this keto sub sandwich. I bought everything at Aldi. I really like their deli selection tray of assorted Italian meats and I added some ham and provolone cheese too.

ingredients for subs: bell peppers, provolone, ham, Appleton farms deli selection

You can use whatever deli meat you want though. Subway uses Genoa salami, pepperoni and ham on their Italian BMT sub. But you can also try turkey, roast beef or even cooked bacon.

How to make bell pepper sandwiches in the air fryer!

First you want to cut the peppers in half and clean out the seeds and ribs.
Then take one half and stuff all the meat you want in it. You might have to fold or cut the meat to fit the pepper
In the other pepper add your cheese. I used provolone with a few red onions however you only need cheese. I also added an additional piece of cheese on top half way through the process.
Now you can cook this in the air fryer for 15 minutes and at 350°F. Your peppers should be soft and wilted like those below. If your peppers are bigger or thicker you may need to cook them 5 minutes more.

air fryer basket with raw pepper subs ready to cook

As I mentioned above, I added an additional piece of provolone half way through because it browns very easily.

air fryer basket with cooked peppers stuffed with meat and cheese

Below you can see what one bell pepper sandwich looks like when done cooking. From there you can eat it as is or add a few sub toppings.

cooked red pepper halves on a white plate stuffed with Italian meats and provolone cheese

How to make bell pepper sandwiches in the oven.

You can also make these in the oven if you don’t have an air fryer. I would precook the peppers in the microwave first because they other ingredients won’t take as long to cook.

So cook the pepper halves for 4 minutes in the microwave. Then stuff them with the meat and cheese and bake for 20 minutes in a 350°F oven. If the peppers are not soft and wilted cook them for 5 minutes more.

Low carb sandwich toppings to use on your peppers.

Now if you want, you can add a few toppings to this “sandwich”. Below are the carb counts for various sandwich ingredients. But to be honest it tastes delicious as is with just a tablespoon of Italian dressing.

lettuce – ¼ cup shredded romaine, 2 cals / 0.1g net carbs
red onions – 2 tablespoons chopped, 8 cals / 1.6g net carbs
pickles slices – 3 dill pickle slices, 3 cals / 0.3g net carbs
Italian dressing – 1 tablespoon, 43 cals / 1.5g net carbs
ranch dressing – 1 tablespoon, 74 cals / 0.7g net carbs
tomato slices – 1 thin slice, 3 cals / 0.4g net carbs
olives – 2 tablespoons black olive slices, 20 cals / 0.5g net carbs

yellow cooked pepper halves with cooked meats and topped with shredded lettuce

Recipe Tips & Notes

I used ham and a slice of each of the Italian meats in the deli tray. I also used provolone cheese. However you can use any types of meats and cheeses that you like.
The nutritional information is for a whole pepper with just the meat and cheese and they taste delicious like that. But there are a lot of toppings you can add. See the chart above.
Times may vary for the air fryer depending on how big and thick your pepper is. Just keep it in long or shorter until the peppers are soft and wilted.
To make this in the oven, I would first microwave the cut and cleaned peppers for 4 minutes. Then stuff them and bake for 20 minutes in a 350°F oven or until the peppers are soft and wilted.

hand holding a low carb bell pepper sandwich with a bite taken out

I hope you like these! My husband and I loved them for a quick and tasty low carb lunch or dinner.

The nutritional information for 1 cooked bell pepper sandwich with meat and cheese only is 362 calories and :
23.5g fat / 9.4g carbs / 2.5g fiber / 27.5g protein = 6.9g net carbs