Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers are quick and healthy, made with lean ground turkey, black beans, diced tomatoes, and topped with shredded cheese. They’re insanely easy to make, and perfect for a weeknight!
I love cooking with ground meat because it’s quick, easy, and the store always has it in stock! This week I’m choosing turkey because we’re looking for something leaner and healthier. If you love these ground turkey stuffed peppers, check out my Turkey Meatloaf Muffins, Buffalo Turkey Burgers, and Slow Cooker Taco Meat w/Turkey!
Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers are juicy and packed with flavor, while also being lean and healthy! I like to make them with the leanest ground turkey I can find, then add black beans, diced tomatoes, rice, and spices. Then we top them with cheese for one of my most family-requested weeknight dinners of all time!
Can you make ground turkey stuffed peppers no rice?
Make ground turkey stuffed peppers with no rice by omitting the rice in the recipe. If you want to replace it, try quinoa or gluten free certified oats! You can also add 1 cup of cheese to the turkey mixture, to help everything stay together better when you cut into the pepper.
Can you freeze stuffed peppers?
Yes you can absolutely freeze stuffed peppers! In fact, stuffed peppers are one of my favorite dishes to make ahead of time and freeze on the weekend for work lunches. Each pepper is one serving, so they’re already portioned and ready to go for you! I let them cool, then put each one in a ziplock bag and freeze. I also suggest serving with some extra tomato sauce, just in case they dry out a little bit when microwaving them.
Do you have to cook meat before stuffing peppers?
I recommend browning the meat before stuffing the peppers. In this case, we’re using poultry, which has to reach 165F to be safe to eat. Cooking the ground turkey through before stuffing the peppers ensures that you won’t run into any undercooked turkey issues.
If you’re using beef, you may be able to brown it more quickly and finish it off in the oven. We’re also just cooking them until the peppers soften, about 20 minutes, and the meat would take longer than that to finish cooking just in the oven.
Tips for How to Make Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers
- You can omit the tomatoes if you want to, but keep in mind that the tomatoes and the juices the pepper releases when it cooks are what keep the lean ground turkey moist. I would replace it with another sauce, like leftover gluten free gravy, if you have some.
- Add more cayenne pepper, 1 tsp of red pepper flakes, or a few shakes of hot sauce to make these ground turkey stuffed peppers spicy!
- You can swap out the ground turkey for beef or pork if that’s what you have. It’s more calories than lean ground turkey, but this recipe would work really well with ground sausage meat!
- Make vegetarian stuffed peppers by swapping out the meat with extra firm tofu! Make sure you press the tofu with paper towels before crumbling it, so it doesn’t turn out too watery. You can check out my Tofu Scramble for more information on how to cook with tofu.
- I use instant rice because it cooks with the juices from the turkey and the peppers. If you don’t have instant rice, your next best bet is to use fully cooked rice to start with. If you use uncooked regular rice (not instant), you’ll have crunchy rice in your peppers.
What do you serve with stuffed peppers?
You can serve stuffed peppers with extra rice, tomato sauce, and shredded cheese. You can also serve these with some side dishes to complete the table. Here are a few of my favorite suggestions:
- Instant Pot Corn on the Cob with Milk
- Garlic Parmesan Roasted Broccoli
- Baked Potato Bar
- Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad
Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds ground turkey
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 8 large bell peppers, tops cut off, seeds removed
- 1 cup instant white rice
- 1 15 oz can black beans
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes
- ½ cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 2 tbsp gluten free Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325F. Grease a large baking dish and set aside.
- Over medium heat, add olive oil and ground turkey. Brown the turkey until no more pink appears, stirring occasionally. Add diced tomatoes, beans, rice, Worcestershire sauce, and seasoning. Stir everything together.
- Stand peppers up in the baking dish. Fill each one with turkey filling, evenly distributed until all filling is gone. Add 1 tbsp of shredded cheese on top of each pepper.
- Bake for 20 minutes, or until cheese on top is melted and peppers are soft (a fork goes through easily).
Notes
Nutrition
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