We’re so excited to share our favorite ground turkey stuffed pepper recipe! When we’ve got a few minutes to cook, making a meal that fills our family’s bellies with ultra-healthy foods like quinoa, black beans and ground turkey and black beans makes us feel like superheroes. Meaty, lean ground turkey is cooked with lots of onions, garlic and spices for a deeply flavorful turkey filling. Plus, we add some Homemade Taco Seasoning (or store-bought in a pinch), and cover the stuffed peppers with some melty cheese (you’ve gotta!) for a protein-packed, easy dinner that our entire families always gobble up. P.S. We adore ground turkey! If you do, too, be sure to check out our 10 Best Ground Turkey Recipes, our Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers, and our easy, cheesy Lasagna-Stuffed Zucchini Boats, too.
Ingredients For Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Bell peppers: Any color you want to use is OK, but we think red bell peppers are the most fun (and kids seem to feel that way, too).
Ground turkey
Quinoa: A lot of turkey stuffed pepper recipes call for rice, but we prefer to use quinoa because it’s such a nutritional powerhouse! Protein, antioxidants, zinc, fiber, folate — it’s just so good for you, and delicious, too. Our Perfect Quinoa recipe is super easy to make ahead of time, too.
Canned tomatoes: We like to use fire roasted diced tomatoes, because the fire-roasting adds a lot of flavor, but any canned tomato you have on hand would be OK.
Black beans: Canned is just fine, or if you’re meal prepping and have more time, you could use dried beans.
Taco Seasoning: store-bought or make our Homemade Taco Seasoning!
Onions, garlic and olive oil: You know we basically never cook without these!
Jalapeño. We like to add jalapeños to these stuffed peppers because we love a little heat, but it is completely fine to leave it out.
Pepper Jack cheese: If you’re kids don’t love spice, just use regular Jack cheese, or a Mexican blend would be yummy, too.
How to Make Turkey Stuffed Peppers:
Brown the ground turkey in a big skillet. Once it’s cooked, add the onion and garlic.
Stir in cooked quinoa, a can of tomatoes, fresh jalapeñoes, taco seasoning, black beans and cheese.
Cut those bell peppers! Cut them in half, and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. Line peppers on a lightly-greased baking sheet.
Fill the bell peppers! Sprinkle with even more cheese.
Bake until the peppers are tender and juicy, and the cheese is melted and gooey. Devour!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Ground turkey stuffed peppers come together super fast! Even if you don’t have quinoa cooked ahead of time, it only takes 15 minutes to cook. You can simmer it while you brown the turkey.
Stuffed with taco-seasoned meat and melted cheese — that usually scores big with the littles — stuffed peppers are such a delicious way to get your family excited about vegetables! The peppers are fun to eat and make for a really colorful plate.
Lean turkey, plus lots of veggies, plus protein-packed quinoa = major, major healthy dinner points!
Do You Have to Blanch Peppers for Stuffed Peppers?
Nope, there’s no need to parboil or soften the peppers before you stuff them. How genius is that? Simply stuff raw bell peppers—you want them to hold their shape in the oven as they bake, so blanching the peppers before stuffing them with the seasoned ground turkey would soften them, which is the opposite of what you want.
What Should I Serve With Stuffed Peppers?
You don’t have to serve them with anything—these taco-spiced ground turkey stuffed bell peppers are so loaded with goodness (beans! Veggies! Quinoa! cheese!) that they absolutely qualify as a stand-alone meal. However, if you want a little extra something green on your plate, a Simple Green Salad is always a nice touch, and doesn’t add too much meal-prep time.
More Ground Turkey Recipes To Try
How’d They Turn Out?
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