These ground turkey stuffed peppers make a colorful and delicious main dish.
Bell peppers are filled with seasoned ground turkey, rice, and veggies in zesty marinara and topped with cheesy mozzarella!
You’ll Love These Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers Because…
- They’re a little leaner than classic stuffed peppers and they pack lots of flavor.
- This recipe is a great way to use leftover veggies.
- They can be prepared ahead and baked on a busy weeknight when needed.
- Stuffed peppers are an easy all-in-one meal.
Ingredients for Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Vegetables: Colorful bell peppers are the base of this recipe. Choose ones that are the same size for even cooking. Yellow, red, and orange peppers tend to be sweeter than green peppers.
Turkey: Ground turkey is lean and adds a lot of protein. It can be replaced with ground chicken or turkey sausage.
Rice: Cooked brown rice is loaded with fiber but can be switched out with any variety of cooked rice. It’s a great way to use up leftover rice.
Sauce: Homemade marinara can be used or choose your favorite store brand (I love Rao’s). The tomato paste helps thicken the sauce and adds a zesty flavor; the Italian seasoning adds flavor.
Cheese: Use any variety of Italian cheese blend or shredded mozzarella cheese.
Variations
- Add canned beans or leftover chopped vegetables to stretch the recipe even further.
- Add corn to the filling or chopped spinach towards the end for some extra color and flavor.
- Cooked quinoa, farro, or small pasta shells can be used instead of rice.
How to Make Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers
- Prep and soften peppers in the microwave.
- Brown the turkey and simmer with the remaining sauce ingredients.
- Assemble the casserole, layer in the marinara sauce and the stuffed peppers, and top with additional sauce. Cover with foil and bake (recipe below).
- Remove foil, top with cheese, and bake until golden and bubbly.
Serve with a salad and breadsticks to soak up extra sauce.
Storing Stuffed Peppers
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat in the microwave or cover with foil, and reheat in the oven to avoid drying them out.
- Freeze completely cooled peppers by wrapping them in plastic wrap and placing them in a zippered bag for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat as directed.
- To cook from frozen, place them in a pot with a little water, cover, and cook on low until they are heated through.
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Did you enjoy these Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers? Leave a rating and a comment below!
Ground Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 small bell peppers *see note
- 1 pound ground turkey or chicken
- 1 small onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small zucchini diced
- 14 ounces canned diced tomatoes lightly drained
- 1 ½ cups cooked brown rice
- 2 ½ cups marinara sauce divided
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ¾ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350°F.
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Cut the peppers in half, top to bottom. Remove seeds and membranes, discard. Microwave the peppers for 2-3 minutes or until slightly softened. *see note
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In a large skillet brown turkey, onion, & garlic over medium-high heat until no pink remains. Drain any fat. Add chopped zucchini and cook 3 minutes more.
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Stir in the diced tomatoes with juice, rice, ¾ cup marinara sauce, tomato paste, and Italian seasoning. Simmer 5 minutes.
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Place 1 cup of marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Arrange peppers over sauce. Fill each pepper with the meat mixture. Spoon remaining marinara sauce over peppers.
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Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes. Remove foil, baste peppers with any sauce in the bottom. Top with cheese and bake an additional 10 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Casserole, Dinner, Entree, Main Course, Turkey
Cuisine American
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This was very tasty! Instead of stuffing the peppers, I cut them in strips and put them on the bottom of the pan and adding the meat mixture over like a casserole. Everything else was the same. What a great low carb low fat dish! We’ll be making this again.